Just when you think Hollywood has run out of ideas (spoiler: it never does), along comes something you’ve really never seen before. Like Whalefall, the new survival thriller from No One Will Save You writer-director Brian Duffield, which has a wild premise: a guy is swallowed whole, alive, by a gigantic sperm whale, and has an hour to free himself from its innards. Think Jaws, meets Moby Dick, meets that terrifying Monstro sequence from Pinocchio. But, like, for real.
With the first Whalefall trailer swimming in from the murky depths, Duffield promises Empire a very different kind of against-the-odds movie. “The Martian is never going to happen to me. Gravity is never going to happen to me. I can very easily elect not be put in a situation like that,” he says. “This, technically, could happen to you.” Just when you thought it was safe to go back in the water…
Here’s the full Whalefall trailer breakdown.
Brawlin’ Brolin
We begin on dry land – and with something just as terrifying as a marine mega-mammal: Josh Brolin in scary mode. “We kind of get all the Josh Brolins in this movie,” promises Duffield of Mitt Gardiner, father of protagonist Jay. “They had a really tense, fraught relationship, which Jay keeps remembering and flashing back to throughout the movie to try to figure out what to do in a very crazy situation.” Expect an intense performance from an actor who never gives anything less. “I’m really excited for people to see what Josh does in the movie, because he’s really special,” promises Duffield.
Lost in Austin
Here’s Jay, played by Weapons standout Austin Abrams – who’ll also be menaced later this year in Zach Cregger’s Resident Evil. Even before any sea creature activity, this shot of him descending into the ocean depths is a real stomach-flipper. “The nature of how we shot, I think a lot of the terror he has was probably genuine,” laughs Duffield. “Almost all the stunts in the movie are done by Austin. It’s always nerve-wracking when your actor is scuba diving and doing stunts. There was never a moment where he was remotely phoned-in. He could not have given more to this movie.” Viewers need to bond with Jay for everything that follows. “It’s kind of a weird two-hander with the audience and Austin, as you’re all trying to figure out how to get home.”
Feeling brine
The trailer now settles into bringing the viewer into one of the film’s most important sequences: the whale attack. (“That entire sequence in the movie is about three times longer than in the trailer,” says Duffield, noting you haven’t seen it all yet.) It’s important to – quite literally – immerse the audience in the deep blue sea. “There’s not a single moment in this whole movie that’s dry-for-wet, or that isn’t Austin in water. Or, if it’s not Austin, it’s a stunt performer, or a digital replication,” Duffield explains. “Every shot has Austin Abrams in it, which we’re really proud of. Sometimes there’s stitching going on, but everything that’s happening is happening to Austin.”
Can you click it?
Still no whale. But, you can hear it, click-click-clicking away – a terrifying signal that it’s out there, not far away. “Sperm whales are the loudest animal in the world. They can kill you with sound,” says Duffield. “That just felt like such a great opportunity – you’re in the murky water in the dark of Monterey, and you would hear them so much sooner than you would see them.” It gives an unearthly vibe to a very earthly experience. “It’s such an alien language, there’s a real pattern to it,” says the filmmaker, but “for Austin, there’s no communicating with something that is talking in such an unusual syntax.”
The hunt is on
Whale alert! If Noah Baumbach’s The Squid And The Whale left you underwhelmed at the lack of aquatic action, Whalefall has you covered. Jay learns the hard way that the ocean is a dangerous place, becoming the unwitting third party in a multi-species hunt with – yep! – a squid and a whale. “I think everyone has this psychological wound from centuries ago of being hunted, and not wanting to be consumed by saber-toothed tigers or some shit,” says Duffield. “We really enjoy playing with that caveman part of your brain. You’re a stranger in a strange land.” Cinema has never seen a sequence quite like this. “My job as a director was to stay out of the way as much as I could, because it’s such a crazy conceit in general,” Duffield notes. “[The approach] was, let’s just have everything play out as naturally, almost documentary-style, as possible.”
Whale jaws
This whale is, to be clear, massive. 85 ft long, specifically – that’s roughly three times bigger than Bruce in Jaws. “He’s a big boy,” Duffield laughs. “He is within the parameters of known whales. He’s probably a little bigger than the average, but they have seen bigger whales. So we made him suitably large.” And he’s pissed off. “He’s a real grisly old guy,” the director teases. Don’t mess.
Tongue twister
If you’re still haunted by those digestion shots in Nope, be warned: Whalefall is about to rip open those wounds. Jay is dragged further and further into the whale’s mouth (with some squiddy assistance) and gulped straight down. “Half of the whale’s head, including its bottom jaw and mouth, was a big animatronic in a tank,” says Duffield of the practical photography. “There was a tongue puppet of sorts, though it wasn’t necessarily puppeteered, because as you can see, there’s not a lot of space in there.” This is the crux of the movie, and no half-measures were taken. “Every trick in the book, we had at some point,” Duffield teases. “Austin is physically in a whale mouth, there’s no green screen in the water. He’s really down there in a scuba suit, breathing real air, screaming, struggling, with jets of current shooting at him.”
Holy ish-mael
Phew. That’s one hell of an intense trailer. While Duffield confirms the final film is “very scary”, he also promises a whale-sized heart to it. “It’s very emotional, in a way that will surprise people,” he says. “At its core, it’s a father-son story about this son who’s lost his dad, who has very conflicted feelings about that, and goes on this bizarre journey.” What shelf would it land on in Blockbuster? “It’s a Whalefall genre in and of itself,” promises the director. “There’s not a lot of romance in it, I guess,” he laughs.
Buckle up
These days, premium formats are a big deal. But the trailer doesn’t point audiences towards IMAX – no, it’s touting a chair-rocking, seat-squirting 4DX experience. “I am really curious about the smell,” Duffield grins. “And I’m very curious about the water, because this is a very, very wet movie, so I don’t know how drenched people will or will not be.” Bring a poncho, just in case.
Whalefall is in cinemas from October 16
