No belly aches in the belly of the whale.
“Whalefall” is the second thriller out this fall to star Austin Abrams, after “Resident Evil,” and there’s a difference in intelligence and similarities in struggling for survival. “Resident Evil” had his character unprepared for the zombie genre, whereas “Whalefall” has his character prepared for the lunchtime genre. You know the kind where you end up in the stomach of a sea creature. And both these movies deliver with the right kind of thrills and character development, allowing Abrams to specialize in them.
I would label this a horror movie, as a way for me to continue my right decision of not reviewing “Other Mommy.” The studio wouldn’t screen it for critics and you know that’s a bad sign. Except “Whalefall” is more of a drama and a little bit of a thriller. And it speaks to the character, who has family problems, which he needs to overcome in his situation. But I’m probably getting ahead of myself here.
Abrams stars as Jay, a young man, who returns home from college following the suicidal death of his oceanic father (Josh Brolin). He’s estranged from him, because of his tough teachings about life and the ocean, which is why he doesn’t read his final letter. One day, reflecting on his scuba diving lessons from him, Jay sneaks into the oceans to find his remains, considering that he sunk himself. And just as he’s in too deep, he sees a squid being chased by a sperm whale, and its tentacles grabs him and pulls him into the whale’s mouth. Swallowed alive just like Pinocchio and Jonah.
The movie runs for an hour and 46 minutes, and the young man has about an hour of oxygen left inside his tank. The air inside the whale is toxic, unlike Pinocchio and Geppeto’s small stay. And despite that, the film never makes lame excuses to make it longer than that. It uses memories and learning to thrive in dangerous spots-stomach-churning dangerous spots.
The inside of the whale is just as unpleasant as the inside of Jean Jacket in “Nope.” Except the digestion isn’t that quick. He suffers injuries from squid bites and stomach acid, while temporarily using a jellyfish as a makeshift flashlight to find his way through. Although, at this point, I don’t think “in one end, out the other” would be an ideal choice.
“Whalefall,” based on Daniel Kraus’ novel with the screenplay by himself and director Brian Duffield (“Spontaneous”), is another underwater adventure to be gorgeous photographed. When the young man goes out at sea, it’s cloudy outside, and there’s seaweed and currents trying to push him back. And it all feels creepy, considering my own personal policy of not going in the ocean at night or a cloudy day. Aaron Morton (a frequent collaborator of the director) is the cinematographer for this movie.
At times, we cringe at some of the behaviors within the father-son story, but they are well acted by Abrams and Brolin (both of whom were in last year’s “Weapons”). And there’s a sequence in the film that almost feels like something out of “Moana,” but with whales and Brolin’s voice. Whatever is supposed to happen, maybe that’s the kid just hearing things. Maybe not. But it doesn’t need to sound corny.
I come from a time when whale movies like “Free Willy” and Whale Rider” have won audiences over. And now, “Whalefall” joins the list. Despite the premise, this isn’t a “Jaws” rip-off; it’s a sea drama that uses the thrills to speak to the young scuba diver. Can he see the good in his father? And can he get out of that whale alive? That’s for the movie to know, and for you to find out. Either way, we can’t be drinking salt water.
