Whalefall
In Brian Duffield’s novel and claustrophobic survival thriller, Austin Abrams must draw on all his resources to stay alive.
Deep throat: Austin Abrams
Photo courtesy of Walt Disney Studios.
by JAMES CAMERON-WILSON
Such is the size of the sperm whale that, when it dies, its carcass provides an ecosystem for the sea creatures at the bottom of the sea. And when it dies, scientists have named the event ‘a whalefall’. There are many ways to perish in the ocean, although being swallowed by a sperm whale is a less frequent occurrence. Still, what’s good enough for Jonah and Pinocchio is good enough for Jay Gardiner (Austin Abrams), although it wasn’t exactly on his bucket list. When his estranged, bombastic and terminally ill father Mitt (Josh Brolin) takes his own life by jumping off a boat, weighed down by heavy diving weights, Jay takes it upon himself to try and retrieve the body. That way, he believes, his mother and two sisters can properly mourn the man that was such a large part of their lives. Armed with years of scuba diving lore handed down by his father, Jay sets off into the unknowable depths, where he meets his cetacean fate…
Much of what happens in Brian Duffield’s riveting, starkly original ‘survival thriller’ must be taken on trust. However, Duffield (who co-wrote Underwater) sets up his tale nicely, deftly sketching in his characters as plausible protagonists whose interaction creates a credible platform before the main trunk of the drama kicks off. Duffield is also sage enough to provide the action largely from Jay’s point-of-view, sparing us the comic silliness of many a big fish adventure using laughable animatronic effects. Consequently, Jay’s disbelief and the digestive environment in which he finds himself (a sperm whale has four stomachs) feels perfectly real enough for those willing to suspend their disbelief. Jay has a tank on his back with one hour’s worth of oxygen and recalling his father’s advice that “the ocean always provides,” he deploys the bioluminescence of a jellyfish as a torch and the beak of a giant squid as a knife.
Thanks to Duffield’s skilful direction and James Miller’s sound effects, one is perched too far off the edge of one’s seat to laugh at the possible absurdity of it all. Some of this is actually really stressful stuff. Collaborating with Daniel Kraus on the screenplay – based on the latter’s own novel – Duffield exhibits a real love of the ocean that supports our planet and allows Mitt, in flashback, to supply all the amazing factoids. Mitt is particularly concerned by the effect of tourism, as sonar interreference of the creatures’ echolocation systems has resulted in a massive depletion of the species. The underwater sequences, particularly in the lower depths, conjure up an alien world that is at times powerfully mystical. All of this creates an almost out-of-body experience – as well as an in-another-body experience – that proves surprisingly moving.
Cast: Austin Abrams, Josh Brolin, Elisabeth Shue, John Ortiz, Jane Levy, Emily Rudd, Sam Franich.
Dir Brian Duffield, Pro Brian Grazer, Brian Duffield, Jeb Brody and Allan Mandelbaum, Screenplay Brian Duffield and Daniel Kraus, from the novel by Daniel Kraus, Ph Aaron Morton, Pro Des Ramsey Avery, Ed Pietro Scalia, Music Joseph Trapanese, Costumes Natalie O’Brien, Sound James Miller.
20th Century Studios/Imagine Entertainment/Jurassic Party Productions-Walt Disney Studios.
105 mins. USA. 2026. UK and US Rel: 16 October 2026. Cert. 15.
