Released on Friday, Austin Abrams and Josh Brolin star in Whalefall, a new film from 20th Century Studios based on the book of the same name. Directed by Brian Duffield (Spontaneous, No One Will Save You), Whalefall tells the story of Jay Gardiner (Abrams), a young man in search of his late father Mitt’s remains (Brolin) in the ocean on his first dive over a year since his passing.
I initially had no plans to see the film as the trailers hadn’t grabbed me—I will maintain that while I enjoyed the movie in the end, the marketing probably failed it a bit. Each trailer I saw prior to Whalefall‘s release made it seem like a spatial horror with a premise that starts and ends with the protagonist in a whale’s stomach. However, the story of Jay and his father’s lifelong troubled dynamic is what the initial trailers I saw hid away well enough if you hadn’t read or even heard of the book. I was a part of the latter crowd, and it wasn’t until a friend who’d read the book made the push that we decided to take a night out for the film. And this friend was right about Project Hail Mary, too, so I trusted their judgment.
It’s been a great two months for people who love Austin Abrams on screen. I’d argue the emotion put into this role rivals that which I saw from him in Resident Evil (no shade to Zach Cregger’s new film, I wanna go on record that I LOVE Bryan Hodukavich). Jay’s character is introduced as tragic, clearly having the most complicated relationship in his family between himself and his father among his mother and siblings. He doesn’t try to make this anyone else’s problem, but his emotional avoidance itself concerns everyone around him. This sets a dangerous feeling as he makes his way towards the coast, diving one last time to try and find his father’s remains, alone.
Something I will say regarding this part of Whalefall is that it moves very fast. The movie isn’t very long, and they waste no time from the moment Jay dives into the water to the second he’s swallowed by a whale. It almost felt like the narrative was itself conscious of where this was ending up too. I think some of my problems with the film’s later pacing within the whale is how the environment kind of blends together sometimes. There’s only so many parts of the whale Jay travels between, and sometimes he needs to backtrack a bit. What this reminds me of is Iron Lung, which feels kind of like a similar situation in that regard and just the fact the protagonist is trapped in this vessel with nothing to do but hope to ascend or descend into the depths.
The atmosphere of the film inside the whale is, in a word, disgusting. In multiple words, it’s disgusting and uncomfortable and hard to watch. Luckily, that was the intention, so I’m praising the film when I say that. It’s not what the inside of a whale is really like, of course, so I have to say the production and set design in regards to those faux innards are something I really admire. There are so many textures I have no clue how they would have recreated, and the immersion never broke once. I felt myself wincing at certain points, a feeling I haven’t had much with 2026 releases. Unlike what I thought the trailers were leading me to believe, this narrative really did make me feel different, and I love different in a thriller. I couldn’t once predict how things were going to go next, and I definitely couldn’t see coming just how many methods Jay had up his sleeve from Mitt’s teachings.
Whalefall is now in theaters nationwide.
If you went into Nathan Fielder and Lance Oppenheim’s new film You Can See Everything expecting a classical look into the downfall of Elizabeth Holmes’ Theranos, you’re out of your mind. The presence of Fielder in any production is felt in a way no other creative can match, but Lance Oppenheim’s sense of picture in a film is one able to amp it up to another haunting level. I still can’t get some images of Oppenheim’s Primetime out of my head, so I knew his direction could really bring even more layers to some of the twisted narrative I knew would unfurl. And if you know our site, you know Nathan Fielder is one of our favorite Canadians in film and television—among other candidates such as Matt Johnson and Jay McCarrol.
No, You Can See Everything is not simply a documentary on the rise and fall of Elizabeth Holmes. Fielder stays beside Holmes and her partner Billy Evans as the days count down to her conviction in a documentary I can only describe as a complete deconstruction of Holmes’ composition as a human, as well as a look into her and Evans’ psyche. The countdown does not spell the end of the film, though—as you watch Fielder undercover spotting Holmes entering the prison, you soon realize this may just be a new beginning.
It’s always conflicting for me to have to make a review like this. Fielder and Oppenheim’s near three-hour profile of familial and inner personal tragedy here is one of the most brilliant, layered pieces of documentary I’ve ever seen in my life. But just how much can I disclose without spoiling the entire point? Well, I can definitely talk about Fielder’s role in the production as its sole commentating documentarian. His having a role in this story directly plays into its second half following Holmes’ incarceration, conflicted on where the narrative can go now that the production and its very subject have lost contact.
Even in Holmes’ visible absence, the film never stops exploring and diving deep into the full character of each person involved, including Fielder himself. It’s surreal to watch as Nathan puts together this master craft of human introspection without realizing how far in he himself has gotten in this. The crew of the documentary goes back multiple times to their footage and resources, pinning down specific moments and tells to reopen discussion or bring light to that which wasn’t seen before. In its nature of reflection and revisitation, you truly can see everything.
When that initial report came out from The InSneider regarding Fielder secretly visiting Holmes in prison, I was all in already. A secret documentary already sounded on-brand for him, but something so high-profile like the story of Theranos always had me wondering what could have been going on behind the scenes to make this possible. After watching the film? I’m still not sure. Fielder asks Holmes and Evans multiple times throughout and doesn’t quite get the answers he’s looking for either. Then again, that may be the point. Again, this is the second film directed by a Canadian to release this year I find myself wondering how they filmed and released. Even if you’re not into documentaries usually, I highly encourage changing things up and seeing this in theaters while you can. There’s an unbelievable nature to so much of what’s presented and how it’s cut together, and yet it’s all completely authentic. Why would they lie? There’s no reason for them to do that.
You Can See Everything is now playing in theaters nationwide.
Last night, I went to see Alejandro González Iñárritu’s Digger, a satire starring Tom Cruise as the titular Digger Rockwell, an oil tycoon at the forefront of an imminent and fatal humanitarian crisis with worldwide ramifications. This week was my last chance to see the film, as theaters nearby are beginning to take the film out of their rotation as soon as this Friday. This baffled me going in—the film has hardly been out for two weeks—but baffled me even more leaving the theater. Digger is one of the most creative original films I’ve seen all year, making so many big swings and delivering with a brilliant set, brilliant design, and brilliant layers to its narrative. It’s hard to explain exactly what goes into the film’s process of layering its narrative without completely shattering the twists of its story, and no, it’s not a musical. What Digger becomes, both before its audience and its cast, is something so much more than how it’s been presented to us.
Digger‘s first trailer, in a vacuum, I feel is put together well at the very least. Some great clips are cut together, the backing track is strong and confident, but its very composition commanded the question that got us into this mess: What IS Digger? The movie has to be more than they’re showing us. Anyone can make a satire about big business colliding into federal decision-making for a catastrophe of grand proportions. What could this film TRULY be about that brought big stars like Tom Cruise, Jesse Plemons, John Goodman, Riz Ahmed, Sandra Hüller and more to sign?
As the months ticked down to release, more questions arose. More trailers released, and answered none of them. If Digger really is just another satire of the elite scrambling to fix a problem they never seriously considered the consequences of, is it for us? All we had to go off was festival reactions. When the film released?
Ouch.
And yet, the marketing department grinned in defiance. If they couldn’t control the course of nature, at least they could control the narrative.
Is it new for a film to utilize its polarizing reviews as a marketing push? Not at all. Is it still effective? Absolutely. I saw the tides shift upon the release of Digger‘s tactical “Same Film, Different Truths” pivot. This trailer brings in the urgency and pressure that the film truly puts on its audience in the moment, and is a direction I feel much better suits the story as a whole. The unfortunate truth is that in its blunt nature, the advertisement doesn’t touch upon much of the plot of the film in what I’d argue is its best showcase of the tone. Again, though, this pivot definitely put the film on a lot of peoples’ radars, including theatergoers who might not have been considering going to see it. While I always had a plan to see Digger—I did really like the colorblock posters before the trailers released—this had me feeling more about the movie than I had from any clip prior.
If Digger is truly exiting theaters as soon as this Friday more places than just near me, it’s a shame. The movie is set to lose Warner Bros. over $200 million after grossing less than $40 million on a $125-180 million budget. If I’m to be completely honest with you, I’d rather Warner Bros. lose money on this than not have this movie exist at all. The film space is more interesting in a post-Digger world. I’m glad I went through some horrific traffic both ways to see it.
Digger is now in theaters nationwide. Go see it this week, while you still can.
Happy October, everyone! It’s time to stock up on the scares as we get closer to Halloween. What better way to do so than with our very own 31-day list for horror this October? From familiar classics to the newest scares in theaters, this is Don’t Tell’s official list for Horrortober this year!
- 1. Psycho (dir. Alfred Hitchcock, 1960)
- 2. Scream (dir. Wes Craven, 1996)
- 3. Backrooms (dir. Kane Parsons, 2026)
- 4. The Blob (dir. Irvin S. Yeaworth, 1958)
- 5. The Blob (dir. Chuck Russell, 1988)
- 6. House (dir. Nobuhiko Obayashi, 1977)
- 7. Basket Case (dir. Frank Hennenlotter, 1981)
- 8. The Shining (dir. Stanley Kubrick, 1980)
- 9. Other Mommy (NEW!) (dir. Rob Savage, 2026)
- 10. Hellraiser (dir. Clive Barker, 1987)
- 11. NOPE (dir. Jordan Peele, 2022)
- 12. Lisa Frankenstein (dir. Zelda Williams, 2024)
- 13. Companion (dir. Drew Hancock, 2025)
- 14. Hokum (dir. Damien McCarthy, 2026)
- 15. Zombieland (dir. Ruben Fleischer, 2009)
- 16. Crawlers (NEW!) (dir. Angel Gómez Hernández, 2026)
- 17. The Blair Witch Project (dir. Daniel Myrick and Eduardo Sánchez, 1999)
- 18. Cloverfield (dir. Matt Reeves, 2008)
- 19. The Orphanage (dir. J. A. Bayona, 2007)
- 20. Warm Bodies (dir. Jonathan Levine, 2013)
- 21. Spree (dir. Eugene Kotlyarenko, 2020)
- 22. Fresh (dir. Mimi Cave, 2022)
- 23. Clayface (NEW!) (dir. James Watkins, 2026)
- 24. The Substance (dir. Coralie Fargeat, 2024)
- 25. Perfect Blue (dir. Satoshi Kon, 1997)
- 26. Coraline (dir. Henry Selick, 2009)
- 27. Bodies Bodies Bodies (dir. Halina Reijn, 2022)
- 28. Obsession (dir. Curry Barker, 2026)
- 29. We’re All Going to the World’s Fair (dir. Jane Schoenbrun, 2021)
- 30. Hereditary (dir. Ari Aster, 2018)
- 31. Resident Evil (NEW!) (dir. Zach Cregger, 2026)
Whether you eat your treats in your home or in the theater, we wish you another great October filled with great thrills and scares! Don’t tune out just yet though, as we’ll be bringing you the newest, spookiest news and reviews throughout the month. Want some alternates for your personal 31-day list? Check out our extensive catalog of evergreen horror flicks over on our sister site, Galxy.tv!
We’ve been doing a lot of talking this month on Don’t Tell about the depth an ounce of humanity adds to a story. With Lanterns and Spider-Man: Brand New Day, that brand of humanity comes in the form of the locality of their narratives. A level of banter and chemistry that feels crucial to the characters of any work can help it feel that much more immersive, in its work and who the major players of the film are. Last night I went to go see A24’s Tony, directed by Matt Johnson (Nirvanna the Band the Show the Movie, BlackBerry), a biographical drama about the summer in Provincetown, Massachusetts that jumpstarted Anthony Bourdain’s career in culinary authorship and the art itself. The film is full of a small-town culture that I find incredibly particular to replicate on screen, the cast riffing off each other in such a close-knit way you’d think they were working in that kitchen for years prior.
Dominic Sessa portrays a young Anthony Bourdain, a troubled young writer studying at Vassar College in hopes of landing a writing fellowship on the east coast. When reality sinks in that someone else landed the opportunity, Bourdain travels to Massachusetts in a snap decision as he begins working at the Flagship, a seafood restaurant by Cape Cod, in exchange for shelter on the owner’s back porch. Tony was shot on location, which helped instill the feeling of locality as early on as the first time the film takes us to the shore.
One of the parts of Tony that fascinates me (that I wish I saw more people talking about) is this being Matt Johnson’s first American film—kind of. 2016 brought us Johnson’s Operation Avalanche which was shot on location at NASA, though in secret. Sneaking around got the director somewhere as its crew convinced NASA staff they were filming a student documentary as they walked around the facility. Tony is a stark contrast to other Matt Johnson productions. The absence of his long-time collaborator Jared Raab is definitely felt in the cinematography department, though the camerawork this time was headed by Michael Bauman of One Battle After Another fame. Contextual to the narrative Tony strives for, I think they knocked it out of the park. Shots in the kitchen can feel frenetic and manic during work hours, but also focused and solitary when Bourdain learns from the owner of the Flagship (Antonio Banderas). The chemistry between the Flagship cooks can feel broken and cutthroat while also having the energy of found family and an ultimate trust.
Trust is one of the big themes I found was explored throughout the story, with Bourdain lacking trust in anyone around him—himself included—while actively deceiving those placing their trust in him during the summer. That’s another part of Tony that stays local, its conflict and the looming bookend of the film. Anthony Bourdain did not forever stay as Dominic Sessa portrayed him during that summer, and yet his transformation throughout the film burns on slow simmer just long enough for any drastic change to feel earned. It’s nonlinear and messy, an approach that I found was the most realistic for the shift his character needed throughout this story.
Matt Johnson’s Tony is now playing in theaters nationwide.
This Sunday’s premiere of DC Studios’ Lanterns on HBO Max was met with highly positive reception. Between the chemistry of Hal Jordan (Kyle Chandler) and John Stewart (Aaron Pierre), the gritty detective approach to the Green Lantern character, and an overall great grounding of what a Green Lantern could be, the verdict’s already been ruled on Twitter: the DCU could be back in a major way. I’ve had a bit of hope for this show myself, mostly for virtue of righting wrongs; studio head James Gunn has mentioned Lanterns will expand on some concepts introduced in the series finale of Peacemaker. I didn’t like the way Peacemaker left off like that—I felt it to be sudden and unsatisfying—so it’s great we’re finally going to get some clarity not too long after that. However, what’s giving audiences hopes for this series is not the teased tie-ins to the greater DCU, but rather how grounded its story keeps itself despite the Green Lantern’s traditionally fantastical nature.
Hal and John aren’t the Green Lantern troops we’ve been introduced to previously in the DCU—that would be Guy Gardner (Nathan Fillion), who is set to appear later in the season. However, the two have a dynamic that makes the most sense within the series’ narrative. The show takes place in the Midwest as the two Green Lantern agents investigate a murder Hal suspected was linked to intergalactic forces. I think this more grounded approach is what’s captivated audiences so much with just one episode. It’s not like the show doesn’t retain some of the more fantastical elements of the Green Lantern story, I mean, we see Hal Jordan fly off pretty early on as well as John Stewart using the ring to survive a car crash. Even with these elements, the show retains a small-town focus on a mystery that could have ramifications on their whole world, or worse.
This localized, realist approach to superhero series and films is something the genre has been missing for a while now, and I feel those elements returning in series like this and films like Spider-Man: Brand New Day is what’s drawing audiences back in after what feels like years of on-and-off productions following Avengers: Endgame. As much of an escape as the medium of film can feel for many, often times a level of immersion needs to be sustained; the story taking itself seriously enough for the viewer to invest themselves fully, emotionally and mentally. There’s a stark contrast in how Marvel and DC portray their narrative in films like Thor: Love and Thunder and Shazam: Fury of the Gods versus Brand New Day and Lanterns. Keeping your story human is what keeps others drawn—the characters themselves don’t even have to be quite human, but in nature the plot we follow should implement the human experience as seamlessly as they can.
We don’t have much to go off currently aside from what’s just been aired. As it stands, the pilot for Lanterns strikes a chord that I wasn’t expecting any DCU production to hit so soon after Peacemaker‘s second season. We’ll keep our eye on this one as it develops, and hopefully concludes on a better-rounded note than the previous series.
Lanterns is now streaming on HBO Max.
Get Some Strange!
