Whalefall Spoiler-free Review

by Cineman

Starring Austin Abrams, Whalefall is written and directed by Brian Duffield, based on the novel by Daniel Kraus. The premise is simple, ridiculous and immediately intriguing: a dude gets swallowed by a whale. Much like the biblical story of Jonah, it’s a concept that feels so obvious for a movie that it’s crazy it took this long for someone to make it happen.

But here’s the thing about Whalefall: It understands that you can’t build an entire movie around a guy getting swallowed by a whale and expect that to be enough. You need to go deeper than the premise. And it does so in more ways than one.

This is an entertaining, exciting and genuinely thrilling ride, with some super gross moments thrown in for good measure. The film doesn’t shy away from the horrifying reality of what it might actually be like to find yourself inside a whale. It’s wet, slimy, claustrophobic and disgusting. If you’re easily grossed out, you might want to sit this one out. For everyone else, there’s something entertaining about watching a film commit so fully to the sheer absurdity of its central concept.

At the centre of it all is Jay Gardiner, played by Austin Abrams, who finds himself in a situation he would not have imagined in a thousand years. Much like his role in Resident Evil (2026), Abrams spends a considerable amount of time alone on screen, carrying action-driven sequences while talking to himself, or occasionally the whale. It’s a demanding performance that requires him to remain likeable enough for us to root for him while making us feel the pressure of the absolutely insane situation he’s trapped in. And he pulls it off. The film also stars Josh Brolin, Elisabeth Shue, and John Ortiz who each bring something to the table, with Brolin playing a very important role.

Of course, a film like this requires a certain level of buy-in from the audience. There are moments that are so out there that you’ll either go along for the ride or find yourself questioning everything. The screenplay does a solid job of making individual actions, details and objects count, which is important when your protagonist is fighting for his life in such an unusual environment. However, there are also moments when one too many coincidences pile up, making the whole thing feel a little too convenient.

At just shy of two hours, Whalefall only occasionally overstays its welcome. Its bigger problem, though, is that it takes its own metaphor a little too seriously. There’s plenty of subtext here, and the film has something to say about the protagonist’s internal and external journeys. Unfortunately, much of that subtext eventually becomes text, particularly in the latter part of the second act and throughout the third. Instead of trusting us to connect the dots, the film repeatedly spells out its meaning, hammering home a message that would have been more effective with a little restraint.

Still, Whalefall is an entertaining time at the movies. It’s thrilling, occasionally ridiculous and unapologetically gross. It falls just short of being something truly special, but there’s enough here to make the trip worthwhile. Just don’t expect to leave the cinema feeling particularly clean.

Whalefall is in cinemas on 16 October 2026.

Rating: 6.5/10

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