Is As Above, So Below Scary? The Verdict and the Whole Plot
Yes, 5 out of 10. It's the cramped kind of fear, with jump scares along the way.
🐱THE SCARE SIGNAL
SCARE SCORE
5 /10
🐱🐱🐱🐱🐱🐱🐱🐱🐱🐱
DREAD LEVEL
Medium
Narrow stairwells may look worse for an evening, and it fades by morning.
DOG
Dog: fine
no dog dies, so you can go in.
Ruling: Skip it if tight tunnels bother you, and watch it in daylight if jump scares do.
As Above, So Below runs ninety-three minutes. An archaeologist follows her late father's search for a legendary stone into the Paris catacombs with a documentary crew and three guides she recruits at a nightclub. One of the guides advises against the shortcut, which is the route she chooses.
The premise, briefly
An archaeologist searching for a legendary alchemical stone leads a documentary crew and three guides into the Paris catacombs, and the only way out is further down.
How much do you want to know?
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The verdict above is spoiler-free. Everything below, including the ending, stays hidden until you pick a depth.
🐱CUT TO THE CHASE
How it ends
Souxie, Benji and Papillon are killed. Scarlett, George and Zed confess their sins, jump into a dark hole and climb out of a manhole near Notre-Dame, where Scarlett and George embrace and Zed walks away.
The scene you're dreading
The stretch in the middle after the group goes through the opening in the floor. La Taupe murders Souxie, spirits kill Benji and Papillon, and a demon bites George's throat.
The dog
No dog dies in As Above, So Below.
As Above, So Below is a cramped, jumpy tunnel story, and knowing that three people climb out the other end makes the dark parts easier to sit through.
THE SHORT VERSION IS HIDDEN
How it ends, the scene you're dreading, what happens to the dog, and the bottom line. About twenty seconds to read.
What actually happens
Papillon advises against the shortcut, so naturally it is taken
Scarlett Marlowe is an archaeologist continuing her late father's hunt for the philosopher's stone, which is supposed to turn metal into gold and grant eternal life. She gets the Rose Key in an Iranian cave, has a vision of a hanged man, and leaves for Paris, where Benji films a documentary about the search. George, a translator and friend of hers, helps her work out a riddle with the key, and the answer is the catacombs. A stranger sends them to a nightclub, where they recruit Papillon, his girlfriend Souxie and their friend Zed. Papillon leads them to an entrance that is off limits. Scarlett wants a side tunnel, and Papillon refuses, because people disappear in it, including his friend La Taupe. They try another route, it collapses behind them, and they end up at the same tunnel anyway. Past it they meet La Taupe, who says that descending is their only exit.
The stone is real enough to heal a cut and false enough to matter later
They find a tomb holding the stone, and Scarlett takes it, which finishes her search. Papillon's group sets off a booby trap that brings the ceiling down and seems to separate La Taupe from the rest. Scarlett uses the stone to heal a wound on Souxie. The group then spots a door sketched overhead beside a Gnostic star, which stands for the phrase that gives the movie its title. The symbol shows them a hidden opening in the floor. Through it is a tunnel with a sign telling visitors to abandon all hope, and they go in.
The catacombs have a basement, and it is the catacombs again but upside down
This is the stretch people dread, and it starts in the middle of the film once the group goes through the opening in the floor. They enter an inverted copy of the catacombs. La Taupe reappears long enough to murder Souxie and then vanishes again. As the group descends, spirits that represent the past sins of Benji and Papillon kill each of them. The three who remain run until a demon bites George's throat.
A confession booth with a manhole at the end
George is dying, and the stone turns out to be false. Scarlett returns it and realizes the power belongs to her. On the way back she sees the hanged man again and works out that he is the angry spirit of her father. She apologizes for never having the last phone conversation with him, and he vanishes. Then she heals George with a kiss. The three are chased to a dark hole, and Scarlett tells them they have to confess their sins before they jump. George admits that his brother Danny drowned and he could not save him, and Zed admits to a child he will not acknowledge. At the bottom is a manhole, which opens onto the street near Notre-Dame, upside down. Scarlett and George embrace, and Zed walks away.
The ending, explained
Scarlett, George and Zed are the only survivors. La Taupe murders Souxie, spirits tied to their past sins kill Benji and Papillon, and La Taupe vanishes. George survives the demon's bite because Scarlett heals him with a kiss after she learns the stone is false and the power is hers. She also makes peace with the spirit of her hanged father by apologizing to him. After the confessions and the jump, the three climb out of a manhole by Notre-Dame. Scarlett and George hug, and Zed leaves on his own. In a closing log, Scarlett says her search was only ever for the truth.
The post-credits ruling
There is no post-credits scene. You can leave when the credits start.
✓ Spoiled safelyDog status: no dog dies, so you can go in.
Questions people ask at 1am
Is As Above, So Below scary?
Yes. As Above, So Below is a 5 out of 10 with medium dread: cramped tunnels, a descent into the dark and jump scares along the way, with some gore.
How does As Above, So Below end?
Scarlett, George and Zed survive. After each confesses a sin and jumps into a dark hole, they climb out of a manhole near Notre-Dame, upside down. Souxie, Benji and Papillon do not make it.
Does the dog die in As Above, So Below?
No dog dies in As Above, So Below.
Is there a post-credits scene in As Above, So Below?
No. As Above, So Below has no post-credits scene, so you can leave when the credits start.
What is the philosopher's stone in As Above, So Below?
It is the alchemical stone Scarlett's late father searched for, said to turn metal into gold and grant eternal life. In As Above, So Below the stone turns out to be false, and the healing power is Scarlett's.
BLURRED FOR YOUR PROTECTION
The whole plot of As Above, So Below is hidden, ending included. It stays that way until you ask.
You don't need to crawl through the Paris catacombs to find out how As Above, So Below ends. Install Scaredy Cat and the internet's horror gets blurred before you see it.
