“Whalefall” is directed by Brian Duffield (Spontaneous, No One Will Save You) and stars Austin Abrams (Brad’s Status, Do Revenge), Josh Brolin (Weapons, Avengers: Infinity War), Elisabeth Shue (Back to the Future Part II, The Karate Kid), and John Ortiz (Fast & Furious, Jack Goes Boating). This film is based on a book written by Daniel Kraus, who co-wrote the film alongside Duffield. The story follows a scuba diver who is looking for his father’s remains in the ocean. While the diver is underwater, he is swallowed by a sperm whale. Now in a tough situation, he has an hour to come up with a way to exit the whale before his oxygen runs out.

“Whalefall” has one of the most compelling pitches for a movie I have seen this year. Essentially, it follows a man who is scuba diving in the ocean, and in a sudden turn of events, he is swallowed by a whale. The pitch very much screamed “127 Hours” but in the ocean. It is a survival movie where our protagonist is constantly in a cramped space, time is not on his side, and he has to do anything he can to escape.

Upon hearing early reviews of the film, I found out “Whalefall” was based on a book. I have not read the book, and do not know when I will get around to it. But I hope it is better than this movie.

This is not to say that the movie is the worst I have ever seen. In fact, as an October movie, this is not super scary, but it is somewhat appropriate for this to release at such a time. I think “Whalefall” ultimately works somewhat better as a summer release because there is a lot of time spent in water, but still. I could somewhat defend the film being released in October because the moments in the water, particularly before we see the whale, are hypnotically shiver-inducing. I have never been scuba diving, and this movie sort of reminds me of why that is the case.

Speaking of shiver-inducing, the moment we see our main protagonist, Jay Gardiner, encounter the whale itself is very well done. If you have a chance to witness “Whalefall” on the big screen, the whale encounter may justify the price of admission. The whale itself is menacing. Unlike say the shark in “Jaws,” the whale never comes off as an outright enemy and more so an obstacle. Even when we see Gardiner end up in the whale’s mouth, that sentiment stands. The movie never makes me hate the whale, but it nevertheless puts me in a position where I want the hero to succeed against said whale.

Even some of the moments inside the whale are somewhat tense. The movie is not short on conflict and keeps its protagonist, and therefore the audience, on their toes. The movie does a good job at establishing a ticking clock as well. Not just because Gardiner spends time inside a whale, but because he only has a certain amount of oxygen in his tank.

Does “Whalefall” give what it promises in the marketing? Absolutely. But it has an odd way of going about it. The film is presented in a non-linear fashion and brings forth maybe the oddest character ever given by Josh Brolin. Note that I said character and not performance. Brolin did okay with the material given to him.

“Whalefall” reminds me quite a bit of “The Lion King,” partially because it is a story centered around a father-son relationship, even if that father is technically dead throughout the film. In fact, part of the film, prior to the whale encounter, sees Gardiner talking with other people and it is established that his father left a positive impact on those people. Eventually we see Gardiner go into the water specifically to find his father’s remains.

When we see parts of the father and son’s relationship play out, that is all presented through flashbacks. This does make sense to a logistical degree. If you are all seeing this post on November 5th, 2026, I am very much alive, so I do not what it is like to experience death, but there is a saying that life flashes before your eyes as you’re about to die, and this movie seems to deliver an interpretation of that.

Much like “The Lion King,” “Whalefall” effectively shows the complication between the father and son. The two did not always see eye to eye on everything, but they still admired each other.

For those who have seen “The Lion King,” you may recall there is a scene towards the final act where Simba, who is at a low point, talks to the ghost of his father, Mufasa. The latter winds up giving his son some words of encouragement so he can confidently progress through the rest of his journey. It is a fantastic scene and cements the film as one of the best animations of all time. There are quite a few moments through “Whalefall” where we see a somewhat similar version of that. We see the main protagonist having hallucinations and sometimes “talking” to his father. If this movie perhaps had better material to back it up or executed certain parts in a superior way I may have been more onboard with this concept. But these hallucinations wind up sometimes feeling cheesy. The dialogue does not really help much either. These moments at least progress the story forward to a certain degree, but it does not change the fact that they feel weird before said progression occurs.

I said before that this movie keeps you on your toes, and it does. But the flashback moments sometimes feel distracting or do not exactly blend with the tone the movie might be aiming for. Maybe the people behind the film thought it would be best to give the movie some balance by slowing things down a bit, but it resulted in a few somewhat boring moments.

This is definitely a layered film because there is a whole father-son element. There is a story involving the son sort of “reuniting with his deceased father” if that makes any sense. Perhaps that is the heart of the film. But in my mind, part of me wonders if this movie would have been more entertaining if it were simplified. Maybe if it just happened to be about a scuba diver trying to get out of a whale, I would be more invested. There is nothing outside that comes off as a distraction or tonally inconsistent. One could argue that this keeps the film from being feature-length, and therefore would perhaps limit its box office potential as there is less prestige, if you want to call it that. Though I am not sure how much the feature-length runtime is helping as “Whalefall” has now been out for several weeks and has only made more than half of its $60 million budget.

Maybe the father-son element works great in the book. And perhaps we would live in a reality where book loyalists and fans would protest against this movie for taking the father-son relationship out of the movie. Though it also goes to show that is sometimes hard to adapt certain things for the screen. I saw “Project Hail Mary” earlier this year, and despite the crew taking things out of the book that I enjoyed, this resulted in one of my favorite films of the decade. If anything, maybe I would pick up a copy of the “Whalefall” book in my spare time because of the curiosity factor. Maybe it really is significantly better than the movie. But you only have one chance to make a first impression, and this movie did not impress me.

In the end, “Whalefall” is not the most bottom of the barrel film I have ever seen, but it definitely could have been better. Parts of it are exciting, while others are noticeably less so. The actors do an okay job with the material given to them. There is definitely no shortage of tension from scene to scene. But while the movie itself isn’t outright boring, there are most definitely dull moments that stood out. Going into this film, the pitch screamed “127 Hours” but in the ocean. If there is a takeaway from this review, it is that I recommend you watch “127 Hours” before “Whalefall.” Maybe it is unfair of me to put these two together, because “127 Hours” is based on true events whereas “Whalefall” is based on a book, but it does not change that I found the former more compelling than the latter. I am going to give “Whalefall” a 4/10.

“Whalefall” is now playing in theaters. Tickets are available now.

Thanks for reading this review! If you enjoyed this written review, check out my latest video review! The latest episode of Movie Requests is now online! This episode’s special guest is comedian Adam Conover, who recommended I should watch “To Live and Die in L.A..” This is my first William Friedkin film. I am glad to finally get around to his filmography, so I thank Conover for recommending this film to me. Did I enjoy it? Click the video above to find out! And if you enjoy the video, leave a like, subscribe to my YouTube channel and hit the notification bell! Movie Requests is being made in honor of Scene Before’s 10th anniversary. I have two more guests to tackle until the series comes to a close. Look forward to those episodes coming soon!

My next review is going to be for “Wildwood!” Stay tuned! Also coming soon, I will be sharing my thoughts on “Clayface” and “You Can See Everything!” If you want to see these reviews and more from Scene Before, follow the blog either with an email or WordPress account! Also, check out the official Facebook page! I want to know, did you see “Whalefall?” What did you think about it? Or, have you ever been scuba diving? Is it a one-time thing for you or can you not get enough of it? Let me know down below! Scene Before is your click to the flicks!