By Dan Skip Allen

Sometimes, there are films that come out that take you as a viewer by surprise. One of those movies is “Whalefall”. I always try to keep up with the happenings of Cinemacon every year because it helps give me information about future films. One of the movies I heard about this year was the aforementioned “Whalefall”. A clip was played, and it took audiences completely by surprise at the 20th Century Studios presentation. It was said that the clip gave people anxiety and endured stress from watching it. That was good news to my ears. From that moment on, I’ve been looking forward to this movie. That kind of praise out of nowhere is something that I rarely hear these days. “Whalefall” is based on the 2023 bestselling novel by Daniel Krauss and directed by Brian Duffield and co-written by the pair. It comes out wide in theaters later this week. My anticipation had been through the roof on this one.

Jay Gardiner (Austin Abrams,Weapons,Resident Evil) is a young man who has come back home from Iowa to California, where he goes to college. He is dealing with a recent tragedy in his life, and he comes to get comfort from his two sisters and mother. In a way to get some answers for his loss, he decides to go scuba diving off the coast of where he lives. It’s a skill set he learned from his father, Mitt (Josh Brolin), who was proficient at this kind of thing. As he’s exploring the reef, he encounters a giant sperm whale and a squid. The whale is chasing the squid, and in the process, he gets caught up in the chase. He gets ingested by the whale and has to fight for his survival inside the whale. Fighting off the squid, the whale’s internal anatomy, and lack of oxygen are just the tip of the iceberg for this man. Claustrophobia is another thing that is threatening his survival, but he has to rely on the skills he learned from his father over the years to figure out a way out of this life and death situation. 

Brian Duffield has a few directing credits to his name as well as a handful of writing credits. He’s dealt with various types of stories in his directing career. I’d say none like this film. He has to use all of his skills as a director to make the audience believe that this scenario is actually happening in real time. Using an air tank with a gage on it helps show the passing of time. Cutting back and forth between trying to survive and the air running off of the tank was a great way to help induce stress in the audience. It was very effective along with the various other issues that this man faced inside of this 80-foot, 60-ton beast. I was completely on the edge of my seat and squirming around during this entire part of the movie. Duffield knew exactly how to endure anxiety in me, and I’m sure many others who will eventually watch this film.

Based on the original novel, Duffield and Strauss craft the story around a framing device that shows the tumultuous relationship between the overbearing father played by Brolin and his son played by Abrams.  This isn’t the only time these two have worked together, either. They were both in the breakout horror film “Weapons” last year as well. They obviously have experience acting opposite one another. The frequent flashbacks helped give this father son relationship a dynamic that helped move the narrative forward. That’s the kind of story structure I’m looking for in my films. A rhyme and reason for why things are happening helps make the movie more believable. 

Speaking of believable, this film has a very unbelievable premise. Let’s be honest. I don’t think anybody would believe this story if it wasn’t made into a film. It’s based on a fictional story to start with. That being said, the situation of this man trying to survive while inside a giant sperm whale is ridiculous. Now that this has been said, I will have to praise Duffield and the visual effects artists and the production designers for making this scenario as realistic as possible. Obviously, none of us watching this film know what the innards of an 80-foot, 60-ton sperm whale would look like. They created something very real from my perspective. I was spitting in my seat at every moment this man was inside this whale. Stomach acid, muscles squeezing, and various other body movements created very dangerous circumstances for this man inside this whale. That doesn’t include the things happening outside either. That’s how the pressure was ramped up.

Abrams has had a bit of a moment lately. He’s starred in three high profile films, including “Weapons”, “Resident Evil 2026” and now “Whalefall”. He’s come a long way from the days of “The Walking Dead” in 2015-2016 and the young adult film “Paper Towns” in 2015. He’s parlayed his younger teen roles into a nice career of being in some horror films, and now this survival thriller. He Ives off a realistic performance here despite some decisions by the director narratively speaking that may have derailed his performance. His facing reactions and physical pain and suffering came across as very real. I genuinely felt what this man was going through while watching this movie. He is an actor in which I can’t wait to see what he does next because he’s done such great work in the last three films I’ve seen him in. 

Brolin, on the other hand, has been doing great work for two decades. I recently saw him in “The Dog Stars” in August and I liked him in that. He’s moved back and forth between doing big budget blockbusters like the “Dune” franchise and smaller more personalized pictures like this more. He has room to maneuver regarding his character as an overbearing father trying to give his son what he sees are the necessary skills to survive. He has changed from a younger heartthrob to an older grizzled veteran of the screen. He is very believable as a father figure now. I completely bought him as this hard man trying to help but not helping his son because of the way he’s treating him. This kind of role can be deemed as an afterthought with the kind of movie that is presented before you, but it’s not. It’s an important role in how the development of the main character makes decisions and figures things out in the end. 

“Whalefall” is a panic-inducing anxiety ridden edge of your seat rollercoaster ride in more ways than one. The performances by Abrams and Brolin anchor this film in reality despite the reality that this kind of thing couldn’t really happen. The visual effects and production design are top notch with everything inside the whale being very believable. The narrative structure was a very good decision so as to learn about this man and how he would be able to survive in such a difficult circumstance as this. With Halloween around the corner, viewers might have a new movie to decide not to go in the water after watching this film instead of “Jaws”. That’s how scary this situation is. I couldn’t fathom a scenario like this in my lifetime.  That’s why there are movies so people like me can experience them on the big screen. I highly recommend this because it’s the reason why we go to the movies.

🌟 🌟 🌟 🌟 stars