  Experiments on $^4$He films reveal an attractive Casimir-like force at the
bulk $\lambda$-point, and in the superfluid regime. Previous work has explained
the magnitude of this force at the $\lambda$ transition and deep in the
superfluid region but not the substantial attractive force immediately below
the $\lambda$-point. Utilizing a simple mean-field calculation renormalized by
critical fluctuations we obtain an effective Casimir force that is
qualitatively consistent with the scaling function $\vartheta$ obtained by
collapse of experimental data.
