WHALEFALL Review

Daniel Kraus, author of the book Whalefall published in 2023, co-wrote the screenplay for the new film adaptation with director Brian Duffield. The film follows Jay (Austin Abrams), a college student who takes a dive, determined to find the remains of his father, Mitt (Josh Brolin), a year after Mitt's death. The dive goes haywire when he gets trapped inside a whale and must figure out how to escape.

The visuals are the film's greatest strength, thanks to striking visual effects and solid underwater cinematography. Everything underwater and all of the scenes inside the whale are a sight to see on the big screen. The impressive design of the whale adds to the intensity and claustrophobic feelings that Jay is experiencing. It feels massive and confining at the same time, and it’s never quite clear where the way out is. It makes you feel like you’re in there with him. The sound design is also a standout, whether it’s the heavy breathing, the sounds of the whale’s organs, or the water throughout. And the music amplifies the intensity at the right moments.

While those tech elements are stellar, the film itself can feel too repetitive when we're spending so much time in those scenes. It's mostly Jay looking around and touching and moving past the whale's organs while trying to navigate the way out. The actual story tends to be more engaging in the flashbacks, learning the backstory of Jay's relationship with his father and how the things he taught him are essential in this moment of crisis. These scenes are enhanced by Josh Brolin, who brings a level of authenticity and stubbornness to this easy-to-dislike father figure. We see why he might have been effective in teaching Jay important skills, but we also see why their relationship wasn't always strong.

Austin Abrams is also solid throughout the movie. He shines most in the emotional moments, when he feels the weight of the possibility that he's going to die while being determined not to. Balancing that level of hope and devastation is not an easy task, but he juggles it effectively in the film's most tense moments.

Unfortunately, everything with potential from the first two acts leads to a laughably bad third act. The father-and-son storyline turns overly sappy with bad dialogue, and everything conveniently falls into place in unrealistic ways, all leading to a hard-to-grasp solution. Nothing feels earned. Time feels wasted.

There's plenty to like about the movie, especially from a technical side, but the journey ends up being too inconsistent, and the throughline too poorly thought out. The visual landscape of the whale scenes has a lot to admire, but is also where the film can drag. The flashbacks add levity to the story but are also thrown in disjointedly. The ending has the final say, and it's an actively poor one.

🍿SCORE = 40 / 100