Whalefall: I say, I say, I say, did you hear the one about the man who fell into a whale?
That’s what happens to Jay Gardiner, played by Austin Abrams, who finds himself resident within a form of evil yet again, here amongst the organs of this huge mammal, which is actually a sperm whale, and let’s hope that things don’t… yep, not that far!
But, it ain’t all sunshine and rainbows, as his father, Mitt (Josh Brolin, who also starred with Abrams in Weapons), has passed away following a terminal cancer diagnosis, and Jay regrets that he never spent as much time with his old man as he should have, but he knows how much he loved the open seas, so maybe scuba diving can help him get some closure by being in the same sea?
Shortly into his dive, he encounters a giant squid being tracked by the whale, and since he’s a bit too close, and his equipment gets caught in the melee, he’s also dragged into the huge mouth. No point asking whether he immediately gets free, because the trailer shows him inside the stomach, and in a bit of a pickle, and with some great use of animatronics, nicely tied in with the CGI use to depict it externally.
Although it takes a bit of time to get to the main event, every moment that Jay’s inside the whale is gripping, especially a moment where he glimpses a passing boat and tries to shout for help. The whole experience – split up by flashbacks to time he spent with his father – is a masterclass in suspense, and the thought of being trapped inside it, is more gross than anything Resident Evil delivered!
NOTE: There are no mid- nor post-credit scenes.
Whalefall is in cinemas now, but isn’t yet available to pre-order on Blu-ray or DVD. However, once announced, it will appear on the New DVD Blu-ray 3D and 4K releases UK list.
However, you can buy the novel now.
Detailed specs:
Cert: 
Running time: 106 minutes
Release date: October 9th 2026
Studio: 20th Century Studios
Aspect Ratio: 1.85:1
Cinema: Odeon Trafford Centre
Rating: 7.5/10
Director: Brian Duffield
Producers: Brian Duffield, Brian Grazer, Allan Mandelbaum, Jeb Brody
Screenplay: Brian Duffield, Daniel Kraus
Novel: Daniel Kraus
Music: Joseph Trapanese
Cast
Jay Gardiner: Austin Abrams
Mitt Gardiner: Josh Brolin
Zara Gardiner: Elisabeth Shue
Hewey: John Ortiz
Eva Gardiner: Jane Levy
Nan Gardiner: Emily Rudd
Jay (10 years old): Sam Franich
Jay (6 years old): Ronin Pribble
Jay (2 years old): Grayson Paul Solomine
Reviewer of movies, videogames and music since 1994. Aortic valve operation survivor from the same year. Running DVDfever.co.uk since 2000. Nobel Peace Prize winner 2021.