Jarvis you ever hear the tale of Jonah? – Iron Man/Tony Stark
Over the years, we’ve seen movies about exploring the human body. We’ve seen Raquel Welch & Donald Pleasence shrink and inject their way inside a man’s body to remove a bullet inside his brain. Dennis Quaid inadvertently gets injected inside Martin Short’s body off of “Innerspace” because the bad guys want to steal a microchip installed in the ship Mr. Quaid pilots. Inside Bill Murray’s body Chris Rock & David Hyde Pierce team up to prevent a deadly virus played by Laurence Fishburne from killing Bill.
We’re about to embark the belly of the beast. Which is a whale. Pinocchio & Geppetto got swallowed by a whale and made it out. This time, it ain’t a fairy tale. What if one guy named, Jay gets swallowed by a sperm whale? He has an hour of oxygen left so he must find a way out or he’s screwed. The Premise I’m referring to is none other than “Whalefall.”
Based on the book of the same name, the film earned good reviews from critics and movie goers alike. Now that’s its Halloween Month, it think it’s a good time to break down the pros and cons if Whalefall’s worth your spare time. This one counts as a horror film.
Today’s review contains no SPOILERS.
Float & Sink Aspects
Float: Austin Abrams (Ethan Daley from Euphoria) did a fantastic job for his performance.
Josh Brolin did a decent job for his performance.
Brian Duffield did a good job directing. He also co-wrote the script with Daniel Kraus. The latter wrote the novel. Brian & Daniel did their homework on sperm whale anatomy. Multiple chambers direct into a stomach. Muscle walls crush what’s eaten before it the meal goes to the stomach.
Elisabeth Shue has a small role as Jay’s mother. It’s funny because she and Josh Brolin were in “Hollow Man.”
Brian Grazer served as a producer courtesy of his production company, Imagine Entertainment.
Scare Factor heavily relies on a claustrophobic atmosphere making it look like you’re trapped with Jay. I was on the edge of my seat.
Practical Effects were heavily involved creating the inside of the Whale’s multiple chambers, muscle walls and the stomach.
Sound Effects borrow a real life sperm whale’s audio recordings. Most notably, echolocation clicks. Josh Brolin’s heartbeats were recorded for the Whale’s heart.
Cinematography shot in good condition.
Pacing wasn’t a slow burn.
Over 70 flashbacks from the book are removed. It’s fine. It would’ve been a pain in the rear to experience back and forth family drama and desperate escape attempts. It ain’t easy adapting a book into a film. Thankfully, the film’s compressed as a father-and-son story. We get to know Jay and his sickly father, Mitt. Jay learned a lot of scuba diving from his dad. The reason Jay went scuba diving after his father’s death is to recover his remains in the ocean.
Sink: The chances of surviving inside a whale’s digestive tract are highly improbable in real life. I did my research on scientific accuracy. “Mythbusters” should hypothetically breakdown the concept of a person equipped with an oxygen tank has a hour left until time runs out
The Third Acts gets weird. Somehow, Jay talks to the Whale who has his father’s voice. I know he’s hallucinating, but this never happened in the book. Ruins the book’s realistic atmosphere.
The Final Verdict: B, FOR BIGGER AND BETTER!
Is Whalefall worth your spare time? Yes it is. I really enjoyed this unique survival thriller. Horror movie fans are eating good this year . We got “Send Help,” “28 Years Later: The Bone Temple” & “Backrooms.” I’m really looking forward to seeing Robert Eggers’ upcoming “Werewulf.” I hope it’s as good as “Nosferatu.”
Which horror movies should I review next? Please leave a comment and don’t forget to subscribe.
