Whalefall, based on the book by Pulitzer Prize-winning author Daniel Kraus, puts viewers into the belly of the beast. A sort of Jaws-from-the-inside, director Brian Duffield takes an impossible premise and turns it into an intense cinematic thrill, albeit a movie that doesn’t know when to quit.
As the film begins, we see Mitt Gardner (Josh Brolin, one of our national treasures) fishing with his best friend, Huey (Jon Ortiz). The men are quiet and everything seems off. Mitt is there to take his own life; doing so by throwing himself overboard and into the Pacific Ocean. The sequence is effective, as the audience doesn’t know what is happening or why the men will not look at one another. As Mitt steps to the edge of the boat, Ortiz begins to cry and Brolin’s character jumps into the waters.
To open a film of this type in such a manner is tricky, but director Duffield pulls it off. The marvelous moment finds a greater potency in the power of its silence.
Jay (Austin Abrams), is Mitt’s estranged son. The two had a contentious relationship. Mitt was hard on his son, but a few moving flashbacks explain how strongly he loved the boy.
Jay has come home to pay his respects and lend support to his mother (a wasted Elisabeth Shue) and sisters (Jane Levy and Emily Rudd). Though he never reveals his true intentions, Jay’s reason for returning is to find his father’s remains. Mitt’s body was never recovered.
One morning, Jay puts on his scuba gear, dives into the Pacific, and the film truly begins.
Immediately, he encounters a giant squid that is trying to evade a sperm whale. As the whale comes up to swallow its prey, Jay finds himself sucked in and trapped inside the enormous mammal.
The film moves through the insides of the whale as Jay fights against the hands of time. His gauge shows just one hour of air left in his tank. Not only does he worry about suffocation, Jay must fight against his captor’s digestive system as Whalefall puts the audience deep inside a claustrophobic chamber of absolute terror.
The whale’s stomach holds one gooey torture after another. Jay fights against the mucous-filled current of the creature’s digestive tract to thrilling effect. While one could debate the harming effects of touching stomach acid, the filmmakers assure the experience to be a nail-biter.
Austin Abrams is very good. His performance stays strong during Jay’s unimaginable situation. As with his equally impressive turn in this year’s Resident Evil, the actor more than proves his worth as he moves among the madness around him. A character that experiences an ever-changing mixture of emotions, Abrams runs the gamut from scared and defeated to strong and determined. The actor is having quite the year.
The special effects crew should hear their names called when the Oscar nominations are announced in 2027, as should the sound designers. Using practical effects, the whale’s interior is a slimy hellscape of mammal innards while tension is further enhanced by the constant sound of the whale’s beating heart; the rhythms changing with the constant movements.
Whalefall is more than a “monster” movie. The picture’s oppressive atmosphere works extremely well, but Duffield’s screenplay keeps the surprising emotion of Daniel Kraus’s novel. The flashback structure gives us just enough to understand Brolin’s Mitt and his desire to be a great father; a wish somewhat unfulfilled by self doubt and an inability to live in a world that doesn’t respect the ecosystem.
The actor isn’t just earning a paycheck on this one. Brolin is fully committed. The man has grit and has spoken openly about past problems with substance abuse and bad life choices. Josh Brolin is now 58. Long sober and healthy, he wears a rugged, life-lived, handsomeness that adds to his versatile abilities, making his latest character a perfect fit.
The film’s only real stumbling block (and it’s a big demerit) is the over reliance on the connection between Mitt and Jay. In the final act, there is a heartfelt reach for something almost elegiac. The intricacies shall not be spoiled here, but what Jay comes to realize is touching. As Joseph Trampanese’s score swells and Jay’s air tanks move towards empty, the film cashes in on what was revealed in the previous flashbacks. The emotion works. Then, the director keeps going and the music keeps swelling, repeating the same dramatic beats. And then he keeps going. And again. And again.
This final act becomes repetitive while we feel the emotional tether to the audience slipping away, drowning the film’s home stretch in redundancy. An unnecessary coda plays a little silly in the context of what happened to Jay throughout the picture and keeps on course to end with a whimper.
Whalefall is a good film marred by a finale that stretches the limits of the viewer’s good will. Problems aside, such an issue doesn’t ruin the film. The story’s themes of the past fueling the present play quite well and the nerve-racking tale of survival against unbelievable odds is a well-crafted reminder of why we go to the movies.
Whalefall
Written and Directed by Brian Duffield, based on the book by Daniel Kraus
Starring Austin Abrams, Josh Brolin, Elisabeth Shue, John Ortiz, Jane Levy, Emily Rudd
PG-13, 106 Minutes, 20th Century Studios, Imagine Entertainment
