For a realistic depiction of a man being eaten by a whale, it was surprisingly emotionally affecting.

A year after his estranged father died by suicide, Jay looks to redeem himself by finding his body, lost at sea. But when he does… an encounter with a whale will test what little mettle he has.

Whalefall is an adaptation of the book of the same name by Daniel Kraus. It is written and directed for screen by Brian Duffield, and stars Austin Abrams (Resident Evil) and Josh Brolin (Weapons). The movie’s trailer is immediately arresting: a scuba diver being eaten by a whale, which has also eaten a squid. Promising a particularly vile and blubbery experience that no antacid will cure…

Yep, yep, it is that. But it also has actual emotional storytelling in there as well. Maybe that isn’t surprising, knowing it is an adaptation of a novel. But going in without that knowledge, it was a welcome addition.

The story follows Jay and his family, who grieve the loss of their husband and father Mitt (Brolin). Jay (Abrams) is largely incapable of engaging with the nostalgia his sisters have for their father. It is quickly evident that Jay’s relationship with his father was a difficult one; Mitt being controlling and overbearing with his only son.
But Jay’s silent brooding escalates as he lashes out: He dives into the ocean where his father had killed himself, hoping to find the body that was lost. This foolish act of selfish pride and inexperience leads Jay to a terrible encounter with a squid and a sperm whale. Jay is consumed inside the whale… Now he needs to get himself out.

It is a premise that I had to see. It is certainly unique; a movie that seemingly takes a realistic interpretation of someone been eaten by a whale. Neither Geppetto nor Monstro here (although this is 20th Century Fox, which is a subsiduary of Disney, so…) this is a very intense, very disguisting movie. We see Jay getting trapped within the whale’s esophagus, slowly getting crushed by the tightening muscular walls. As you an imagine, it is a very claustrophobic movie. Unfortunately, Jay isn’t alone. The whale also eats a squid, who takes very unkindly to Jay’s presence inside. So we have an added Lovecraftian horror angle as well.

The film has captured the mystery and horror of the deep ocean. Outside of the flashbacks across Jay’s life, the film is largely silent. We see inky black abysses, forests of kelp, and the inhuman horrors of what lives down there. It is scary even before he gets eaten; if you have trouble at that point, you will need to brace yourself.

But this horrific experience is intercut with Jay’s backstory with his father. His trauma reminding him of past events. We see an overbearing father, obsessed with teaching his son survival traits, teaching about nature, even a bit on society’s hopelessness. Jay is visibly tormented by his father’s ferocious convictions (played perfectly by the grisly Brolin and timid Abrams) and Jay withers under the vocal assaults. This is all suggesting a subtext that Jay has forever been crushed, suffocated by his father’s presence (could it be… a metaphor??)

But as the movie goes on, we realize that his father’s head was in the right place, just that they both struggled to see eye-to-eye. This is the heart of the movie that, if it were absent, would have made the film a laughable B-movie. But as it happens, Jay’s fight for survival juxtaposed with confronting his personal demons, makes for an emotion-filled experience.

Do I want to rewatch a man crawling through a whale’s stomach acids to try and force his way through its bowels? No. No I would not. But I can’t deny it was a rivetting and unique experience I had not seen before. And the emotional heart was convincing. Yes, Forgotten Island, I even cried at the man-being-eaten-by-a-whale movie rather than you.

Check it out if you like gross body-horror-esque creepy movies. But expect more character agency and weight behind it all.