Whalefall (2026)

Director: Brian Duffield
Screenplay: Brian Duffield, Daniel Kraus
Based on: ‘Whalefall‘ by Daniel Kraus
Cast: Austin Abrams, Josh Brolin
Cinematography: Aaron Morton
Editing: Pietro Scalia
Score: Joseph Trapanese
Genre: Survival thriller
Runtime: 106 minutes

Austin Abrams is having a whale of a time. Between the smash hit that was ‘Resident Evil‘ and his latest film ‘Whalefall‘, he’s proving himself to be quite the actor. Both projects involve him being the only character onscreen for the majority of the runtime so he skilfully does the heavy lifting in each.

After the death of his dad Mitt (played by Josh Brolin), Jay (Abrams) comes home from college. The two had a complex relationship. Mitt was stern, tattooed, macho; someone who was in his element when out on the water. Jay is a scrawny young fellow, keen to be everything his dad isn’t. He has “soft lungs” according to Mitt, who chides his son’s lack of real world readiness.

Mitt was dying of a terminal illness and chose to end his life by jumping into the sea as opposed to wasting away on some sterile hospital bed. One year on from Mitt’s passing, Jay feels ready to prove his worth. With no earthly remains in the coffin, Jay sets out to find anything he can of his father from the ocean floor even if it’s just a solitary bone. A physical piece of the man with whom he shared such an insubstantial connection.

Jay isn’t a professional diver but his dad trained him in his youth. He has enough knowledge for an expedition though only enough oxygen to last him an hour. He departs, diving down to the deepest depths of the big blue. We’re given a moment to take in the vast underwater emptiness before Jay is suddenly thrust into a perilous situation. With a squid coiling around his leg, he and said squid get swallowed whole by a sperm whale.

Like the biblical Jonah, Jay finds himself in the belly of the beast. There’s an otherworldly feeling to the environment inside. Aaron Morton’s cinematography is sublime; the interior lit up by the soothing glow of bioluminescent jellyfish, gastric juices pooling. It’s so peaceful, you could lie here forever if the fluids weren’t corrosive and you had an infinite supply of oxygen. Brian Duffield’s direction immerses us in the cavernous chambers of the whale’s stomach. The practical effects are impressive – the ever-shifting walls allow us to believe Jay is trapped in a living, breathing prison.

Abrams channels despair and determination in equal measure. Jay wants to escape even if, by doing so, he injures the creature. The voice of his father haunts the stomach and guides a dazed Jay. The latter has so much emotional baggage to unpack, so many things left unsaid. The repair of the relationship between father and son in one final conversation is touchingly done, laying ghosts to rest.

‘Whalefall‘ is an enthralling adventure, steeped in poignancy.

My rating: 9 / 10

The Dog Stars (2026)

Director: Ridley Scott
Screenplay: Mark L. Smith
Based on: ‘The Dog Stars‘ by Peter Heller
Producer: Ridley Scott, Michael Pruss, Mark L. Smith, Cliff Roberts
Cast: Jacob Elordi, Josh Brolin, Margaret Qualley, Guy Pearce
Cinematography: Erik Messerschmidt
Editing: Sam Restivo, Claire Simpson
Score: Harry Gregson-Williams
Genre: Post-apocalyptic action thriller
Runtime: 118 minutes

Imagine if COVID-19 had been tenfold in its lethality. Then you’d have the world ‘The Dog Stars‘ exists in. Deserted cities overgrown with moss. Corpses rotting on the ground. On the bright side, no pollution – a starlit sky.

Enough time has passed for talk of a pandemic not to hit home for us viewers. But for pilot Hig (Jacob Elordi) and his cohabitant Bangley (Josh Brolin), the current situation is gloomy. Hig’s pregnant wife died of flu and Bangley’s social skills leave a lot to be desired. The latter has a knack for survival though. He knows the rules. Shoot or be shot. Nobody is here to make friends.

A pragmatic approach. However, it doesn’t apply to everyone Hig encounters. Leaving the safety of his and Bangley’s base to chase a faraway radio signal (a stupid decision), he befriends Cima (Margaret Qualley) and her gruff dad, known as “Pops” (Guy Pearce).

The pacing is sluggish, as if all the fight has been knocked out of it. The only compelling character is Bangley, and he’s ditched a third of the way into the runtime. So that leaves us with Elordi’s brooding and a torpid journey onwards. The action picks up a bit during a brief touchdown at a reconverted airport in Grand Junction, run by a former air stewardess (Allison Janney).

The pandemic has put ordinary life on pause. Perhaps even backwards. Hig flies supplies to a Mennonite community who look like they’re extras from ‘Little House on the Prairie‘. Janney’s air stewardess wears a 1960’s Pan Am uniform. I guess pushing the ‘play’ button and letting things move forward in time is too much to ask for not just the fictional world, but also the film itself.

My rating: 6 / 10

Weapons (2025)

Director: Zach Cregger
Screenplay: Zach Cregger
Cast: Josh Brolin, Julia Garner, Cary Christopher, Alden Ehrenreich, Austin Abrams, Benedict Wong, Amy Madigan
Cinematography: Larkin Seiple
Editing: Joe Murphy
Score: Ryan Holladay, Hays Holladay, Zach Cregger
Genre: Mystery horror
Runtime: 128 minutes

At exactly 2:17am, 17 children up and leave their respective houses and scarper into the night, leaving their parents bereft. And full of questions. Where did they disappear to? These kids left of their own volition – this isn’t a cut and dry abduction. The way they’re running is odd too: arms outstretched as if they’re pretending to be fighter jets. All 17 belonged to the same class at school, taught by Ms. Justine Gandy (Julia Garner). Except one boy didn’t flee by foot: Alex, who claims not to know the whereabouts of his classmates.

Justine becomes the town pariah, understandably so, unfair as it may seem. A month after the incident, a community meeting takes place where she unsuccessfully attempts to cool tempers of frantic parents. Her car is vandalised: ‘witch’ is scrawled across it. Could she really be responsible?

‘Weapons‘ is divided into chapters, each from a different character’s point of view. As the portions pass, the enigma begins to unravel. Justine’s story is first; we see her processing the situation by drinking and hooking up with her married ex-boyfriend (Alden Ehrenreich). Then comes Archer (Josh Brolin), grieving father of a young son, who actively seeks an answer to the disappearances (doing a better job than the police certainly). Next: Paul (Justine’s ex, a cop), James (a petty burglar), Marcus (the school principal) and Alex (the boy at the centre of the whole thing).

Good performances from Garner, Brolin and Ehrenreich as flawed characters and an eerie atmosphere keep you sufficiently curious. There’s a couple of jump scares thrown in to maintain the horror levels and some strangely comedic moments courtesy of Alex’s wacky Aunt Gladys but ‘Weapons‘ is a genuinely intriguing mystery in every sense of the word.

My rating: 7 / 10