Whalefall (film)
2026 film by Brian Duffield
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Whalefall is a 2026 American survival thriller film directed and produced by Brian Duffield, based on the 2023 novel by Daniel Kraus, who co-wrote the script with Duffield. The film follows a scuba diver (Austin Abrams) who, while searching for the remains of his estranged father (Josh Brolin), is swallowed alive by a sperm whale and attempts to escape. Elisabeth Shue, John Ortiz, Jane Levy, and Emily Rudd also star in supporting roles.
- Brian Duffield
- Daniel Kraus
- Brian Grazer
- Brian Duffield
- Jeb Brody
- Allan Mandelbaum
| Whalefall | |
|---|---|
Theatrical release poster | |
| Directed by | Brian Duffield |
| Screenplay by |
|
| Based on | |
| Produced by |
|
| Starring | |
| Cinematography | Aaron Morton |
| Edited by | Pietro Scalia |
| Music by | Joseph Trapanese |
Production companies |
|
| Distributed by | 20th Century Studios |
Release dates |
|
Running time | 106 minutes[1] |
| Country | United States |
| Language | English |
| Budget | $60 million[2] |
| Box office | $3 million[3] |
Whalefall was released in the United States by 20th Century Studios on October 16, 2026. The film received mostly positive reviews from critics.
Plot
College student Jay Gardiner returns home to California following the death of his father, Mitt. The two had a contentious relationship, and Jay refused to speak with Mitt during his terminal illness or read the letter he left behind. Rather than dying in a hospital bed, Mitt chose to commit suicide by tying weights to himself and jumping into the Pacific Ocean. His family resents his decision because it left them without a body to mourn.
Having been trained by Mitt to scuba dive since childhood, Jay sets out to find his father's body, carrying a tank with one hour of oxygen. Near the edge of a submarine canyon, he encounters a struggle between a giant squid and a sperm whale. When the squid wraps a tentacle around his leg, the whale swallows Jay. He awakens in one of the whale's three stomach chambers and fights off the squid, which is eventually crushed by the whale's digestive system. Jay is later sucked into the next stomach chamber, where digestive acid begins to dissolve his skin, and the squid's half-digested beak pierces his hand. Jay manages to climb back into the first chamber and continues his escape.
Using light from a jellyfish, Jay nearly reaches the surface by climbing up the whale's throat when it rises to breathe, but the animal dives again, forcing him back down. A pack of orcas then attacks the whale, prompting other sperm whales to arrive and drive the orcas away. However, Jay's whale is mortally wounded in the encounter.
As his oxygen runs low, Jay begins to accept the possibility of death and imagines conversations with his father, whom he envisions as having become one with the whale. He apologizes for failing to have deeper conversations with Mitt and for refusing to read his letter. Remembering his father's advice, Jay resolves to keep fighting. Using a battery he brought with him and a bag of steel wool found inside the whale, he ignites his remaining oxygen, causing an explosion that propels him through the whale and to the ocean's surface. The blast blows away his left hand, while the whale's corpse sinks slowly into the ocean's depth. A tour boat rescues him and tourniquets his left arm.
Sometime later, Jay and his family gather aboard Mitt's old boat. Jay finally reads the letter his father left him and smiles.
Cast
- Austin Abrams as Jay Gardiner, Mitt and Zara's son
- Josh Brolin as Mitt Gardiner, Jay's estranged father
- Elisabeth Shue as Zara Gardiner, Jay's mother
- John Ortiz as Hewey, Mitt's friend, a retired dentist
- Jane Levy as Eva Gardiner, Mitt and Zara's eldest daughter
- Emily Rudd as Nan Gardiner, Mitt and Zara's youngest daughter and middle child
Production
Development
In August 2023, just before the book's publication, Imagine Entertainment announced that it had struck a pre-emptive film rights deal for Whalefall.[4] In March 2024, 20th Century Studios won a bidding war for distribution for Daniel Kraus' novel and set Brian Duffield as director and co-writer.[5] The following year, Austin Abrams was cast as the lead,[6] with Josh Brolin entering negotiations to join.[7] Brolin would be confirmed by June, with Elisabeth Shue, John Ortiz, Jane Levy, and Emily Rudd also added to the cast.[8]
Filming
Production was granted a tax credit to film in California,[9] with principal photography beginning in Los Angeles on June 9, 2025.[8][10] Filming lasted 62 days, and a practical 12-foot-tall, 18-feet-wide whale was constructed for the shoot. The production received $10.4 million in tax credits off $48.7 million spent on-location.[11] Aaron Morton serves as cinematographer, having previously collaborated with Duffield on No One Will Save You and Spontaneous.[12] Scenes were shot at Monterey Peninsula on June 17.[13] Producers debated shooting in Louisiana, where the tax incentives are slightly higher, but opted to film around Los Angeles to have the cast and crew able to remain close to their homes during filming.[11]
Music
Joseph Trapanese composed the score for the film.[14]
Release
Whalefall premiered in London on October 5, 2026, and it was theatrically released in the United States on October 16, by 20th Century Studios.[15][16]
It was also screened in Sitges Collection on October 14, 2026 at the 59th Sitges Film Festival,[17] and in the Grand Public section of the 21st Rome Film Festival in October 2026.[18]
Reception
Box office
In the United States and Canada, Whalefall was released alongside Street Fighter, You Can See Everything, and Sense and Sensibility, and is projected to gross $10–12 million from 3,065 theaters in its opening weekend.[2][19] The film made $3 million on its first day, including $900,000 from Thursday night previews.[20]
Critical response
On the review aggregator website Rotten Tomatoes, 71% of 143 critics' reviews are positive, with an average rating of 6.4/10. The website's consensus reads: "Unforgettably visceral whenever it isn't getting mired in flashbacks, Whalefall's freaky concept requires suspension of disbelief that is rewarded with some of the most unusual set pieces the survival thriller genre has to offer."[21] Metacritic, which uses a weighted average, assigned the film a score of 59 out of 100, based on 37 critics, indicating "mixed or average" reviews.[22] Audiences polled by CinemaScore gave the film an average grade of "B" on an A+ to F scale.[20]
Zachary Lee of RogerEbert.com gave Whalefall three and a half stars out of four, and praised it for its claustrophobic suspense, imaginative visual spectacle, and exploration of grief and spirituality. Lee highlighted Duffield's ability to combine a high-concept survival thriller with deeper existential themes, describing the film as a "mind-bending joyride" that takes audiences to "uncharted cinematic depths."[23] Nikki Baughan of Screen Daily gave the film a positive review, praising Abrams' lead performance, the intense visuals, and the emotional depth underlying its unusual survival premise. Baughan noted that Abrams carries much of the film through its increasingly outlandish developments, while the story's emotional core elevates it beyond its high-concept premise.[24] Phil de Semlyen of Time Out awarded the film four out of five stars, describing it as a fast-paced and effective underwater thriller. He praised Duffield's direction, the claustrophobic atmosphere, and the film's body-horror sequences, noting that the whale's interior provides a distinctive setting for a tense race against time.[25] Financial Times praised the film's striking visual effects, imaginative depiction of the whale's interior, and Abrams' performance, but criticized the emotional storyline involving Jay's relationship with his deceased father as overly sentimental.[26] Johnny Oleksinski, of the New York Post criticized the movie's inability to engage with the audience, but praised Abrams performance.
