Poster © 20th Century Studios. Shown at reduced size for review and commentary.
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GenreAdventure, Drama & Thriller
RatedPG-13
Runtime1 hr 46 mins
ReleasedOctober 16, 2026
StreamingIn theaters now
DirectorBrian Duffield
StarringAustin Abrams, Josh Brolin, Elisabeth Shue
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Whalefall (2026)
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| WWikipedia | LLetterboxd |
| TTMDB | +Add to Top 8 |
| Whalefall's Details | |
| Genre | Adventure, Drama & Thriller |
| Rated | PG-13 |
| Released | 10/05/2026 (London); 10/16/2026 (United States) |
| Streaming | In theaters now. |
| Running Time | 1 hr 46 mins |
| Budget | $60M (reported) |
| Box Office | Updated daily from Box Office Mojo. See the numbers below. |
| Based On | Whalefall by Daniel Kraus |
| Country | United States |
| Language | English |
| Whalefall's Interests | |
| General | Scuba gear, air gauges, whale anatomy. |
| Music | Whale song, unfortunately. |
| Movies | Pinocchio, 127 Hours. |
| Television | Blue Planet, with your eyes closed. |
| Heroes | Anyone who checks their oxygen twice. |
| Whalefall's Crew | |
| Director | Brian Duffield |
| Writers | Brian Duffield, Daniel Kraus |
| Producers | Brian Grazer, Brian Duffield, Jeb Brody, Allan Mandelbaum |
| Cinematography | Aaron Morton |
| Music | Joseph Trapanese |
| Edited By | Pietro Scalia |
| Production | 20th Century Studios, Imagine Entertainment, Jurassic Party Productions |
| Distributed By | 20th Century Studios |
Can a guy stuck inside a whale keep you stressed for a whole movie? Whalefall’s answer is about half the movie. When it sticks with Jay in the dark, it’s legit gnarly: stomach acid, a tank running low, and a teenager trying to think straight inside a living submarine. Austin Abrams sells the panic with almost nobody to act against. The trouble is that every time the tension peaks, the movie swims off to a flashback. Josh Brolin plays Jay’s dad as a hard, difficult man, and he’s great, but those memories keep letting the air out of the main event. You end up stuck between a gross-out survival thriller and a family drama, and neither gets enough room. Critics landed at 71% on Rotten Tomatoes and opening crowds gave it a B CinemaScore, which feels about right. A 6.1 because the core idea is wild and the inside of that whale looks convincing, but the cutaways keep pulling the plug. $346 says you see a whale watching ad next summer and politely decline.
What works: Austin Abrams carries long stretches alone, and the scenes inside the whale are claustrophobic, gross and genuinely tense.
What doesn’t: The flashbacks keep cutting in right when the tension peaks, so the survival story and the family drama both feel shortchanged.
Who it’s for: Survival thriller fans who like a ridiculous premise played straight, and anyone with complicated feelings about their dad.
Spoilers
Orcas attack the whale and leave it dying as it rises toward the surface. Jay uses survival tricks his father taught him to rig a blast from his own gear and break out, and a research boat pulls him from the water before he reunites with his family.
Jay (Austin Abrams) dives into the ocean looking for his father's remains and gets swallowed whole by a sperm whale. He has about an hour of air and no good options. Josh Brolin and Elisabeth Shue play his parents. Brian Duffield directs, based on Daniel Kraus's novel. One hundred and six minutes inside a whale. That's the pitch. That's the whole pitch.
Anyone who read Jonah and thought, I'd handle it better.
| Austin Abrams | Jay Gardiner |
| Josh Brolin | Mitt Gardiner |
| Elisabeth Shue | Zara Gardiner |
| John Ortiz | Hewey |
| Jane Levy | Eva Gardiner |
| Emily Rudd | Nan Gardiner |
- (cur | prev) 14:30, 18 October 2026 DataBot +280 Numbers refreshed: Worldwide box office $3M; Domestic box office $3M; Profit / loss (est.) -$88.5M; box office chart updated; Rotten Tomatoes critics 71% (143 reviews) → 71% (148 reviews); IMDb users 6.8 / 10 (1,267 votes) → 6.8 / 10 (2,382 votes); movie.guru score 5.0 → 5.1.
- (cur | prev) 14:30, 17 October 2026 DataBot +120 Numbers refreshed: CinemaScore B; CinemaScore B; movie.guru score 5.8 → 5.0.
- (cur | prev) 14:30, 16 October 2026 DataBot +40 Numbers refreshed: score credits updated.
- (cur | prev) 14:30, 15 October 2026 DataBot +80 Numbers refreshed: Rotten Tomatoes 70%; RT 70% (102 reviews).
- (cur | prev) 12:00, 15 October 2026 DataBot +2,000 Profile created from Wikipedia and Box Office Mojo: cast, crew, release dates, budget, official trailer.