'Whalefall' director hopes film inspires greater appreciation for whales

Director Brian Duffield describes his new survival thriller "Whalefall", in which a teenager is swallowed by a sperm whale, as "the opposite of 'Jaws'".

"I think in a lot of ways the whale is the hero of the movie," Duffield told Reuters at the film's London premiere on Monday, adding that whale experts had welcomed the film and hoped it would encourage audiences to learn more about the mammals.

Based on Daniel Kraus' 2023 novel, "Whalefall" follows teenager Jay, played by Austin Abrams, who dives off California's Monastery Beach in search of his late father's remains. During the dive, he is swallowed by a sperm whale and must find a way to survive and escape.

Hollywood star Josh Brolin, who plays Jay's father, said he hoped the film would have a very different impact from Steven Spielberg's shark blockbuster.

"I hope (people) want to go home and hug their families and...realise that we have a short time here and might as well utilise it the best we can," he said.

Beyond its survival story, the film explores grief and a complicated father-son relationship, themes that Brolin said partly drew him to the project.

"I sobbed at the end of the book," he said. "Partially because of the father-son relationship, partially because it's truly a hero story."

To bring the story to life, the filmmakers built large-scale whale interiors and exteriors, with computer-generated imagery used only to enhance the environments.

"Everyone who worked on this movie said it was the hardest thing they've ever done," Duffield said, adding that even just sitting inside the whale set was an "incredibly dangerous stunt" for "Resident Evil" star Abrams.

Kraus, who co-wrote the film's screenplay with Duffield, said the idea originated from a viral video of kayakers accidentally ending up inside a whale’s mouth.

"Immediately, (I) had what I felt at the time was the best idea I've ever had," he said. "Could someone really be swallowed by a whale?"

After consulting whale experts, he was told that, under the right circumstances, a person could be swallowed by a sperm whale.

When asked whether Jay's fate could actually befall a human, Duffield joked that "a lot of things have to go very badly for you for it to happen."

"But sperm whales are designed to do one thing and one thing only, which is eat giant squid. And so if you're smaller than a giant squid, you can fit down that throat," he said. "Who knows what happens next?"

"Whalefall" will begin its global theatrical rollout on October 14.

-Reporting by Francesca Halliwell; Editing by Jamie Freed/Reuters