"Below" arises from a global view to describe 8 huskies left by the mankind in the Antarctica, the lowest point in the globe. The film bears a reserved theme of "Quill" (Dir: Yoichi Sai, 2004) though the two are of different genres. While "Q" portrays the dog's loyalty towards the mankind, "8" focuses on the reciprocal relationship by zooming in the human's promise and responsibility towards the dog. However, the spectrum in which the mutation of relation between the human and the dog is narrower in "8" than it is in "Q". In "8", the relation changes from apathy to salvage whereas it changes from hostility to amity in "Q" (much wider). Director Frank Marshall humanizes the huskies by framing the narrative of the Antarctica sequence from their perspective and portrays their sentiments among each other and their strategy in hunting for foods, though all are dramatized under compositional and generic motivation (bearing in mind that it is under the genre of adventure).

The National Geographic-like scenery (shooting locale in Canada) and the aerial shots of Jerry (Paul Walker)'s exploration journey on the ice with his 8 huskies are fascinating. Marshall uses cross-editing between Jerry's life in the northern hemisphere and the husky companions' attempt for survival in the Antarctica in the narrative that spans across a plot time of about 100 minutes, under the adoption of inter-titles indicating the temporal duration. In the portray of the dogs' own survival on the ice over the year, Marshall adds surprise, creates tension and further demarcates the animals' world into good guys and bad guy by bringing a fierce predator seal into mise-en-scene.

It is very enlightening in that the sub-titles at the denouement remind the audience that raising dogs is a life-long promise which shouldn't be made if the master couldn't afford it in terms of empathy, effort and time. It is a touching and educational film for the family and dog fanatics.