Whalefall Review

The first sign that made me think this movie might be bad: shitty trailers. There’s a new Hunger Games movie coming out. We’re still doing these? I can only hear about the capital and how the hunger games are a bad thing so many times. I thought we already did the story on this. Next trailer was for a Revolutionary war time musical? This was when I really feared what kind of movie I was in store for.

The opening of Whalefall didn’t immediately hook me. Slow scene of Josh Brolin coughing, then descending into the ocean with a weighted belt. Another slow scene of Austin Abrams’ character looking longingly out the window while his mom drives. While the opening didn’t grab me, that’s not to say there’s nothing of value before we get to the whale stuff. The family drama is solid enough, highlighted by a conversation between the three siblings in the kitchen. 

It is when the waves are introduced that the movie reminds me it’s going to scare the shit out of me. And scare the shit out of me it does. The sequence of Austin Abrams getting swallowed by the whale is worth the price of admission by itself. The scene follows a rather calming stretch of Abrams diving deeper into the ocean, exploring different plants and fish. As someone who doesn’t get to scan the bottom of the ocean floor, I found myself gripped to the screen. That’s when the movie takes its first turn. It’s too quiet. A squid comes at Austin Abrams, which will be the least of his problems. The squid is being pursued by a whale. You can fill in the rest. My jaw was on the floor. Once inside the whale, we are surrounded by the walls of the whale's stomach for nearly the rest of the movie. To describe the movie in any word other than claustrophobic would be doing a disservice to the film. The word uncomfortable also comes to mind. From here, Austin is left to carry the movie which he does a great job of. No one to riff off of, besides a jellyfish that he uses as a makeshift lantern.

The movie cuts between scenes of Abrams’ character trying to escape the whale, with different moments he had with his father where the advice given to him directly applies to his situation, following the Slumdog Millionaire approach. This works fine, while not always holding my full attention. The themes do get pretty heavy-handed, particularly in conversations Abrams has with Brolin’s ghost or memory inside the whale. I think I had a pretty good idea of how these characters felt in this moment. I didn’t need everything so blatantly spelled out. Brolin’s line “the whale is forever” in particular got a laugh out of me. The third act in general does also go a bit off the rails, getting a bit more spiritual than the grounded tone established in the first two acts. The whale literally swims up so Abrams has a chance of escaping? I don't know. I was ready to go at that point.

In the end, you get what you came for. A guy gets swallowed by a whale and gets out. Abrams really sells it too in these last couple scenes. First when he’s rescued. The laugh he hits when he’s pulled out of the water lies somewhere between being dangerously elated to be alive, a fuck you to the whale, mixed with the sheer horror and terror over the lifelong trauma he endured in the past hour. The next is when he finally reads the letter his father left him. We don't get to see what was written. Abrams' smile and laugh through tears tells the whole story. I had a good time with Whalefall. Do I need to see it again? No. But I’m glad I saw it. The middle was a bit too whale stomachach-ey for me to want to stomach a second time, but the initial swallowing and the long awaited escape captivated me immensely. I’ll give the movie a 6/10. Better than your average middle of the road movie, but not good enough to be a must see recommendation.