The new survival thriller Whalefall checked a number of my phobia boxes going into it, so my critical response to the film was always going to be measured by how much it triggered these primal fears of mine. And (I guess?) I’m happy to report the film did that too damn well at times.

Assuredly directed by Brian Duffield and based on Daniel Kraus’ bestselling book of the same name , Whalefall has a simple yet incredibly compelling premise: Young scuba diver Jay Gardiner (Resident Evil’s Austin Abrams) is swallowed by a massive sperm whale and must figure out how to escape from the belly of the beast while his oxygen supply lasts. He has an hour of air left so his struggle basically plays out in real time on screen.

What happens inside the whale’s belly is brought to life with gruesome, excruciating and claustrophobic intensity by Duffield and his team of artists. (They built a whale’s belly, for Jonah’s sake!) There are so many awful ways for Jay to die in there before his oxygen runs out, whether it’s being crushed by the whale’s innards, or succumbing to all the gnarly injuries he sustains from the toxic environment or the other sea creatures the whale has swallowed that are also still alive.

Deeper emotional layers are added to the story by revealing why Jay was diving that day to begin with: He was searching for the remains of his dad, Mitt (Josh Brolin), a well-liked diver and whale-watching boat skipper in their Central California community.

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