Whalefall director Brian Duffield on making the sperm whale survival thriller
As "Whalefall" opened in US theaters on 16 October, director Brian Duffield told IndieWire and Deadline how the film was researched and built, and how its father-son story anchors the survival plot.
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The story, neutrally told
Mixed · 2Whalefall, adapted from Daniel Kraus's novel, opened in theaters on Friday 16 October. IndieWireLC ““Whalefall” opens in theaters on Friday, October 16.” Read at IndieWire ↗ DeadlineN “now out in theaters, based on Daniel Kraus’ novel” Read at Deadline ↗ Mixed · 2It follows a scuba diver, Jay Gardiner (Austin Abrams), who is swallowed by a sperm whale and has about an hour of oxygen to escape. Deadline says he ends up there after going to find the remains of his father Mitt (Josh Brolin), who died by suicide by drowning after a mesothelioma diagnosis. IndieWireLC “a scuba diver who gets swallowed by a sperm whale and has only an hour of oxygen to keep him alive” Read at IndieWire ↗ DeadlineN “Jay’s decision to seek out the remains of his dead father Mitt Gardiner (Josh Brolin)” Read at Deadline ↗ Left · 1Duffield told IndieWire he found the project through a post by Kraus on X, contacted the author, and, after reading the novel, told him he would do anything to be part of it. The two then co-wrote the screenplay. IndieWireLC ““I called him and basically said, ‘I’ll do anything to be a part of this”“Duffield and Kraus collaborated on the screenplay” Read at IndieWire ↗
Left · 1To make the premise feel plausible, Duffield said he worked with production designer Ramsey Avery, the visual effects team and whale experts. They studied autopsy videos of a beached sperm whale and of a large squid, and he acknowledged liberties taken mostly for safety reasons. IndieWireLC “There was a beached sperm whale that they flew [one of our advisers] in to do an autopsy of”“there are obviously liberties that we took — usually because of safety reasons” Read at IndieWire ↗ Centre · 1Deadline, which visited the set at Radford Studios in Los Angeles in September, reports that the film used a life-sized whale stomach. Weta Workshop built several stomach models in New Zealand, while the head, throat, esophagus and larynx were built in California; StudioArt & Technology made the 12-foot-tall, 18-foot-long head. DeadlineN “Multiple whale stomach models were built by Weta Workshop in New Zealand”“The 12-foot-tall, 18-foot-long whale head was manufactured by StudioArt & Technology.” Read at Deadline ↗ Centre · 1Visual effects supervisor Guillaume Rocheron rigged LED lighting in the stomach to render as bioluminescence. Duffield said cameras and lenses broke "nonstop", and that the crew built scenes around the one spot the camera could fit. DeadlineN “rigged the LED lighting in the stomach to eventually render as the bioluminescence”“Cameras and lenses were broken “nonstop” during filming” Read at Deadline ↗
Centre · 1The crew also redesigned the diving regulator to be as small as possible so that Abrams's mouth shape would show and he could talk to himself in the stomach. DeadlineN “So we redesigned the regulator to give him as much mouth shape as possible.” Read at Deadline ↗ Centre · 1Duffield, Kraus and others involved stressed that the whale is not the villain: Duffield said it is an animal pursuing a squid, and Deadline says orcas attacking the whale are the antagonists and the trigger for the climax. DeadlineN ““The whale is not a bad guy. The whale is just an animal that’s doing what it’s meant to be doing.”“It’s orcas that attack Jay’s sperm whale that ultimately provide the antagonists” Read at Deadline ↗ Centre · 1Kraus said the book grew from a viral video of a kayaker in a whale's mouth, and that he wanted to know whether being swallowed could be portrayed in a scientifically accurate way. He consulted three whale experts recommended by author Mary Roach. DeadlineN “The impetus for Whalefall came from a viral video in which a kayaker ended up in the mouth of a whale.”“My interest was, could you do it scientifically accurately?”” Read at Deadline ↗
Centre · 1Duffield said the father-son relationship drew him to the project, and that Jay's journey includes making peace with his dead father. He joked that the film's summary is that "men would rather get swallowed by a sperm whale than go to therapy." DeadlineN “part of Austin’s journey is making peace with his dad, who is dead at the start of the movie.”““men would rather get swallowed by a sperm whale than go to therapy.”” Read at Deadline ↗
Every sentence links to the reporting it rests on. The pill in front of each says where its sources sit: Left, Centre or Right when one side supplies at least half of them, Mixed when they are evenly split. The number is how many outlets it cites.
Left2 outlets
- Framing
- IndieWire's podcast-based feature treats the film as a craft story: how a ridiculous premise was made believable through research and realism.
- Emphasis
- Duffield's origin story with Kraus, his research (autopsy and endoscopy videos, whale experts) and the aim of making the premise feel plausible.
- Leaves out or plays down
- Says little about the father-son theme, the cast, the practical set build or the plot.
- Charged language
- “instruction manual”
Centre1 outlet
- Framing
- Deadline's spoiler-flagged set-visit piece puts the emotional core first: a father-son story of closure, told through a survival tale.
- Emphasis
- Production engineering (Weta stomach builds, LED bioluminescence, redesigned regulator), Kraus's research, and the whale as a non-villain.
- Leaves out or plays down
- Does not discuss the autopsy-video research or the realism-versus-safety trade-offs that IndieWire highlights.
- Charged language
- “harrowing predicament”
Right0 outlets
No right outlet in our sources has covered this story yet.
What every side reports
- Whalefall is based on Daniel Kraus's novel and is directed by Brian Duffield, who co-wrote it with Kraus.
- The film opened in theaters on 16 October.
- Duffield stresses realism and research in depicting the inside of a sperm whale.
Brian Duffield person
Duffield presents the film as an extreme premise made as realistic as possible, with a father-son story at its heart and a whale that is not a villain.
“There’s no way around the insanity of the premise, and I think that’s the selling point.” — IndieWire
““The whale is not a bad guy.” — Deadline
Daniel Kraus person
Kraus says he wanted to treat being swallowed by a whale scientifically rather than as a fable, and came to admire sperm whales.
“My interest was, could you do it scientifically accurately?”” — Deadline
“They’re not aggressors. They’re very peaceful animals.” — Deadline
Left2 articles
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Brian Duffield Made a Realistic Movie About Surviving Inside a Sperm Whale
Sympathetic Promotional interview feature presenting Duffield's commitment to realism as the film's selling point.
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Centre1 article
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Sympathetic Behind-the-scenes feature that links the film's technical ambition to its father-son emotional core.
Right0 articles
No coverage yet.
- 15 Oct 15:00 First IndieWireLC Brian Duffield Made a Realistic Movie About Surviving Inside a Sperm Whale
- 17 Oct 00:20 +33h 21m DeadlineN How ‘Whalefall’s Director & Author Wove The Closure Of A Father-Son Relationship Into A Survival Tale
- 17 Oct 01:01 +34h 1m VarietyLC The Impossible ‘Whalefall’: Director Brian Duffield Wanted a Challenge, So He Discovered a Way to Crush Austin Abrams in a Whale Stomach That Left Onlookers ‘Baffled’
Times are when each article was published, or when we first saw it if the outlet gave no time.
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