The Very Freaky Whalefall Confirms That Getting Swallowed by a Whale Is No Fun: Review

Four months ago, 20th Century Studios released a teaser trailer for the movie Whalefall with an instantly iconic tagline: “The odds of being swallowed alive by a whale are not zero.” What a terrifying fact, especially after seeing the film. Not zero. Of course, the odds of it happening are still astronomically small, but that doesn’t do Austin Abrams any favors as the poor bastard who falls prey to statistics — and a sperm whale. Based on the novel by Daniel Klaus, Whalefall is a story of a fractured father/son relationship tangled up in a tale of survival. The first portion of the movie plays out its character story with some efficiency, opening with a brief prelude depicting the final moments of Mitt (Josh Brolin), a tough-as-nails diver beloved by everyone except his son Jay (Abrams). One year after Mitt’s death, Jay returns from college to visit his mother and sisters and honor the anniversary. His actual reason for coming home, though, becomes clear when he sneaks out early in the morning for a surreptitious dive off the coast of Monterey, hoping that he might be able to find some remnant of his father’s remains out in the ocean. The curse of a memorable premise like Whalefall...