With Whalefall, director Brian Duffield gets to have his cake and eat it too. The filmmaker pulls off an impressive balancing act, delivering a white-knuckle survival drama that doubles as an emotional meditation on grief.

Anchored by strong performances from Austin Abrams and Josh Brolin, the film successfully maintains this delicate balance throughout its first two acts. The final act, however, is a bit rockier, leaning heavily on spiritual metaphors, leaps of faith, and magical realism.

That shift won't be a problem for audiences who connect with the story of a son still grappling with the influence of a demanding father, even after his death. However, the third act may land differently for viewers expecting a realistic depiction of how someone could survive being swallowed by a whale.

That someone is played by Austin Abrams, who, after this and Resident Evil, deserves to star in an infomercial where he does nothing but lounge peacefully on a beach drinking cocktails.

In Whalefall, Abrams once again effortlessly draws audiences into a deeply internal exploration of suffering on multiple levels. His performance is remarkably layered, avoiding the pitfalls of becoming one-note. It's even more impressive considering the film's second half, where his character's life-or-death circumstances grow increasingly extreme.

As his father, Josh Brolin takes a very different approach. He plays a man confronting the end of his life like a wrecking ball, effectively establishing the conflict between tough love and emotional abuse that seems to divide Generation X and Generation Z when it comes to parenting.

While Whalefall ultimately delivers a satisfying emotional arc, its use of the whale as a metaphor for life lessons and healing begins to falter in the final act. The film's audiovisual presentation is so grounded throughout that its emotional climax may feel like a cop-out to some viewers.

Even so, the stakes are established from the very first frame. Regardless of what the marketing campaign might suggest, Whalefall is not an adventure film, and its ending perfectly encapsulates that distinction.

Whalefall is now playing exclusively in theaters.