Whalefall
Whalefall (2026) Christian Movie Review · Rated PG-13 · Starring Austin Abrams, Josh Brolin
📖 SUMMARY
Based on the novel by Daniel Kraus. Jay Gardiner (Austin Abrams) goes diving to find the remains of his father, Mitt (Josh Brolin), a diver who knew the ocean better than anybody in their town. While he's down there, a giant squid attacks him and then a sperm whale swallows him whole. He has about an hour of air, and the only thing he has to work with is everything his dad taught him about the ocean. Directed by Brian Duffield, PG-13, 1 hour 46 minutes.
👶 AGE RECOMMENDATIONS
💛 HOW IT MADE ME FEEL
My husband and I saw Whalefall, and a few moments were gross and scary enough that I had my hands over my eyes. It's a survival movie inside a whale, so you can probably guess why. But this movie ended up being a lot more about a son and his father than I expected. While Jay is stuck in the dark, he starts hearing his dad's voice, and the movie flashes back through their whole relationship. And their relationship was complicated. Mitt loved his son, but a lot of the time that love came out harsh. He drank a lot, he could be mean, and by the time Mitt got sick, Jay wouldn't even go see him. So Jay is fighting for his life in there, and he's also working through a lot of stuff with his dad that he never got to say out loud. It touches on doubting ourselves as parents, how complicated it can be to connect with your parents as you grow, how messy grief is, and perseverance. Those parts were good, I just had a hard time getting to them through everything else.
The Popcorn & Prayers Movie Filter
CONTENT
Basically none. His dad asks if he's seeing anyone and he says no, and that's about it.
Heavy, and really gross. Jay gets thrown around inside the whale's stomach the whole movie, and you hear his bones break, and his ankle bends the wrong way. A squid grabs him by the neck and its beak cuts into him. The stomach acid burns his skin. His eardrums burst on a deep dive and he bleeds from his nose and ears. An explosion near the end leaves his face burned and bloody, and the whale gets badly hurt too, so there's a lot of blood in the water. There's also a flashback where Mitt is drunk and pulls a knife on Jay, and Jay has to wrestle it away from him.
One f-word, around ten s-words, some other harsh words, and God's name misused at least ten times. A lot of Jay's lines are muffled by his breathing gear, so there may be more.
Sustained, in the dark, with the clock on his air always running down, so it is very suspenseful. Add in the squid and the gore and there were a few moments I couldn't watch.
The big one for this movie is suicide. Mitt's death is the reason Jay is down there looking for him in the first place, so it runs underneath the whole story. If suicide or losing a parent is close to home for you right now, I want you to know that going in. And I think I would have liked this story better as a book. Reading it, you get to use your imagination, and you don't actually have to watch someone's skin start to dissolve in bile. Your mind can fill in as much or as little as you can handle, and on a big screen you don't really get that choice.
CELEBRATION
Perseverance, and a son and his dad finding some kind of peace, even after it's too late to fix it in person.
CONSCIENCE
For me as an adult, mostly yes. The violence is a lot, but it's survival violence, and the movie never asks you to enjoy anybody getting hurt. The one thing I'd keep an eye on is the way the movie treats the ocean almost like it's sacred. Mitt talks about the ocean the way some people talk about God. And as Christians, we know the ocean is beautiful because of who made it. Psalm 104 talks about the sea, "vast and spacious, teeming with creatures beyond number," and it says God made the Leviathan to frolic there.
FRUIT
My husband and I ended up talking about the movie's metaphor afterward. The whale represented Jay's father and how complicated relationships can be. So I definitely wouldn't say it left us with any negative feelings.
WORLDVIEW
The ocean is the closest thing to God in this movie. Mitt trusts it, loves it, and goes back to it at the end of his life. The movie finds a lot of beauty there, and there is a lot of beauty there, because God made it. Psalm 104 gives the credit to the Creator.
ECHOES OF THE GOSPEL
I can't review a movie about a man swallowed by a whale without talking about Jonah. In Jonah 2, Jonah is inside the fish and he prays, "In my distress I called to the Lord, and He answered me. From deep in the realm of the dead I called for help, and you listened to my cry." Whalefall is not a Christian movie, and Jay doesn't pray in there. But the shape of the story is so similar. A man at the very bottom, in the dark, who comes out the other side changed. And I think that's such a good reminder that there's no place too deep for God to reach us, and no relationship too broken for Him to heal. There's one flashback where Mitt is holding Jay as a brand new baby, and he admits he's scared he's going to fail him. Every parent has had that thought at some point. Mitt did get a lot of it wrong, but what he taught Jay about the ocean is exactly what keeps Jay alive. We're all going to mess up as parents, and God can still use what we pour into our kids. James 1:5 says if any of you lacks wisdom, you should ask God, who gives generously to all without finding fault. By the end, Jay starts to see that his dad's harshness was a broken way of trying to love him. That doesn't make what Mitt did okay, but it lets Jay start to forgive him. Ephesians 4:32 says, "Be kind and compassionate to one another, forgiving each other, just as in Christ God forgave you."
💬 FAMILY DISCUSSION QUESTIONS
- Have you ever had to grieve someone you didn't get to make things right with?
- Mitt was afraid he'd fail his son. Where do you doubt yourself as a parent, and what would it look like to ask God for wisdom there?
- How has the way you see your own parents changed as you've gotten older?
- Jonah prayed from inside the fish. Is there a place in your life that feels too deep for God to reach?
✨ POSITIVITY
- Jay never gives up. He gets knocked down over and over and keeps trying the next thing
- What a dad poured into his son, even imperfectly, is what keeps that son alive
- A son working toward forgiving a father who hurt him
- An honest look at how messy grief is, and how you can still be having the conversation long after someone is gone
- The movie is clear that Mitt's drinking hurt their relationship
⚠️ THINGS TO NOTE
- Graphic injuries throughout, including breaking bones, skin burned by stomach acid, and bleeding from the ears and nose
- Mitt has cancer, refuses treatment, and ends his own life by diving into the ocean with weights on. It isn't shown in a gory way, but the movie frames it as him going back to the ocean he loved
- A drunk father pulls a knife on his son in a flashback
- One f-word, around ten s-words, and God's name misused at least ten times
- Lots of drinking from Mitt
- The ocean is talked about almost like it's sacred
One more thing…
So, where do I land? If you can handle gore and you want a story about grief and a complicated dad, there's a lot here worth sitting with. If you're squeamish like me, or if this is too close to home right now, it's totally okay to skip it, or read the book instead. For kids and most teens, I'd hold off. I'm giving it 2 out of 5.
💬 FREQUENTLY ASKED QUESTIONS
Is Whalefall worth watching?+
Hailey gives Whalefall a 2 out of 5 on the Popcorn & Prayers Pop Score. A diver gets swallowed by a sperm whale while searching for his father's remains. There's a moving story about grief, a complicated dad and perseverance in here, but the gore had me covering my eyes, and the suicide at its center makes it a heavy one. I gave it 2 out of 5.
How much language, violence and sexual content is in Whalefall?+
Content notes for Whalefall — Romance — none: Basically none. His dad asks if he's seeing anyone and he says no, and that's about it.. Violence — severe: Heavy, and really gross. Jay gets thrown around inside the whale's stomach the whole movie, and you hear his bones break, and his ankle bends the wrong way. A squid grabs him by the neck and its beak cuts into him. The stomach acid burns his skin. His eardrums burst on a deep dive and he bleeds from his nose and ears. An explosion near the end leaves his face burned and bloody, and the whale gets badly hurt too, so there's a lot of blood in the water. There's also a flashback where Mitt is drunk and pulls a knife on Jay, and Jay has to wrestle it away from him.. Language — severe: One f-word, around ten s-words, some other harsh words, and God's name misused at least ten times. A lot of Jay's lines are muffled by his breathing gear, so there may be more.. Scary/intense — severe: Sustained, in the dark, with the clock on his air always running down, so it is very suspenseful. Add in the squid and the gore and there were a few moments I couldn't watch..
How does Whalefall portray faith and Christianity?+
The ocean is the closest thing to God in this movie. Mitt trusts it, loves it, and goes back to it at the end of his life. The movie finds a lot of beauty there, and there is a lot of beauty there, because God made it. Psalm 104 gives the credit to the Creator.
What age is Whalefall appropriate for?+
Here's our age-by-age take for Whalefall — 0-9: Skip; 10-13: Skip; 14+: Maybe. Overall we'd say it's best for 17+.
Is Whalefall OK for kids?+
It's rated PG-13 and we think it's best for 17+. On our 1–5 Pop Score, Whalefall earns a 2/5. I spent a good part of this one with my hands over my eyes. But the thing I keep thinking about is the dad.
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