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Survival and Symbiosis in the Belly of a Whale

We've been overdue for a 'Jonah in the Whale' movie.
That is essentially what Whalefall is. And not just through the basic gimmick of a man being swallowed whole by a whale. In the old Hebrew story, Jonah reckons with his life and his faith while in the beast's belly; he had been trying to run away before, is cast into the whale for this, and yet finds new meaning and purpose there -it is for that reason that God eventually rescues him. There is no God in this story (not literally at least), but there is the spirit of an absent father serving much the same function. And the personal reconciliation our protagonist searches for with him is as much a part of this movie as its visceral depiction of being trapped in the body of a whale.
The film is directed by Brian Duffield, based on the novel by Daniel Kraus, who collaborated with Duffield on the screenplay, and it is far more ruminative a piece than expected. It's got plenty of intense action and incredibly detailed depictions of the graphic and harrowing experience at its centre, but surviving the whale is not what the movie is fundamentally about, and it is a richer film as a result.
Austin Abrams stars as Jay, a student out in Iowa who returns home to coastal California in the aftermath of the death of his father Mitt (Josh Brolin) -a frustrating, eccentric marine enthusiast who chose to deal with his terminal cancer by committing suicide at sea. The family is reeling, while Jay contends with complicated emotions stemming from the last time he saw his father and the history of their difficult relationship. Deciding to ease the family’s distress over not having a body to bury, Jay goes out scuba diving into the Pacific Ocean one night in the hopes of recovering his father. While out in the open water however he encounters a sperm whale attacking a giant squid and though he attempts to evade the the struggle his legs get wrapped up in the squid’s tentacles and the whale swallows them both. In the whale’s stomach, and with just an hour of oxygen in his tank, he desperately attempts multiple avenues of escape.
Duffield appears to have done his homework when it comes to the biology of the whale, accounting with this premise for the details of a sperm whale’s narrow esophagus and the functions of each of its stomachs -the third being the one that Jay cannot under any circumstances let himself get sucked into. The interior membranes, the “chewing” functions of the stomach, that absence of breathable air, and of course the other things the whale swallows being in there with Jay -all of it is quite gross and seems quite real. There is at times a struggle for Duffield to articulate the scenario with visual effectiveness -the darkness obscures elements and some of the editing choices around Jay’s attempts to crawl out and his continuing fight for a time with the still-living squid do just the same. But this is counteracted by some of the effects of Jay’s entrapment that are both interesting and thrilling. That fight with the squid is one of course, the film showcasing what even just a touch from such a creature will do to the skin, let alone a bite. There’s also a graphic depiction of Jay’s hand coming into contact with digestive acid -potentially life-threatening injuries that themselves raise greater tension around Jay’s escape.
The juxtaposition of these scenes with the development of his relationship with his father is not incidental. Often the memories of his dad connect in some literal or thematic way to what he is experiencing. And they are curiously dolled out in reverse-chronological order, starting with the last time Jay saw his dad and moving backwards through notable points in their relationship. What’s really interesting is that the movie isn’t concerned with its audience liking Mitt, who is a stubborn, graceless, belligerent character -a bit of an asshole through even Jay’s more positive memories. Abrasive, difficult, and somewhat possessive over his son’s time and energy, we see in clear terms why Jay needed to cut him off, yet we also see a subtle love between them, that makes their confrontations and Mitt’s bullying more complicated. Abrams and Brolin are both very good in conveying these layers and the very honest awkwardness of a son, resigned though a little resentful towards his father’s behaviour, dealing with the embarrassing display of his father’s inability to process his own emotions. It’s a remarkably potent commentary on a certain older trope of masculinity, yet the character is not condemned by this. We see little earnestness or tenderness from Mitt through any of the flashbacks, but we understand that it is there, that Jay can sense it, and that their relationship really meant something to him as a result. An effectively mature portrait of a commonly complex father-son dynamic.
Where it goes in the last act could easily have been played as a joke at the expense of Jay's state of mind and fatalism, but it is instead a rather touching manifestation of the process of grief, Jay finding space within the belly of a whale to reckon with his father's passing and his influence, communing with him in a way he didn't get the chance to before. Abrams is remarkable here, truly capturing an emotional enlightenment with as much verve as his physical crisis. And it curiously facilitates a profound, even sentimental connection with the whale itself. Duffield illustrates it in a very sombre way, with dim atmospheric lighting and touches of magical realism in the context around Jay, such as highlighting the perspective of the whale's echolocation in a manner that evokes cosmic dimensions. It is a very beautiful thing to behold, striking for a movie with such a visceral premise as this.
The title, if you know what it means, provides some clue to the resolution of this story -and there is a beautiful symbolic layer to it as well. It can be said that it is not a melancholy ending -indeed it reaches a very earned space of catharsis. If Whalefall were merely a literal exploration of the reality of how one might survive such a devouring, it might be a curiosity, but one devoid of palpable resonance. It is the intersection of that emphasis with this story of grief that makes it a fascinating and unique movie. Much as it does deal in the vivid grist, there is depth to this whale of a tale -and it makes a calculable difference.

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