r/movies • u/LiteraryBoner Jackie Chan box set, know what I'm sayin? • 1d ago
Official Discussion Official Discussion - Whalefall [SPOILERS] Spoiler
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Whalefall (2026)
Summary
A scuba diver searching for his father's remains off the California coast is swallowed by an enormous sperm whale. Trapped inside the whale with only one hour of oxygen remaining, he must draw on the lessons his father taught him to find a way out and survive.
Director
Brian Duffield
Writer
Brian Duffield, Daniel Kraus
Cast
- Austin Abrams as Jay Gardiner
- Josh Brolin as Mitt Gardiner
- Elisabeth Shue
- Jane Levy
- Emily Rudd
- John Ortiz
Rotten Tomatoes: TBD
Metacritic: TBD
VOD / Release
October 16, 2026 (Theatrical)
Trailer
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u/TheHouseOfGryffindor 1d ago
Dude uses a jellyfish as a flashlight, and the whale becomes such a metaphor for his dad it starts talking to him. It certainly is a movie.
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u/Pogfruit 1d ago
I once saw a dude catch and use jellyfish jelly in a burger
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u/animatedradio 1d ago
Misread that as fleshlight
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u/Youpi_Yeah 1d ago
I mean, even 127 Hours has a sort of masturbation scene in it. If you told me that the guy trapped in a whale tries to jerk it at some point I wouldn’t be entirely surprised.
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u/Witty-Play9499 1h ago
127 hours has a masturbation scene in it ? Am i misremembering the movie ? Ism't it about a guy who gets his hand stuck because a boulder falls on it?
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u/ihatedeer 1d ago
I mean, that is the book. I’ve not seen it; is it bad?
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u/nourez 1d ago
It changes almost nothing from the book beyond streamlining a bit of the flashback sequences for time. If you enjoyed the book, then you'll like the movie.
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u/chrisychris- 1d ago
I kinda loved it actually. I recommend it! Way better than Street Fighter.
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u/RipInPepz 1d ago
Is that… is that the bar for today’s standards? Better or worse than street fighter?
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u/rilertiley19 1d ago
Makes sense to compare them since they both just came out at the same time.
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u/RipInPepz 1d ago
Doesn’t make sense to me I guess. When I saw LOTR Return of the King in theaters, I didn’t compare it to Bad Santa. I compared it to other notable action adventure films of the era.
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u/chrisychris- 1d ago
I saw them both in the same night and yes people are usually interested whether they should shell out $20 for current blockbuster over a movie like Whalefall.
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u/Gaelfling 1d ago
Wow. They brought the whale talking into the movie? That was the part I hated most in the book.
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u/chrisychris- 1d ago
It was Josh Brolin’s voice so it was pretty comforting to hear Thanos resolving familial matters via whale.
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u/lobolovr6769 1d ago
Yeah surprisingly I thought it worked…they only did it when he was getting really close to running out of oxygen so it’d make sense he’d hear his dad’s voice
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u/WithBlackStripes 1d ago
the squid fight was awesome and the way his hands start burning from the whale's stomach acid was brutal. rest of the movie kind of fell flat for me, but either way austin abrams is super fun to watch on screen.
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u/Intelligent_Toe_677 17h ago
Thoughts from someone who read the book in no particular order:
-I think they went light on the dad. In the book he is so much more of a self destructive asshole that drags Jay down with him. It's much more understandable why Jay left and was distant even as his dad was dying of cancer.
-They also went light on the horror elements of the story. This was more thriller than horror but in the book it goes full body horror. When he emerges from the whale in the book both his ears are blown, the neck injury from beaky is almost fatal, and his hand is fully flayed off before he blows it off.
-The sonar scene with the killer whales was the coolest scene in the movie and I wish there was more of that.
-The hallucinations inside the whale work better in the movie because its toned down. In the book it gets... weird. Very metaphysical meaning of life stuff that I'm glad was cut out
Overall, enjoyable 7/10 movie that does not help my fear of the deep ocean whatsoever.
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u/ninth_reddit_account 11h ago
I only saw the movie, and i was surprised by how much of a body horror film it was for not being a body horror film.
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u/latinameow 16h ago
Seeing the movie in like 20 mins but definitely reading the book after 👀 I’m intrigued lol
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u/ThrowingChicken 1d ago
For such a dumb silly premise I didn’t expect it to be so sentimental, and, above all else, so beautifully shot at times.
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u/chrisychris- 1d ago
The entire scene with the orcas was so pretty and mesmerizing. Straight out of Avatar’s Pandora. I was thinking earlier today how it must be like navigating the ocean with no light and then they showed exactly that, loved it. You’re just swimming and then you get randomly jumped by a pod of orcas. Terrifying.
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u/dplans455 21h ago
The orca pod attacking a bull sperm whale is surprisingly the most unrealistic part of the entire movie.
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u/Oddbrain_ 16h ago
It reminded me of my dad and I’s relationship so I was trying hard to hide my tears lol
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u/ThrowingChicken 16h ago
I saw it with my brother’s kid, who died a few years ago. So my nephew and I always reference movies like this as “Dead dad movies”.
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u/Joopaloop16 1d ago
Austin Abrams and Josh Brolin are a great pairing here. I feel like I got what I paid for so I’m content.
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u/TheFiveDees 1d ago
Wanted to highlight one of my favorite effects shots, which was the deep sea echolocation. It's really neat to get an idea of what it might be like to possess that ability.
Also fuck orcas man. So glad we're not on the menu...for now
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u/BallinBrown23 1d ago
I spent a lot of this film thinking about what the Whale must be thinking with everything going on inside of its throat and stomach. “That’s a spicy squid”
I didn’t think squids could hold such a personal grudge like this one did. It also doesn’t matter where you go or what happens to you, you’ll never be able to escape family trauma.
I did enjoy how it became gang warfare between whales and the movie could have quickly become a different movie with all the blood near the end. He could have had to fend off sharks too.
Lastly this is kind of a PSA that littering in the ocean is okay because you never know if that garbage could save someone who has been swallowed by a whale, life.
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u/Mysterious_Remote584 1d ago
Do SCUBA divers not have flashlights? I was so confused by the need to use bioluminescence for everything.
I'm scared of the ocean so I don't know anything about diving, but I just kind of assumed you needed a flashlight to see in the depths.
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u/chrisychris- 1d ago
I think he just wasn’t too prepared. If he missed the gloves in the rush I’m sure he missed a couple other essentials. Still strange though I agree. Was the light in the stomach acid also bioluminescence or was that creative license you think?
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u/Mysterious_Remote584 1d ago
I understand forgetting the gloves, but I just kinda figured that forgetting a flashlight would be like forgetting the oxygen tank - you just wouldn't be able to see and therefore couldn't dive.
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u/caty0325 1d ago
I don't really know anything about scuba diving, but wouldn't Jay have had a diving knife with him? Or if he did have it, did it get lost when the whale swallowed him?
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u/SpooderMom79 22h ago
In the book his dad looks down on divers carrying knives because it means they don’t “trust” the ocean. He never allowed his son to carry a knife on dives and the kid maintains the habit.
The book weighs on this a fair bit since divers usually carry a knife - there are knives specifically made for it - and if he had one he could have easily cut himself loose from the squid’s grip and never would have been swallowed.
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u/dukefett 16h ago
Almost surprised they didn’t include that given the amount of scenes where he was talking diving and the ocean to him
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u/SoloGhosts512 21h ago
Man it got to a point I wished Austin Abrams was back in Raccoon City because this was more brutal for his character. He is an incredible actor. The screams when being swallowed and the crying scene when rescued was incredible acting. IMO he’s now up there with some of the other actors of his generation like Chalamet, Austin Butler etc
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u/kytos11 3h ago
I don’t think anyone in my theatre really knew what to expect for the actual whale swallowing scene…but damn with the way the theatre went dead silent as he was screaming for his life, it wasn’t that. It was way more brutal/haunting than I’d imagined, especially since the trailer about it had been (unintentionally) funny. Austin definitely got more manhandled in this one than in Resident Evil
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u/Square_Comment_9799 1d ago
Maybe I'm just easily entertained but I liked this movie a lot more than the internet made me believe I would. Not the best movie I've ever seen, but most movies aren't
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u/JeanRalfio 19h ago
I usually try to avoid the new movie discussions on this sub now because everyone's always so negative. They ignore all the good stuff and focus on the few things they thought were bad/dumb and it gets exhausting.
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u/SerpentineIceberg 1d ago
the underwater scenes look incredible but i keep thinking about the smell inside that whale no way its just clean and empty like in trailer
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u/LegendofLawtavious 1d ago
The book definitely highlights how bad it smells. Book Jay even throws up in his regulator. Obviously in a movie, they wanna be able to show the actors face more and have them see and speak as well.
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u/chrisychris- 1d ago
The actual stomach part of the whale was pretty messy. They make a point about the air smelling/being toxic but that’s about it. I’m sure in a life or death situation smell is something you just get over eventually.
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u/hotcolddog 1d ago
Auditorily excellent in Dolby. Movie’s biggest strength is its sound design and the visceral closeups during the meat (no pun intended) of the second act survival thriller — a genre that I commonly dislike, but which I quite enjoyed here. The father-son trauma motif that took up the majority of the last 30 minutes is much less successful though.
Austin Abrams has had two petty awful days this year! Can’t wait to see him in something in the future where he isn’t tortured though.
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u/ishkitty 21h ago
It’s not showing in Dolby at my theaters. At least not in the next few days. If I see it pop up, I’ll definitely check it out again.
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u/JeanRalfio 1d ago
Definitely one where I would recommend reading the book for my background info. I like how they adapted it but I really wish they could have had a voice over of his inner thoughts.
They did pretty good with the necessary flashbacks but there's so much more in the book about marine biology that he learned from his dad. Like I had no idea whales ate giant squids and that may have confused me had I not read the book. Also he goes a lot more into detail of the importance of whalefalls and Jay really thinks the whale deserves it's own whalefall.
Most of what stuff they cut wasn't too important and I'm glad they trimmed the fat well but I would highly recommend reading it.
Austin Abrams still killing it. Josh Brolin did such a great job of being a hardass and showing why Jay had such animosity towards him. Wish they would have had a couple more stories from the townsfolk about how much of a legend he was in the diving community there.
Thought it was dumb that they kept doing the Marvel mask thing where Austin Abrams had to keep taking his goggles off. In the book he tries taking a breath once and gags horribly. So each time he had them off was a little distracting to me.
Was happy to get that little epilogue on the boat since the book sort of just ends with him getting rescued all fucked up. Thought it was funny that he listened to his sister and got a haircut at the end but it looked totally worse.
This was one of my most anticipated movies of the year. I read a lot and Whalefall was my favorite book I read last year so I'm probably biased but I fucking loved the movie and will be recommending it to my friends.
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u/PaintbrushInMyAss 1d ago edited 1d ago
I haven't read the book but really really enjoyed the film. Definitely adding it to my reading list now. The screams when he's being swallowed were haunting. It reminded me of the people being eaten in Nope.
And I totally agree about his haircut at the end, lol.
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u/nellycat32 1d ago
YES that's what I thought as well. He is an amazing realistic screamer in resident evil too
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u/JeanRalfio 19h ago
Loved how realistic his reactions were in Resident Evil. Every reaction he had in it was exactly the reaction I imagine I would have had in those situations. The scene in the car where he's talking fast to himself just bitching especially.
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u/JeanRalfio 1d ago
I got so much anxiety each time I saw the swallowing scene in trailers and the movie. I keep rooting for him to get away despite knowing he's going into that fucking whale.
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u/Charlotteeee 12h ago
Haha, same I knew it was gonna happen but still gasped and gesticulated in the theater lol
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u/saacer 1d ago
I think people should really appreciate and watch movies within their own context and the moment they were made. Whalefall is a solid 7 movie but this movie alone deserves more just for the technical achievement that it is. People should appreciate more all the work behind production design, cinematography, sound engineering, soundtrack and of course, acting.
This is not just Austin Abrams's autumn. Beyond the hype around him, we are witnessing the rise of a terrific actor who somehow got lost in the cracks and has finally, twice this year, demonstrated that he can carry a movie on his shoulders. The way he conveys emotion just with his body language, his eyes, microexpressions and voice is something that is going to be studied for years to come.
Brian Duffield once again demonstrated his proficiency in telling stories through visual cues with little to no dialogue, as he did in his previous film, No One Will Save You.
Now, I'm a sucker for movies that tell a story using allegories to send a message: the more subtle, the better. Sometimes there are obvious examples, sometimes not so much. This is the weakest point of its screenplay, but overall, the highs of this film are something to behold, and its lows are not inversely proportional, id est, they are not as low as its highs are high.
As long as there are people going to the theaters to watch these kind of movies, we can overcome the superhero, prequel and legacy sequel fatigue.
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u/fred_burkle 19h ago
Yesss this movie is such a technical achievement. It must have been incredibly difficult to film for everyone on set. The cold, the dark, the damp, the elaborate sets, the uncomfortable costumes.. it really immerses you in the character's struggle and feels so real. There were so many impressive sequences.
Sadly I think it will struggle to find a large audience because it is gross enough to drive off people that would appreciate the drama, and dramatic enough that people who like horror would be bored. I definitely think there is a contingent that will appreciate what they accomplished here though and I hope the filmmakers are proud of what they achieved. I also hope this continues to propel Austin Abrams' career forward.
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u/junaidnk 1d ago
I enjoyed it, and had a good time but boy o boy claustrophobic as heck!
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u/Able_Advertising_371 1d ago
Made me feel a little like the descent feeling unease about the surroundings
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u/zeebs758 1d ago
I thought it was fantastic. Abrams puts on a stellar performance to help carry this insane premise. I appreciate it being cuts between the past and the present mostly because I am claustrophobic. I needed a break from being inside the whale lol. It's a real shame though the jellyfish didn't survive. RIP.
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u/chrisychris- 1d ago
Totally agree!! Something about Austin’s panic feels so raw and genuine? Both here and in Resident Evil. Those yelps of his and when he cries after the whale passes, it just touches me deeply idk. Love that lad. He reminded me a lot of Timothee here though lol
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u/Darkhawk2099 1d ago
gloriously stupid movie elevated by some excellent claustrophobic bits and beautiful underwater footage.
the climax, where the whale dives into a black-and-white, almost cosmically psychedelic abyss, was a definite highlight for me.
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u/notathrowaway75 1d ago
Double featured this after Street Fighter and thoroughly enjoyed it. Gets sappy at the end but it worked.
I really wish they took creative liberty with the breathing mouthguard though. Like have him only put it on when something happens. Because him mumbling with it on got really tiring.
His family was way too chill at the end. Like sure it seemed like some time has passed but if a family member of mine got fucking swallowed by a whale I'd never let them hear the end of it.
Did my first triple feature after this with Ken Russell's The Devils and man that was an experience. Reading the plot I thought it would be a straightforward historical drama but it was... not that.
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u/lobolovr6769 1d ago
lol I did the same triple feature yesterday. Enjoyed devils and whalefall, SF was good for the first hour then by the end I was kinda over it
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u/KevinHe92 1d ago
Austin Abrams faces a problem- movie flashbacks to a scene where his dad yells the EXACT same solution to getting out of said situation.
Should’ve been a survival thriller instead of a family drama. I can see this format working as a novel but translated to film it really does not work.
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u/Starving_Saint 1d ago
It did not work as a novel. Honestly, one of the worst books I’ve ever read and I read a lot. The book felt very angsty in a bad YA kinda way. I was SHOCKED when its author went on to win a Pulitzer for his next book.
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u/skippiington 1d ago
I felt the opposite having read it; it’s a very tense read and also somehow very educational book IMO
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u/localcosmonaut 21h ago
I loved the book and it has pretty good reviews. To each his own, of course, but just wanted to say that a lot of people (like me) found the book gripping and moving.
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u/ithinkther41am 1d ago
Was said next book good?
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u/junkmiles 1d ago edited 1d ago
Picked it up because of the Pulitzer and had zero idea what the premise was. I'm roughly halfway through so I couldn't tell you how it wraps up of course, but the actual writing itself is really great in my opinion. It's sort of written as if it was a single shot / one take movie.
Never read Whalefall.
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u/ishkitty 21h ago
I mean….be is remembering though actual memory. I don’t know about is hard to understand about that. Unfortunately his dad forcing him to learn things traumatized him.
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u/ElectricalCow4 1d ago
Ehh, it was pretty underwhelming as a novel. The whale parts were fun and interesting but the family stuff dragged the book down too.
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u/ChiefQueef98 7h ago
I did get a good laugh when the final closure conversation very suddenly shifted to Josh Brolin directly telling him "blow up the whale, there's methane in there, blow it up now"
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u/nourez 1d ago
I was a big wan of the book and ended really enjoying the movie. It's weirdly sentimental but I liked that about the book, and I'm glad they didn't shy away from that in the movie, even if it ends up being polarizing for it.
For people who complain about the flashbacks, I get it, but I do think it's an effective family drama that just happens to take place inside of a whale. The book actually had a lot more flashbacks (Jay essentially runs away instead of going to college in Iowa and a decent amount of time is spent on him basically couch hopping between friends).
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u/AntonVice 1d ago
Everything involving the whale and Abram’s attempts to escape is thrilling and sounds incredible in a theater, but the family drama is boring as hell and I nearly fell asleep every time it cut to a flashback. I just didn’t care about what was going on with those scenes. Cut out all that bullshit, make it 70 minutes of him trying to escape and you’d have one of the best thrillers of the year.
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u/localcosmonaut 21h ago edited 21h ago
I'm the opposite lol. I wanted more of the family dynamics. The father-son relationship, imo, is what made the book so compelling and different from a generic survival thriller. It gave it depth and more gravitas than a typical man vs. nature story. Sounds like you wanted a completely different movie than the story it was adapting, which is about a boy coming to terms with his relationship to his father and his father's death.
To each his own, of course, but wanted to present the opposite viewpoint as someone who loved the book, really liked the movie, and love the story generally.
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u/chrisychris- 1d ago
There’s only so much you can do while inside the stomach of a whale, at least if they’re attempting to make it somewhat realistic. I didn’t mind the family stuff. I kinda related to it actually so I’m surprised people find it to be bullshit mindless filler or whatever.
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u/dplans455 21h ago
As someone with pretty extreme claustrophobia, I don't think I could have taken 70 consecutive minutes of Jay trapped in the whale. Having it broken up the way it did gave me a lot of relief and allowed me to stay and watch the whole thing through.
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u/UberGoobler 1d ago
That’s why I thought the book fucking sucked. Disappointing to see that it ruins the movie too
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u/ItsOnlyDenver 1d ago
“Where is my aura and hype moments? why is there so much talk slop??” ahh comment
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u/popcornmaxhine 21h ago
I love “talk slop” movies and dramas but i found the family drama here entirely uninteresting. Just the same father son dynamic I’ve seen 100 times before
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u/Wonderful_Fox_7959 1d ago
Agree, the sound mixing and the visuals were MIND blowing in the theater.
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u/KeatonWalkups 18h ago
Strange because I felt the opposite lol the whale scenes you could barely tell what was going on
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u/Whataburger1950 1d ago
Absolutely no attempt to try to de-age Josh Brolin in the flashbacks with young Jay.
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u/underthund3r 1d ago
I really like this movie, every scene with the whales and underwater was absolutely beautiful. Gorgeous cinematography.
The sound mixing in the theater was phenomenal, you can hear the vibration of the whales murmur and the echolocation scenes were top notch light and sound. I really like this movie
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u/NaiadoftheSea 1d ago edited 1d ago
By far the most harrowing movie I’ve seen this year. Spent a good chunk of it watching it like this 🫣😰
I really enjoyed this movie. I thought the characters were well handled as well as Jay figuring out how to get out of the whale.
I loved how the orca attack was filmed.
I thought Jay hearing his father’s voice through the whale was handled well. I didn’t take it as literally his father, but him hallucinating his father’s voice in the whale.
I noticed some people saying they had trouble sitting through the family drama scenes, but I didn’t at all. The acting between the father and son was so tense to watch.
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u/Sovereign_Gaze 1d ago
It truly sucks the studio chose to release Whalefall in a busy week because it's a excellent film which deserves crazy WOM.
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u/estheredna 22h ago
Book was a lot of nonsense that you had to just go with + a solid father/son trauma story. Movie is same.
I love, love, love that Jay was so scared when he got swallowed that he SQUEAKED. Because honestly who wouldn't? Most visceral part was the whale swallowing and his eye squishing up against the squid eye, both in pain.l
What a trooper Austin Abrams is, crying for his little octopus friend and nicknaming his weapon beakie and making a whole film where he can't talk for most of it, and if he could talk it wouldn't help, and he's relatable anyway. Good job by him.
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u/NakedGoose 18h ago
I have seen both Austin Abrams movies this year. Excellent actor. But I cannot get over the fact that he yells exactly like Shia Lebouf in Even Stevens....
I enjoyed the movie. Did lose me a bit when he was hallucinating the dad talking back to him as the whale. But that was about my only complaint.
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u/reddittothegrave 22h ago
That scene where the Orcha’s were attacking the sperm whale, and it began to fall into the depths was so tragically beautiful.
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u/Sisiwakanamaru r/movies Contributor 1d ago
I expected a survival movie but I did not expect a movie about a trauma being the youngest and the only son in the family.
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u/Type_Rex__ 1d ago
We saw this in 4DX and it's on par with Twisters.
It's always a fun experience when you see a truly baffling action movie with a big crowd. Toss in some liberal use of the water effects and a free popcorn bucket and you've got a damn good time.
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u/nise8446 1d ago
Wow. Some of these scenes here where artistically beautiful. Austin Abrams does a fantastic job as always. Somehow they made the story compelling and this is from someone that hasn't read the book.
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u/Busch_and_Bush 1d ago
Great theater experience, not sure how it would hold up in a home viewing. Claustrophobic in the best ways, fun ride
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u/mjmannella 1d ago
Does Jay make the whale explode like in the book?
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u/BensenMum 22h ago
The whale stuff was so well done. The dad stuff? Eh
No one will save you was much better
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u/Simppu12 5h ago
Just got back from seeing it so my thoughts haven't managed to marinate and do the fridge test yet, but I liked this movie a decent amount. The performances are good, the father-son relationship feels very real and touching, and that general element really worked for me to the point where I craved more flashbacks. The film also never got boring despite most of it taking place in a single cramped grey spot. The spoken lines there were often a bit too unintelligible, though, and I'm not a medical professional but I thought there's no way the kid makes it when the whale took that very deep dive and he started bleeding from the pressure, but we'll chalk it off to it's possible, needed a happier ending, and it serves the themes very well.
I was just wondering how exactly to interpret the dad "becoming" the whale. Was it mostly done so that Jay could actually talk to him and have his catharsis, or was there a deeper element about letting go, killing the past, etc? I'm not clever enough for metaphors like that. I also would've liked to know what (if anything) the letter said to have another little emotional beat at the end and to bring it full circle, but I guess the whale dad already sort of covered it (get away from me and become what you choose to become). Would've been nice to get another little scene explaining why the dad felt so... masochistic, I suppose.
Overall had a very decent time, though. A solid 6.5/10
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u/CashGreen_Regalview 2h ago
I'm also not the greatest with metaphors but I read it as Jay being swallowed by the whale as a stand in for Jay's grief consuming him. And to fully "release" himself and become his own man, he has to make peace with who his dad was, which is accepting the bad but also remembering and highlighting the good (after all, his father did teach him the right things to survive, even if he were way too abrasive in his teachings).
Jay going away to Iowa was for a scholarship, sure, but I think the story frames it as him running away from his father to anger and spite him, rather than him running to a better future. It's only when Jay has the conversation with his father that he's no longer engulfed with the things he wanted to say and the method to escape clicks into place.
Granted I don't think this storytelling was perfect but it did enough of what I think it was trying to do to be effective enough. Do agree that parts of the dialogue were way too inaudible, really needed subtitles in the theater.
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u/amithecasserole 1h ago
I also think he would probably be hallucinating a lot near the end there, so a lot of it can be chalked up to his spiritual-feeling, near death experience. The brain finds ways to try to calm us before we go. Thematically I totally agree with both of you, and it was very emotionally impactful.
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u/RedCenobite 1h ago
Yeah, when the whale dove DEEP into the ocean and Jay’s body started reacting to the pressure, I was like “either he dies or he lives and I’ll just have to suspend disbelief” haha.
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u/SPorterBridges 1d ago
So does the whale fall for any extended period of time, which would warrant titling the movie like that?
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u/throwaway5498124181 1d ago
Yes, this film is the conclusion of the "fall" trilogy, which started with Skyfall and Moonfall.
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u/JeanRalfio 19h ago
Maybe try putting "Whalefall definition" into Google or watching the movie or reading the book first.
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u/2mock2turtle 1d ago
So was Jay's hand amputated at the end or was it just in a cast or something and he couldn't use it? It was difficult to tell.
Anyway, even though I liked it overall (7/10), I have to say that as a queer viewer, I was frustrated by the way the film kind of builds up this queer subtext and then all but directly says "fuck you" to the audience for picking up on it. Like of course Jay being gay would make sense as a source of the friction between him and his dad, and so many of the interactions in their scenes together give off this "parent who can't accept/child who can't forgive" dynamic that's an accurate (if not admittedly cliche) to so many queer family dynamics. But finally when his whale dad asks him if he has a girlfriend, Jay says no, and then he asks him if Jay has a boyfriend, Jay just goes "that's nice but nah." Like maybe I'm just in a bad head space today but it felt like they read back the script one final time, realized they wrote a story with queer subtext, and deliberately wanted to say "no homo" before they started shooting. Which is insulting enough in and of itself, but it also kind of... makes your film worse? I don't know, am I crazy here?
Austin Abrams is great in this, though, even if it's not as good as Resident Evil. Excited to see what he does next.
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u/LegendofLawtavious 1d ago
The line about asking if he has a boyfriend is pulled directly from the book. The book is far less subtle about Jay’s sexuality. Jay is a lil younger in the book and I don’t think he knows 100% what his sexuality is. They cut a lot of this from the film but Jay bounces around between friends houses after the fight on the boat and prefers the company of girls more so than boys. The film inserted the plot of Jay going to college in Iowa, so it makes sense how some of the above would get cut. I think they wanted to honor the fact that Jay might be gay, but they didn’t really build it up that well in the movie. I really didn’t get any gay nods or hints from the movie.
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u/2mock2turtle 1d ago
I mean, I'll admit I can be a bit delusional about picking up gay hints at times (e.g. there's no way Ne Zha and Ao Bing's palpable chemistry in Ne Zha 2 was anything but an accident), but I still thought I was pretty fair in picking up what they were putting down up until the anti-climax, as it were. I don't know, I just wish it had played out differently, because I think the way it did makes for a poorer story.
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u/nourez 1d ago
It gets blown off when he detonates the tank. In the book it's more clear that he knows that he's gotta sacrifice an arm during that scene.
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u/lobolovr6769 1d ago
Oh see I had no idea it was blown off this I suspected that would be the case when he stuck his hand in there holding the battery. But at the end they just show is arm in a sling but we never see his hand so no way of knowing
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u/duckboobs 1d ago
It was the arm he used to hold the batteries up to the oxygen tank, so pretty sure he lost his arm when it blew up.
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u/j-helo85 1d ago edited 1d ago
That makes sense, but I don't remember seeing a blown up arm when he was pulled onto the boat. I might have just overlooked it.
*I'm just now remembering they did strap his left arm. I thought they were just securing him to that platform, but I guess that was a tourniquet.
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u/lobolovr6769 1d ago
I’m gonna have to see the scene again when he first comes up for air because I thought he had both hands
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u/2mock2turtle 1d ago
He definitely had both hands, but in light of this conversation I'm thinking perhaps it was hanging on by a thread and they just didn't go that far into the gore.
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u/LegendofLawtavious 1d ago
In the book he looks down at his hands to determine which of his hands he thinks he’s gonna lose in the explosion, but I don’t think he actually ended up losing it in the book. He gets pulled from the water by the coast guard but there isn’t a follow scene on Heweys boat like in the movie.
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u/ShareNorth3675 15h ago
I think they just kind of made it readable both ways. A lot of the movie is intertretable and I liked that you could read Jay as gay or straight depending on what you want to read from it. His sexuality really doesnt matter in the movie story.
Personally as a new dad, I read that line as Jay assuming his dad wouldve been homophobic and not accepting of that if he was and just being happy that assumption was wrong.
Reading that as him coming out and the ocean world scene being an example of him being homophobic seems like a valid read too.
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u/dplans455 21h ago
bad head space
I never once considered the friction between him and his dad was because he was queer.
Where in the movie did you even get this from? What part in particular because I'm scratching my head trying to remember where "clues" might be and I don't see any?
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u/jayeddy99 13h ago
I thought his sisters were way older than him so he got the older version of his dad that finally got a boy and wanted to give him all this knowledge of what it means to be an ideal man in his eyes. Regardless if he’s is a good dad or not in the process
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u/2mock2turtle 20h ago
Is that the part of my post you meant to quote? lol
Anyway, like I said, it's just a bunch of little pieces of subtext that tend to add up. Off the top of my head:
1) Mitt makes multiple references to Jay's body as being weak or otherwise inadequate (e.g. too light to sink without weights, "soft lungs," unmarked by tattoos or scars, etc.). This focus on the "right" way to be a man, or otherwise perform masculinity, speaks to a deeper schism beyond just physical fitness, real or perceived.
2) Mitt and Jay seem to have very different personalities. The former is rugged and aggressive whereas the latter is quieter and more emotional. A disconnect between who a son is versus what his father wants him to be is a pretty common experience for gay men in particular.
3) We got a lot of insight into their interpersonal dynamic during the scene where Jay is with Mitt on the boat before he dies, which ends up being their last conversation. The most telling line is when Jay says something to the effect of "I'm trying to bond with you but I don't know how." Obviously, the desire to try and salvage or otherwise maintain a difficult relationship is pretty universal, but you see that a lot with queer people who have parents who aren't downright abusive but still don't totally accept them.
4) Based on the story they tell about the game they used to play on his boat, Jay's sisters seem to have had a much more affectionate relationship with their father than he did. It begs the question, then: why was Mitt unable to show that same level of affection to or with Jay? The implication would be that there's something about Jay that goes against Mitt's expectations of what a son should do or be that the daughters don't. A queer identity isn't the only possible reason for this, but it's an exceedingly plausible one.
5) Jay makes a point of going away far away to school in Iowa. It's perhaps ironic that he chose to go to Iowa to do so, but what I'm getting at is that this instinct to run away and start over is if not a universal queer experience then at least one we've all at least flirted with. Later, when he's talking to his whale dad about what he wanted to be in life, he says that he wanted something where he could feel free. The desire for "freedom" in particular speaks to a sense of repression or otherwise having one's wings clipped, which I would venture to say definitely is a universal queer experience.
6) Jay refuses to see Mitt in the hospital before he dies, despite the fact that according to his mother and sisters, Jay is all Mitt talks about. This despite the fact that he has a longtime wife and two other children. Facing down the barrel of one's impending mortality tends to cause one to want to address past regrets, particularly the big ones. To that end, it's not unheard of for dying parents to try to make amends with their queer kids before they run out of time, or conversely, for the death of a queer kid to cause the parent to rethink their previous prejudice (cf. that one Sigourney Weaver movie Prayers for Bobby).
Now, to be clear, one or even two of these things in isolation does not necessarily mean that there was gay lurking beneath the surface, as it were. It's also not the only explanation for all of them in concert. However, when points start adding up on the scoreboard like this, a certain kind of viewer (in this case, me) can't help but connect the dots. Combine this with a few other minor details here and there -- another commenter theorized that the friend whose birthday it was might've been more than a friend, for example -- and "the tension between Jay and his dad is because he's gay" becomes a pretty reasonable read of the situation. Which is why I find it frustrating that the filmmakers threw cold water on that interpretation seemingly because they deliberately didn't want the tea leaves read in a certain way.
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u/needleknight 19h ago
I teneded to agree with the guy you are replying to at first. But this was a really good explanation. Thankyou for sharing this insight. FWIW it could be interpretted that his response to "Do you have a boyfriend?" being "I appreciate that" was an acknolwedgement instead of a more typical "ha ha very funny dad".
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u/2mock2turtle 19h ago
Well I have to flex my English degree muscles sometimes lol. And that's admittedly a good point, I hadn't considered that. It didn't come across that way to me but maybe when it inevitably comes to Hulu I'll rewatch and see.
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u/dplans455 14h ago
I did read that entirely. But to answer your first question, I did mean to post that quote from your other post. It's implying that I agree with you that you might not be in the best head space to make these assumptions. And that's what they all are. You looked for these "clues" based on your own personal experiences and found them where you wanted them to be. A lot of the time, the writer will leave it ambiguous but you're upset with the movie because they come right out and say, "no, he's not gay."
I don't think it's a matter of he sprinkles these clues for you throughout the movie then got too scared and rug-pulled the payoff away. You found clues that aren't what you thought they were. That's more on you than the writer. And you yourself said you might not be in the best place right now to make this call to begin with.
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u/Sovereign_Gaze 1d ago
Exactly, the film drops clues yet never fully addresses it. Like the friend's birthday, it's obvious the friend is the boyfriend. When the "dad" asks Jay about having a boyfriend, Jay kind of confirms it yet why be subtle? It's as if the studio was afraid of the film having a gay lead.
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u/meganev 1d ago
There's 3 of them going to the sea world place so I don't think it was really hinting at that. He could still be gay, but think you're reading more into it than is really there. 3 mates going out for the day doesn't scream "obvious" boyfriend to me.
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u/TeamOdd8528 22h ago
Yep, it was not really obvious whatsoever. I’d be amazed if someone picked up on Jay having a boyfriend or even being gay at all if they hadn’t read the book.
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u/dplans455 21h ago
I did not get boyfriend vibes from the friend at all. It feels like you guys are reading way too much into the littlest things.
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u/ninth_reddit_account 11h ago edited 6h ago
it's obvious the friend is the boyfriend
fellas, is it gay to have a birthday?
Look, maybe he's gay, maybe he's not. But the film isn't about that. I'm gay and always looking for any sort of gay subtext in film but there's just nothing here for this one.
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u/2mock2turtle 1d ago
See you get it. I thought the exact same thing about studio interference. And it's not like this is a tentpole or even a romance, so it just reeks of cowardice.
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u/No_Idea_Guy 1d ago
So he was just having audio hallucinations and thought the whale was talking to him, right? But then why did the whale called for help and rose to the surface right after Jay told him to?
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u/nothedroid96 6h ago
Honestly shocked at the divisiveness in this thread. The movie was beautiful. Lots of shots were gorg. I'm not generally a claustrophobic person but man this got me sometimes. Was surprisingly thrilling for a while longer than I thought it would be.
The highlight of the film is Jay's relationship with his father and grief. A lot of this hit home on things that I've gone through personally. I sobbed like a baby for the last half hour lol. The acting was great. I saw Resident Evil last weekend, so was cool to see Austin Abrams show so much range.
9/10 movie for me. I'm going to watch it again at least once and I bet it will become a 10/10.
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u/bayonettaisonsteam 1d ago
Is it just me or did this movie release, like, 3 times in the past week? I swear there was a review thread every other day
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u/GiovannisPersian 19h ago
I liked the book a lot but didn’t love this. I felt like it lost a lot without all of his thoughts, which make up most of the book. I also had a hard time understanding him through the respirator. Great visuals though and Austin Abrams and Josh Brolin are excellent as always
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u/PWN3R_RANGER 19h ago
Emotionally potent journey involving stomach acid, claustrophobia, and Daddy issues - hell of time! Austin Abrams is 2 for 2 in the “yelling and screaming and talking to yourself” genre.
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u/georgiaraisef 16h ago
Unique. Didn’t love the magical realism. Didn’t mind the father son drama. That went about as expected.
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u/georgiaraisef 16h ago
Interesting this is the second movie in a year that Brolin and Abrams have been in
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u/dukefett 16h ago
Not bad, kind of what I expected in terms of a guy getting swallowed by a whale movie but kept me entertained. Really want to check out how this was filmed, seemed insane in that tight area for so long. All the actors were pretty great, recommend it if you’re not claustrophobic!
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u/PleasantDirection751 2h ago
it was a good movie but it frustrated me as someone who was also abused by my father. i almost walked out because of the yelling, weird rambling, selfishness, and shitty behavior was just too familiar. i despise the trope of "angry abusive parent gets to be abusive and shitty and never face real consequences and the child has to be the one to put in all the work to forgive them. boo hoo poor parent they only act like that because they actually love their kid they're just not able to say or act like it". the movie did a great job at making me hate the dad. and i know it's my own personal bias, but i don't think they son should feel obligated to do anything or attempt forgiveness towards his shitty dad.
the part where the sisters are like "all he ever talks about is you" when the dad was in the hospital really annoyed me. is this supposed to be a redeeming quality? or is it a critisim towards these types of abusive people? why does it take being hospitalized and away from his son to be nice. why couldn't he just be nice to his son before he was hospitalized? i wish the movie would dive deeper into the idea that the way the father acted is actually really bad and horrible to be around, and isn't just some quirky tough love thing.
i do like that the father did kill himself. it was a selfish thing for him to do, and to leave his family without a body to mourn because he just has a weirdo obsession with the ocean and wales. and it goes to show that these types of men in the end just die alone and miserable.
i thought the end of was very cool how it got all metaphorical and kinda weird. i was not expecting it and i quiet enjoyed it.
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u/Sufficient-Two-2370 1h ago
Just got back, being from Monterey and having lived and dived there, this movie made me seriously homesick. :)
But Josh Brolin is a GD American Treasure
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u/Sufficient-Two-2370 1h ago
I didn't read the book, but I can tell you no diver who learned in the Pacific would EVER dive without a knife. I carried two
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u/BunyipPouch Currently at the movies. 1d ago
Austin Abrams, Josh Brolin, Brian Duffield, and Daniel Kraus recently joined us here in /r/movies for an AMA/Q&A, for anyone interested:
https://www.reddit.com/r/movies/comments/1x03vo8/hey_rmovies_austin_abrams_here_the_guy_swallowed/