Whalefall is an insane looking film, so much so that its first teaser trailer was basically one intense, elongated scene—and that's all it needed to convey the intensity of director Brian Duffield's new movie.
The movie, which is based on the 2023 book of the same name, stars Resident Evil's Austin Abrams as Jay Gardiner, a young scuba diver who is forced back home when his estranged father, Mitt Gardiner (Avengers: Infinity War's Josh Brolin), commits suicide off the side of a boat. Determined to find his dad's remains, Jay ventures out into the water. Unfortunately for him, he ends up in the wrong place at the wrong time and is accidentally swallowed whole, placing him in a predicament that only his father's previously ignored lessons will help him survive.
While the story's premise is grand and ambitious in scope, placing its protagonist in an absolutely insane scenario, the real heart and soul of the movie comes down to the father-son dynamic and the relationship between Jay and Mitt.
At NYCC 2026, The Direct spoke with Whalefall stars Austin Abrams and Josh Brolin, along with director Brian Duffield and the original book's author, Daniel Kraus, about the story's father-son dynamic and why it is so important to the narrative.
Whalefall hits theaters on October 16, 2026.
Whalefall's Important Father-Son Dynamic
Sure, Jay Is Stuck In a Whale—But He's Also Sorting Through Some Intense Father Issues.
- The Direct: "[The film] is obviously about a big whale swallowing someone. That's such a grand story, but really, at the heart of it is this father-son story. Can you talk about just that dynamic and why it's so important for the story?"
Josh Brolin: It's the whole story. The whale, even though it's the majority of the story, him surviving this whale or attempting to survive this whale—The whole story is based on his relationship with his father, and not being able to take in what his father is trying to impart because of his father's personality and the way that he does it.
Brolin notes that "the whale represents a symbol of how to get our of our own way" and be able to take in knowledge from those around you.
Brolin: And I think what the whale represents a symbol of how to get out of our own way in order to inhale those gems that you need, because I think the father really wants him to become self-sustaining, and he does it in a way that's almost paranoid. So the son can't hear it, and then when the son needs it, you see that he heard it. He just didn't hear it in the way that he wanted to, and I don't blame him, by the way.
Austin Abrams: I feel like it's a relationship that the father and son have that a lot of people can relate to. You know, if it's not like your parent, maybe it's like a sibling or grandparent or something, but it's someone that you know they truly love each other deep down, but then they keep not connecting. They keep missing each other. You know, it's like one of those things where it's almost kind of tragic.
Abrams also went on to compliment his co-star Josh Brolin, noting that Whalefall "is one of [his] favorite things [he's] seen him in," adding how he gives "a really beautiful performance" and is "extremely vulnerable."
Abrams: They never really get to fully connect and have that relationship that you feel like they can... Like you feel like it it can get there. You have a strong love, and you feel like it's in reach, but you don't know how to make it happen. You know, it's like one of those kinds of relationships. So yeah, and Josh is just such an amazing actor. And like, this is one of my favorite things I've seen him in. He's like extremely vulnerable and just like a really beautiful performance.
Brian Duffield: I think what was so appealing about the novel is that it's such an extraordinary location to put a movie, that that really tickles the filmmaker part of your brain about taking audiences on a journey they've never been on before. But then, what Daniel Kraus, the author, did so beautifully was connect that with a really beautiful father-son story. So even if there were no whale, I probably still would have been interested in exploring the dynamic between these two characters.
Duffield admitted to relating to both Jay, the son, and Mitt, the father, adding how great it was to be able to get personal with Josh Brolin and Austin Abrams.
Duffield: And you know, I'm kind of the perfect middle Goldilocks spot between them in age. I'm older than Jay, younger than Mitt, and so getting to be in that space, and then cast Austin, who's younger than me, and Josh, who's just a little older. Really felt that we were all coming at this with such love and such different perspectives. And you know, it was so great getting to talk with them about our families, about our hopes for our families in the future, and then kind of translating that onto the screen.
Daniel Kraus: I mean, it's kind of everything. Like in a way, what you want to do in a project like this is you want to make the central relationship so sort of powerful and relevant that even if there was no whale, the story still works, and I hope that's what the book does and what the movie does. The whale is there as sort of a catalyst in a way, like it's a method by which the father and the son can come to terms with each other.
Kraus then detailed the challenges of adapting that dynamic from the book to the movie, explaining how "the book has fifty different flashbacks" while the movie has "maybe five or six."
Kraus: And as far as like translation from the book to the film, there's the biggest challenge of the adaptation was really the father-son stuff because the whale stuff ports over pretty smoothly, but the book has fifty different flashbacks. You've got maybe five or six in the movie, so it's a sort of matter of like how can we directly, succinctly, but still really emotionally sum up what what's important in that relationship, and have it connect to what's happening with Jay, and delivering the information that Jay needs to know from his dad via memory to help him get out of the way. So it was the most complicated part, really.
Our full interviews with the cast and filmmakers behind Whalefall can be seen here.
