Like outer space or the realms of fantasy, audiences have long had an affection for the mysteries of the oceans when put to film. The Abyss, Jaws, Das Boot, Waterworld, Crimson Tide, Black Sea, Titanic, The Perfect Storm, and even Dangerous Animals set a pretty high bar for the setting across a myriad of different genres and stories.
Arriving at the crest of the wave of new films set out at sea or in the deep sea, along swims Whalefall. It’s a welcome, out-there, and unique premise to land at the box office, with a scuba diver being consumed by a larger-than-usual sperm whale. So, how well will it play into our ocean curiosities, and will Whalefall join the hits list?
An Ancient Obsession with What’s Beneath the Waves
The idea that we know more about space than we do Earth’s oceans is a bit of a misnomer, and yet, we do know shockingly little about the depths. Some 95 per cent of it is unexplored, and only three people have ventured into the Mariana Trench, while we’ve successfully had 12 people land and walk on the surface of the Moon.
Does this speak to our long-held fears of what we can’t see lurking beneath the waves? Myths through the ages of humanity have spoken of krakens waiting to sink ships, sirens seeking to lure sailors to their doom, the horrors that follow the arrivals of oarfish, as OC explores.
A fear of the unknown certainly plays into these myths, as does the fact that the ocean is such a foreign landscape to we who have domesticated much of the planet’s land. We can’t wrangle the sea, only come and go as visitors trying to sample its bounty before the waves, weather, or denizens deem us to have overstayed. The other side of this oceanic obsession is the allure of mystery.
Atlantis is a prime example of this, but we also know of hundreds of ships that have sunk beneath the waves with their hoards of treasure. This hunt is depicted in some films, but most prominently in the UK online casino games. At the time of writing, a new game has been added to the bounty of games in this theme with Deep Sea Frenzy!, which joins the likes of Ancient Fortunes: Poseidon and Mermaid’s Treasure Trove.
A Unique Deep-Sea Thriller
If nothing else, Whalefall is an incredibly unique film in the modern slate, with the idea seemingly being too zany to be backed by studios. Yet, 20th Century Studios committed, so now, we’ll see how someone can try to survive if they get eaten by a massive whale. While it’s a new film, it certainly plays into our traditional stories.
Moby Dick is the most famous of these tales, but variations have been around since we set sail and realised that these colossal creatures were brazen enough to swim right alongside our vessels. Here, though, we’re in the whale’s domain. While searching for his father, Whalefall’s protagonist, played by Austin Abrams, gets gobbled up.
As THR has reported, the short-form early critic reviews of the film vary greatly, but that might be enough to make it the best ocean-bound film of the year. Kraken certainly has its high points, but struggled to convince the masses, while Deep Water didn’t fully realise the potential of its premise – a plane crash mobbed by sharks.
Whalefall looks primed to tap into our undying intrigue of the oceans, and if nothing else, give us another reason to think twice about dipping a toe in.