When Jay Gardiner returns home he is haunted by memories of his father Mitt, with whom he had a tricky relationship. Deciding to search the sea for his remains he is swallowed by a sperm whale.
We are shown different parts of Jay’s story in flashback form as he battles the demons left by his father and the rather unique way in which he attempted to raise him. Especially when it came to the sea and scuba diving, Mitt seemed to be somewhat of a legend within the small town.
The build up to Jay heading into the sea did not set everything up very well, when his father used to tease him for his lungs not being strong enough. He also left his gloves, again another huge red flag for what was about to unfold. The scenes within the water were pretty impressive though, as with this type of film it makes you gasp for breath as you are watching.
I certainly was not expecting Daddy issues to be the main theme within this one, which was certainly a very different way to approach it all. Yes, I did Google a couple of days later to find out if you could actually survive being eaten by a whale. Come on, I know I am not the only one who did that. Good information though if you ever do get eaten by a whale you can survive in it’s mouth but have to get out before you go any further, thanks to Whalefall I now know this piece of truly useless information.
Austin Abrams in the leading role works well enough, never easy to be the only actor on screen for the majority of the film. Josh Brolin absolutely needs to take a bow for how incredible his physique is, incredible work as he’s getting older. I am honestly not even bothered if this comes across as shallow as I mean it in a positive and complimentary manner as he looked great!
