Austin Abrams Anchors Nail-Biting And Emotional Survival Thriller Whalefall

Austin Abrams just can’t catch a break. On the big screen, that is.

In Weapons, he plays a junkie who cluelessly runs into a witch. (Actually, it’s that syringe scene he shares with Alden Ehrenreich that’s exceptionally terrifying.) In Resident Evil, his cash-strapped courier should’ve called it a day instead of taking on another assignment — one that leads him down a path to a monster apocalypse.

And now, in Whalefall, he stars as Jay Gardiner, a young scuba diver who finds himself trapped inside a sperm whale with just an hour of oxygen remaining.

Worst. Day. Ever.

Directed by Brian Duffield (2023’s home-invasion-meets-alien invasion flick No One Will Save You), Whalefall is a white-knuckle survival thriller not unlike 127 Hours, but by way of a whale colonoscopy.

But there’s more to Whalefall than the high-concept premise: it’s also incredibly moving, thanks in no small part to Abrams’ emotionally raw performance as his character grapples with grief, guilt, and his complicated relationship with his late father (Josh Brolin).

It’s no easy feat, considering Abrams spent most of the film alone, with nobody to play off…ish.

“Well, the stomach is its own kind of diva, I guess,” the actor tells 8days.sg over Zoom from Los Angeles. “There’s less personalities to deal with.”

Yet he found unexpected companionship in his unusual circumstances.

“We’re kind of, in those scenarios, desiring and hungry for that connection,” he explains, pointing to Jay’s encounters with a jellyfish and even a squid beak as small but meaningful moments of connection.

Abrams spent 35 consecutive shooting days navigating the whale’s innards, recreated through elaborate practical sets built by Wētā Workshop and enhanced with visual effects.

Duffield, meanwhile, discovered that directing an actor inside a whale required some rather unconventional instructions.

“There’s a bunch of times he’s crawling through sphincters, and just instructing him on how to crawl through a sphincter is hopefully not something I’m gonna do again in directing,” he laughs.

For Duffield, however, directing Abrams was less about extracting a performance than creating an environment where the actor could flourish.

“My job is mostly just to make Austin feel like he’s supported and can do his best work,” Duffield says.

Interestingly, Abrams worked on Resident Evil after wrapping Whalefall. Did the experience prepare him not just physically, but psychologically, for Zach Cregger’s doomsday thriller?

In Whalefall, Jay struggles with the emotional scars left by his estranged father, while in Resident Evil, his character, Bryan, confronts the prospect of becoming a father himself.

So did one nightmare influence how Abrams approached another? Watch our interview the actor and Duffield to find out.

Whalefall (PG13) is now in cinemas.

Photos: 20th Century Studios

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