Whalefall (2026)
A sentimental and strange survivalist thriller, Whalefall is often too sentimental for its own good and not strange enough by half. But if you're looking for some tense, visually unique, underwater thrills, Whalefall might just be the ticket.
Based
on Daniel Kraus's 2023 novel of the same name, Whalefall envisions
leading-man-of-the-moment Austin Abrams as Jay, a college student returning
home to his mother and sisters on the one-year anniversary of his father's
passing. The film opens with estranged father Mitt (Josh Brolin), a local
diving and seafaring legend, choosing to end his own life in the open waters he
so loved rather than undergo treatment for terminal mesothelioma. Grappling
with his grief and resentment towards his father, a Great Santini-esque dilettante,
Jay decides to go scuba diving to try to retrieve Mitt's remains. While
exploring the ocean's depths, Jay encounters a struggle between a squid and a
sperm whale—only to be swallowed up by the titular whale. The film becomes a
mad dash for Jay to escape and survive before his oxygen runs out.
Jay's
unlucky encounter with his aquatic captor, captured so memorably in the film's
trailer, is Whalefall's raison d'être—and it fully delivers. Surreally
and scarily rendered, the film's suspenseful centerpiece is everything you'd
hope for. The film's problems, however, are in the before and after. Overly
reliant on flashbacks, Whalefall is a bit too blunt in its attempts to
make Jay's struggle for survival a spiritual mirror for his grieving journey.
This is perhaps never more evident than in the choice to render voice-over from
Mitt as a metaphorical embodiment of the whale, a needless stylistic flourish that
often tells more than it shows.
Whereas
2010's 127 Hours had the benefit of director Danny Boyle's signature
punchy pop directorial style to keep the film's emotional arc from getting too
self-serious, Whalefall often feels water-logged.
Abrams,
to his credit, continues to be an unusual and perceptive screen presence,
channeling guy-next-door incredulity one moment and bug-eyed intensity the
next. His journey through the literal bowels of his captor, however, while
often visually exciting, can be a bit muddled or hard to parse; from scene to
scene, it's difficult to know exactly what you're looking at.
Even
so, Abrams sells the arc. By the time you reach the film's climax, you might
find yourself gasping for air, too, right alongside him.
