After two weekends filled with heavily panned wide releases, the outlook is much rosier this week with both “Whalefall” and “Street Fighter” landing in cinemas.
Reviews are in for the former, which once again sees Austin Abrams caught up in a high-tension thriller scenario playing out in essentially real time – like in last month’s “Resident Evil”. With 43 reviews counted, “Whalefall” is at a solid 79% (6.8/10) on Rotten Tomatoes and an OK 64/100 on Metacritic.
Abrams stars as a man diving off the central Coast of California in search of his late father’s remains. He is unexpectedly swallowed by a massive sperm whale, trapped inside its belly with only one hour of oxygen left, and he realises that the hard-earned lessons his father imparted may be the key to his escape.
While it may not have gone down as well as ‘Resident’ did last month, it’s still admired in the reviews for committing to its implausible premise. Here’s a sampling of reviews:
“Whalefall is without question the best movie I’ve ever seen about someone being swallowed by a whale. And beyond its achievements within that very specific subgenre, it manages to deliver a cathartic experience that’s very human, even relatable.” – Liz Shannon Miller, Consequence
“Nobody in their right mind would say anything that happens in ‘Whalefall’ is plausible, but the implausibility is inherent to the premise and the premise is rad as hell. Brian Duffield is 100% committed to the bit, which makes ‘Whalefall’ a wild ride.” – William Bibbiani, The Wrap
“An absurdly entertaining mix of family melodrama, survivalist thriller, and exceptionally gooey horror flick.” – Barry Hertz, Globe and Mail
“Even when the metaphor is painfully on the nose, the film’s most disturbing images are more than their dramatic limitations and a whale is still an astonishing place to spend a movie.” – Alison Foreman, Indiewire
“A biblical calamity that plays out in giddily squishy and stifling fashion, Brian Duffield’s film is all about inducing intense squirms, and on that basis, it proves amusing genre pulp.” – Nick Shager, The Daily Beast
“As eye-rollingly dumb as it is, this is a drama in the business of healing, of nature in all its savage nobility soothing wounds and mending bonds. Or something.” – David Rooney, THR
“A mutant sea monster, one that’s half gross-out B-movie and half flashback-heavy emotional flotsam.” – Jacob Oller, AV Club
“The movie comes closer to doing for whales what “Howard the Duck” did for barnyard superheroes — it makes you never want to see one of them again.” – Owen Gleiberman, Variety
Elisabeth Shue, John Ortiz, Jane Levy and Emily Rudd co-star in the film which was based on the novel by Daniel Kraus and directed by Brian Duffield (“No One Will Save You”).
“Whalefall” will open in cinemas on October 16th.
