Actor Austin Abrams is set to appear in two high-profile projects featuring perilous situations, though the nature of the danger differs greatly. Abrams will soon be seen in the live-action Resident Evil movie, tackling the franchise's signature zombie hordes, and later this year, he stars in Whalefall, a film that pits him against a predatory sperm whale.
Whalefall, scheduled for release on October 28, centers on Jay Gardiner (Abrams), who goes diving off the coast of California to search for his deceased father's remains. His quest takes a terrifying turn when he is swallowed whole by a massive sperm whale. The synopsis indicates that trapped inside the creature's belly with limited oxygen, Gardiner must rely on his father's lessons to find a way to escape.
The film's premise escalates the survival horror by including a giant squid that the whale had previously consumed, presenting a dual threat with its sticky tentacles. While the scenario sounds extreme, the notes point out a degree of realism. Sperm whales are among the few species with throats large enough to potentially swallow a human. The combination of powerful muscular contractions and stomach acid would make survival highly improbable, though not entirely impossible.
While Whalefall explores a highly unlikely, yet not impossible, survival scenario, other real-life encounters with whales have seen individuals engulfed, and subsequently expelled. Notable examples include South African dive tour operator Rainer Schimpf in 2019, who was briefly inside a Bryde's whale, and Michael Packard in 2021, who found himself in the mouth of a feeding humpback whale.
Before his encounter with marine life, Abrams will appear in Resident Evil, hitting theaters on September 18. In this adaptation, he portrays a medical courier caught in the Raccoon City Incident, where he faces threats including zombies and, according to reports from the set, an intense scene involving a 150-pound blood bag.