In the thriller Whalefall, a diver gets trapped inside a whale off the coast of Carmel.

It’s hard to keep in mind that the action of Whalefall, a new survival thriller film that premiered in the theaters on Oct. 16, takes place off Monastery Beach in Carmel. That’s because a significant portion of the film’s events take place inside an 80-foot-long, 60-ton sperm whale. 

Teenage scuba diver Jay Gardiner (played by Austin Abrams) has just an hour of air in his tank as he tries to find a way out of the belly of the beast and save his life.

The opening scenes do justice to the area, specially the Monastery Beach as shown from the water line. When Jay dives in, the splendid underwater kingdom of golden kelp, corals and fish of all sizes—including one of biblical dimensions—emerges. 

For author Daniel Kraus, the 2023 novel Whalefall was all about problem solving. He came to Monterey County, researched the area and worked with local divers before writing. Together, they figured out that Monastery Beach could be the point of an unlikely but possible diver-whale interaction. 

The novel passed the test of believability. It became a New York Times bestseller, and gained fans all over the world, combining the thrill of an ultimate adventure—being swallowed by a whale—with the wisdom of a coming-of-age tale. (Kraus received a Pulitzer Prize for his 2025 novel Angel Down.)

Would the movie be up to the standard, that was the question. The writer who took on the task is Brian Duffield, most known for his recent sci-fi horror film No One Will Save You. 

Kraus co-wrote the script with Duffield. It wasn’t the first time he collaborated on a movie. He co-conceived The Shape of Water with iconic director Guillermo del Toro.

Whalefall certainly makes an impression. While the main character’s impromptu decision to go for a dive into the spot where his father died seems questionable—he had been on a break from diving—the fanciful circumstances are otherwise rather convincing. One can almost smell and feel the Pacific when he gets into the water, hiding from the lifeguard, forcing through the infamously powerful waves off the beach. 

When he touches the edge of a reef and faces the depth of the underwater canyon—a whole dark universe beneath his feet—it’s not hard to be in awe. 

And then he gets swallowed. 

Whalefall is showing at Cinemark Century Monterey 13; Cinemark Century Marina, Cinemark Century Northridge Mall 14 and Premiere Cinemas Soledad.