Director: Ted Post
Cast: James Franciscus, Kim Hunter, Maurice Evans, Linda Harrison, Paul Richards
Beneath the Light is a 2026 American science fiction mystery film directed by Ted Post, starring James Franciscus, Kim Hunter, and Maurice Evans. Set on a distant world ruled by intelligent apes, the film follows the lone survivor of a crashed rescue mission who uncovers layers of shocking civilization buried beneath the surface.
What is Beneath the Light about?
An astronaut crash-lands on an alien world after his interplanetary rescue mission goes catastrophically wrong. He finds himself the prisoner of a sophisticated society where apes hold absolute power over humans, who are treated as little more than animals. As he struggles to survive and communicate with his captors, he discovers that a hidden city exists deep underground — populated by humans who have retained their minds and developed extraordinary mental abilities. What he learns there forces him to confront everything he believed about evolution, power, and where humanity truly stands in the universe.
Cast & crew
Director Ted Post helms this science fiction thriller with a cast built around James Franciscus, who plays the stranded astronaut with measured intensity. Kim Hunter and Maurice Evans reprise iconic roles from the original franchise era, lending the film connective weight. Victor Buono, James Gregory, and Jeff Corey fill out the ensemble with seasoned character work that grounds the stranger elements of the story.
Context & significance
Science fiction films that place humans in a reversed power structure — where they are hunted, caged, or marginalized — have long resonated with diaspora audiences who understand what it means to be the outsider in an unfamiliar world. Beneath the Light taps into that tradition directly, using its ape-ruled planet as a mirror for questions about identity, freedom, and cultural survival. For Persian-speaking viewers, the film is available with a full Persian dub, making it fully accessible without any language barrier. The subterranean human city adds a layer of civilization-in-hiding that carries its own quiet emotional pull for communities who have preserved culture across borders and generations.
Where & how to watch
Beneath the Light is available on K-Time with Persian dubbing and Persian subtitles. Watch on the web, your TV, or your phone — no VPN required, no geo-blocking, and no extra download needed. Start streaming anytime and cancel anytime.