Whalefall (dir. Brian Duffield)

by Jack Martin | Oct 18, 2026

Certificate: 15

Running Time: 106 mins

UK Distributor: 20th Century Studios

UK Release Date: 16 October 2026

WHO’S IN WHALEFALL?

Austin Abrams, Josh Brolin, Elisabeth Shue, John Ortiz, Jane Levy, Emily Rudd

WHO’S BEHIND THE CAMERA?

Brian Duffield (director, writer, producer), Daniel Kraus (writer), Jeb Brody, Brian Grazer and Allan Mandelbaum (producers), Joseph Trapanese (composer), Aaron Morton (cinematographer), Pietro Scalia (editor)

WHAT’S IT ABOUT?

A young diver (Abrams) finds himself trapped in the stomach of a sperm whale…

WHAT ARE MY THOUGHTS ON WHALEFALL?

Will Austin Abrams ever again have a day where nothing goes horribly, disastrously wrong for him? The last few films that the Euphoria veteran has appeared in have seen him be subjected to the worst possible things – being chased and potentially infected by mutated creatures in Resident Evil, having professional fixers George Clooney and Brad Pitt target him in Wolfs, and encountering Amy Madigan’s Aunt Gladys in Weapons (though at least for that last one, his character was on a constant heroin high so it can’t have been that daunting an experience for him) – and now, in director and co-writer Brian Duffield’s Whalefall, he’s gone and found himself swallowed whole by a giant whale. Luck, it so seems, is not on his side in the movies.

However, his consistent strength as a performer is apparent in each and every one of them, with this movie – an adaptation of the similarly titled novel by Daniel Kraus, who also co-wrote this film’s screenplay – testing his screen presence more than ever as he delivers a solid performance of utterly terrified energy within the least likely (but also the most intense) of confined spaces.

Abrams plays Jay, a young man who returns to his California hometown a year after his estranged father Mitt (Josh Brolin), a terminally ill seasoned diver, committed suicide by drowning himself in the ocean. Determined to find his body so that the family can properly mourn him, Jay grabs some scuba gear and an oxygen tank with an hour’s worth of O2, and dives deep into the surrounding waters. Except, as already mentioned, he very quickly ends up in the mouth and then the stomach of a massive sperm whale, where he must not only try and find his way out of without running out of that precious oxygen, but also contend with a deadly giant squid that’s been similarly devoured whole, as well as all sorts of other horrific things one can find inside a creature of such scale.

It’s a typical survival movie, one that is far from embarrassed to hit many of the familiar notes one expects from this kind of film, right down to those all-important meaningful flashbacks wherein deceased family members end up giving the beleaguered protagonist some handy advice in his current situation. But while it may lack in pure narrative originality, Whalefall is a very well executed showcase of those tropes, as Duffield brings a heavy claustrophobia to this severely contained environment, as brought to life by largely practical set designs which at times leaves you short for breath from how little room there is for both Abrams’ Jay and the audience. The director also does well to show the immediate dangers of this whale’s interior, such as one diversion into a cavernous area filled with foamy stomach acid that can leave your hands totally mangled after just a few minutes’ dip, with the dial on Jay’s oxygen tank also serving as a ticking clock as we see this character try his damnedest to escape in what may as well be real time.

Audibly, the film is quite excellent, with the sound design capturing all the gurgling and echoey compression one expects to hear inside a whale’s body, along with the intense clicking and wailing that provides this creature with its sonar vision amidst the dark and scary ocean bed. Duffield allows the sharp sound mix to effectively form the film’s soundtrack (no shade to actual composer Joseph Trapanese, who provides some perfectly solid if slightly overwrought musical backing), relying on all these sinister noises to amplify the serious nature of the situation and make the audience feel just as unnerved whilst they go through the simulated motions of being slowly digested by a majestic creature that Captain Ahab would lose his mind over.

It is whatever happens outside of the whale’s stomach where Whalefall is perhaps not as effective. It takes some time to actually get to the central situation, which is entirely necessary since it allows for certain character establishment as we get to know and understand a bit more about Abrams’ Jay and his complicated family history before he makes that dive, but parts of it can seem a little corny, like you’re watching scenes from Free Willy or any other cheesy family drama. The aforementioned flashbacks do give Brolin some formidable material, and the actor makes good use of his limited screen time, though again his contributions seem meticulously designed by the script to tie all too neatly into what’s going on at that exact moment inside the whale, which can make the script feel like one big convenience instead of a wholly credible series of unfortunate events.

But although it succumbs to some of the traditional survival movie pitfalls, and unfolds so overwhelmingly precisely rather than taking some real narrative risks, Whalefall is an achievement of filmmaking prowess where the execution of an otherwise stock script is so strong that it’s worth recommending just to see Duffield at work. His approach to making this whale stomach as small and terrifying as it seems on paper is fascinating, as the director’s use of sets, cinematography, editing and especially sound create a technical marvel which you can’t help but get swallowed up in yourself. It’s just a shame that the script, despite its moments, opts for a mostly straightforward approach rather than doing anything that profound with the genre.

As for Abrams, he’s great as he’s always been – but maybe for his next starring role, he should probably just check into a nice hotel for the week, far away from all the on-screen chaos he’s been subjected to lately.

SO, TO SUM UP…

Whalefall is a narratively familiar and sometimes all too convenient survival movie that is saved by its profound execution, as director Brian Duffield creates a sinister and claustrophobic atmosphere within the stomach of a whale that carries some excellent sound design to make the audience feel as trapped within it as Austin Abrams is.