With a hefty $100 million budget, Zemeckis aimed to craft a middlebrow blockbuster, and indeed, the film achieved that status post-release. Despite some harsh critiques—such as Roger Ebert’s two-star review, labeling it “a morass of absurdity”—audiences were captivated by its intriguing premise. The story of a neglected housewife uncovering a murder mystery, alongside the star power of Michelle Pfeiffer and Harrison Ford, drew viewers in. While the narrative might not break new ground within its genre, it successfully delivers tension, thrills, and a supernatural twist, all of which resonated with audiences and helped the film nearly triple its budget.

Admittedly, “What Lies Beneath” is filled with pulp and demands a willingness to suspend disbelief. However, its nostalgic allure and outstanding performances from its leads make it a film worth revisiting, standing as an underrated gem in cinematic history.

The movie unfolds with Claire (Michelle Pfeiffer) and Norman Spencer (Harrison Ford), a couple experiencing the strain of a long-term marriage, living in a picturesque lakeside home in Vermont. With their daughter heading to college, Claire, still recovering from a car accident a year prior, faces the prospect of spending more time alone. Norman, a scientist, is often away, leaving Claire feeling isolated. The arrival of a new, tumultuous couple next door offers a welcome diversion, especially when Claire overhears a disturbing cry from the neighbor’s wife, prompting her to investigate further. She soon realizes the woman has mysteriously vanished.

The plot begins with Claire (Michelle Pfeiffer) and Norman Spencer (Harrison Ford), a middle-aged couple living in a marvelous and idyllic lakeside house in Vermont, whose marriage is showing signs of some wear. As they send their daughter to college, there’s a palpable worry in the air about Claire, as she’ll have to spend a lot of time alone, only a year after a car accident. As a scientist, Norman is barely home, which makes his wife feel lonely and neglected. But the new couple who just moved next door provides a much-needed distraction with their turbulent and alarming quarrels. Startled by overhearing the woman’s cry one afternoon, Claire begins to snoop around their house and soon discovers that the woman seems to have disappeared.

After some weird happenings around the house (doors and faucets opening mysteriously) and talking to the morose husband, Claire slowly grows certain that he killed the woman and dumped the body in the lake. In fact, she’s convinced her ghost is haunting her to reveal the truth. When she tells Norman about this, he’s afraid his wife is going insane and gets her help. We soon find out that Claire isn’t imagining things about the supernatural force or a mysterious slaying, just that things may be a lot more complicated and personal than she suspected.

Robert Zemeckis might not be a master of horror/thriller, but he understands suspense. He spends an hour building it, and thanks to his tricks creating tension and Pfeiffer’s committed performance, we bite. Regardless of the predictability (and some lurid plot twists) of Clark Gregg’s script, there’s an enticement here to get sucked into the murder mystery with these characters despite some inherent contrivance.

In retrospect, Robert Zemeckis’ Hitchcock-inspired slow-burning suspense is much overlooked here in favor of the many twists that hugely contributed to “What Lies Beneath” becoming a hit. The turns that arrive in the movie’s last third are so bonkers (and silly at times) that they become amusing. Arguably, with them, a big chunk of the story’s wonky realism and established character development land in the garbage, but it’d be a lie to say that doesn’t add flavor to the film’s nostalgic early aughts vibe. After all the red herrings, the haunting ghost in mirrors, and the unhurriedly uncovered pulpy secrets about infidelity are said and done, you’ll find yourself in a finale that’s as gripping as it is melodramatic.

That memorable bathtub scene with a feisty Michelle Pfeiffer desperately trying to survive will undeniably send a wave through your nerves and emotions, making you forget every plot hole, inconsistency, and general flaw that you came across in the past 100 minutes. By then, all that matters is that you’re invested in a way that has you rooting for this heroine like she was your favorite marathon runner closing in on the last few yards of the finish line with a broken ankle. Undoubtedly, “What Lies Beneath” tries a little too hard to be a serious life-and-death thriller (with mixed efficiency), but if you can view it as pure pulpy entertainment without any message on its mind to leave you with, it’ll more than likely give you a fun time — even if it proves to be incredibly fleeting.