This fall, while we all patiently await new movies from Marvel, DC, and more, the most exciting movie might be about a whale. A very, very hungry whale. Friends, get ready for Whalefall.
Based on a 2023 novel by Daniel Kraus, Whalefall is co-written and directed by Brian Duffield. It stars Austin Abrams (Weapons, the upcoming Resident Evil), who is searching for the remains of his father (Josh Brolin) and subsequently finds himself swallowed by a sperm whale. Think Pinocchio, without the lying. And a lot more digestion.
The film opens on October 16, but here’s the dynamite first trailer that really sells the intensity and terror of this scenario. Check it out.
What I love most about this trailer is that the bulk of it is one continuous scene. It’s as if to say, “Yeah, there’s a story here. But you want to see a man swallowed by a whale, right? Well, we’re going to deliver that right now.”
But that kind of fun is expected from Duffield, who previously directed two excellent, underrated genre films—Spontaneous and No One Will Save You. This is his biggest project yet, both figuratively and literally. Figuratively, because a movie starring a massive whale is simply big, and we have no idea how you even start to do this. And literally, because his last film was released direct to Hulu, and Disney is going full theatrical with this one. We think it has the potential, if it lives up to that trailer, to be a real sleeper hit.
Earlier this year, Disney debuted similar footage from the film at CinemaCon in Las Vegas. And after the hype from seeing the first trailer for Avengers: Doomsday wore off, the film most people were talking about was Whalefall. It’s got one of those simple, awesome premises that fills you with curiosity and horror in equal measure. We can’t wait to see how it all turns out.
Co-starring Elisabeth Shue and John Ortiz, Whalefall opens October 16.
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