Whalefall (2026): He's Inside the F*cking Whale!
Everyone experiences grief differently. I’ve experienced several kinds myself, from losing my 21-year-old Siamese cat to losing both sets of grandparents. Each loss was painful, but none was as tragic as losing my father. Grief is a lifelong journey that ebbs and flows, and one thing is certain: it comes in waves. At first, the waves seem endless, knocking you down again and again. Over the past five years, they’ve calmed, but every now and then, I still get knocked down.
Whalefall isn’t marketed as a movie about grief, but I think the whole film is a metaphor for one man’s journey through the grieving process—something I never expected. It may unfold through a literal whale, but as I said, everyone’s journey is different, no matter how wild it gets!
Whalefall follows Jay (Austin Abrams), who, after his father (Josh Brolin) dies, with whom he had a tumultuous relationship, goes scuba diving to find his father’s remains. The ocean is rough, and there are warnings not to swim, but he ignores them and keeps going. He then descends deeper into the ocean and is swallowed whole by a sperm whale. Trapped inside the beast’s stomach, Jay must use skills learned from his dad to survive before his oxygen runs out.
This movie is based on the book of the same name by Daniel Kraus, who also helped develop the screenplay. Horror fans may recognize the director and co-writer Brian Duffield from the Hulu film No One Will Save You (2026) and Underwater (2020).
The performances are solid across the board. Brolin never misses, especially in his portrayal of a father last year in Weapons and now in Whalefall (and he is ripped in this film!). But the star of the show and the person who’s having a great year is Austin Abrams. I can only imagine how intense this performance must have been, scuba diving and then acting as if he were trapped inside a whale. Between Weapons, Resident Evil, and Whalefall, Abrams's ability to adapt to these wildly different characters is a true talent, and he has a bright future ahead.
The cinematographer Aaron Morton is best known to horror fans for Evil Dead (2013), Abigail (2024), and The First Omen (2024), all of which I find excellent. Morton nailed the camera work on this project: the landscapes and ocean shots are stunning, especially when Jay reaches the ocean’s edge and it becomes an abyss. There’s also a third-act shot that is as stunning as it is tragic; it reminded me of the art of Florida-based painter Wyland, with the whales dancing in the water.
I found the CGI pretty outstanding, especially the whale and its insides, and the sea creatures. Some of this requires a level of suspension of disbelief, because if there were no light inside the animal, how could we see what’s happening? The use of jellyfish helps with this issue, making the scene feel a little fantastical, since jellyfish don’t emit much light in reality. It almost elevates the movie to a fairy-tale feel without the whimsical part.
Some moments remind me of the scene in Nope when the crowd gets sucked into Jean Jacket: extremely terrifying and claustrophobic!
Composer Joseph Trapanese's score is incredibly moving and gorgeous. Several flashback scenes unfold while Jay is in the belly, and the music makes them even more impactful, tugging at my heartstrings. I haven’t been this moved by a film in a long time; when music is used well, it can affect me deeply, and it absolutely does here. I can see how some people may find these scenes cheesy because of the inner dialogue, but if you trust the process, the payoff is worth it.
When I say this is the most horrifying movie I’ve seen this year, I mean it. The fear of the open ocean combined with claustrophobia is a recipe for terror. I was on the edge of my seat throughout the second and third acts. There are so few moments of levity that, when I got home, I had to lie on my Shakti mat after a good long sob. The mix of high-anxiety stakes and heartfelt moments wrecked me in the best way possible.
And that could be because I’m riding this rollercoaster of grief, since the main character and I have both lost our fathers. No matter what your relationship with your parent(s) is like, losing one brings a different level of pain. Through Jay’s journey inside the whale, we see how his relationship with his dad developed over his lifetime, including a scene from his birth in which his father promises he’ll try not to mess him up.
Grief can make you do crazy things because it literally changes your brain chemistry. As Jay fights to survive, he talks to his dad, saying the things he wishes he'd said while his father was alive. Grief means learning to live and move forward without your loved one, and we see Jay come to terms with this as he fights for his life.
I laughed, I cried, and I covered my eyes (there’s a decent amount of body horror!); this movie hit all the right chords for me. As ludicrous as the premise sounds, I was so moved by almost everything I saw that the runtime flew by. I don’t have many criticisms, but if I had to nitpick, I would say the rest of the family dynamic could have been used a bit more. I enjoyed the mom and sisters, but they don’t have enough screen time for me to care too much about them. They mostly serve as plot devices, which is fine, but they felt like a fun group who could’ve added a bit more emotional depth to the situation.
Plus, October feels like an odd time to release an ocean thriller survival horror, but it’s still hot outside, and it’s actually a great time to hit the beach—so I suppose it makes sense!
Overall, I rate Whalefall 4.5 out of 5 stars. I hadn’t read the book, so I didn’t know what to expect, but it exceeded what I could've imagined. I saw it in Dolby Vision, and it was absolutely stellar: the colors, the sound, and the massive world were so immersive that I lost myself in the cool, crisp water of the glittering ocean for an hour and 45 minutes.
If you are in the trenches of grief, you may find this movie as cathartic as I did. If not, prepare to be immersed in the ocean’s horrors. Move over, Jaws; there’s a new villain in town, and it’s a sperm whale!
Whalefall is only in theaters nationwide starting October 16.
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