We know you have two questions about Whalefall, so we’ll answer them. First, this is a movie about a diver getting swallowed by a whale. Second, this is not — and we repeat, not — a grittier, darker reboot of Jonah: A VeggieTales Movie. No, this is Brian Duffield’s adaptation of the now-Pulitzer Prize-winning author Daniel Kraus’ novel, which is absolutely incredible. If you wished a tightly-plotted Andy Weir novel were truly, undisputably literary, you might wind up with something like that book, which is as horrifying and meticulously detailed as it is utterly gorgeous (Kraus co-wrote The Shape of Water and also penned the fabulous Angel Down, which we also highly recommend).
If nothing else, it looks like Duffield, who blew us away with No One Will Save You back in 2023, has got the tone right, and he’s got a pair of fantastic leads in Austin Abrams and Josh Brolin, whose son-father bond makes the story resonate far beyond the “oh my god a whale’s stomach will do what?” factor. Zombie Fox dropped a teaser trailer for the film earlier on Tuesday, and it may very well ruin your afternoon, so make sure you eat lunch before you watch.
Peep it:
Here’s a synopsis for Whalefall (although you can, and should, go out and read the book):
“Following the death of his father (Josh Brolin), Jay Gardiner (Austin Abrams) goes diving off the central Coast of California in search of his remains, but is swallowed by a massive sperm whale. While trapped inside its belly with only one hour of oxygen left, Jay comes to realize that the hard-earned lessons his father imparted may be the key to his escape.”
Whalefall arrives in theaters on October 16. There is no way in hell this is getting a PG-13, so bring a barf bag. And some tissues.