Forget Jonah. Forget Pinocchio and Geppetto. Whalefall isn’t a Bible story or a fairy tale. It’s a gut-churning, heart-pounding survival thriller that drops you, literally, into the belly of the beast.
Directed by Brian Duffield and based on Daniel Kraus’ bestselling 2023 novel, Whalefall follows Jay Gardiner (Austin Abrams), a young diver still reeling from the death of his father, Mitt (Josh Brolin). Determined to find his dad’s remains, Jay dives off California’s Central Coast. Then the unthinkable happens. He gets caught in a clash between a giant squid and an 80-foot sperm whale, and he’s swallowed whole.
Trapped in pitch-black darkness inside the whale’s stomach, with only one hour of oxygen left in his tank, Jay has to rely on everything his father taught him to survive.
Yes, the premise sounds wild. But here’s the thing: Whalefall is FUN. It’s tense, it’s gross in all the right ways, and it never stops escalating. Just when you think you know what’s coming, Duffield throws another curveball, or another wave of stomach acid.
And Austin Abrams? FANTASTIC. He carries nearly this entire movie alone, in a cramped, slimy, claustrophobic space, and he makes every second count. You feel his panic, his grief and his grit. Abrams did the vast majority of his own stunts on a massive whale set built on a soundstage in Studio City, and it shows. This is a star-making performance.
Josh Brolin brings real heart in the flashbacks as the tough-love dad whose lessons become Jay’s lifeline. Elisabeth Shue also co-stars as Jay’s mother. The father-son story is what gives this movie its soul. It’s a survival thriller about grief, healing and letting go, wrapped inside the craziest setting you’ll see on the big screen this year.
My advice: maybe skip the big dinner before the movie.
Manny the Movie Guy’s Rating: 3 out of 4 Whale Kisses
Whalefall is rated PG-13 and opens in theaters Friday, October 16.
