The mystery of Jay’s dad’s letter in Whalefall, as the cast and crew explain the ending

*Warning: Spoilers ahead for Whalefall*

The ending of Whalefall sees Jay surviving his horrific ordeal and finally opening and reading his late dad’s letter. We see his reaction, but there’s a very specific reason we never actually see what is written on the page. 

Who knew that a trippy body horror about a man being swallowed by a whale could bring us to tears? Yes, this is half of what Whalefall is about, but the core message is about processing grief. 

Directed by Brian Duffield and based on Daniel Kraus’ 2023 novel of the same name, Whalefall centres on Jay Gardiner (Austin Abrams), a student who returns home a year after his father, Mitt (Josh Brolin), died. 

Mitt, an experienced scuba diver, had terminal cancer. But rather than dying from the disease, he tied weights to himself and jumped into the Pacific Ocean. Prior to this, he left behind letters for the whole family. 

As we learn, Jay had a complicated relationship with his dad. Mitt was often harsh and controlling, particularly when it came to trying to toughen up his son. Their relationship eventually broke down, with Jay refusing to see Mitt during his final months. This leaves him with a whole lot of unresolved anger and guilt.

Hoping to find some closure, Jay heads out into the ocean alone to search for his father’s remains. But things take a truly unexpected turn when he gets caught up in a battle between a sperm whale and a giant squid.

He ends up being swallowed whole (as you do), but somehow, that’s only the beginning of his problems. 

With just an hour’s worth of oxygen, Jay finds himself having to fight off the still-living squid, avoid being crushed by the animal’s stomach muscles and navigate chambers filled with flesh-burning acid. Oh, and there’s toxic gas inside the whale too. Lovely.

Between all of this absolute chaos, the film shows flashbacks to Jay’s relationship with Mitt. We see how his dad’s attempts to teach him survival skills often crossed the line into emotional abuse. As Jay’s oxygen runs low, the memories become increasingly surreal. 

How does Whalefall end?

Eventually, the whale is attacked and wounded by a pod of orcas. This leaves Jay with one final chance to escape. Remembering the survival skills his dad taught him, he uses a battery, steel wool and his remaining oxygen to create an explosion inside the whale.

Against all odds, it works. Jay is blasted out into the ocean and rescued by a nearby boat. 

The film then jumps forward to Jay reunited with his family aboard Mitt’s boat. He’s made peace with his dad in his own way, and is finally ready to open the letter. 

Speaking to The Direct about the film’s overall message, Brolin said, “The whole story is based on his relationship with his father, and not being able to take in what his father is trying to impart because of his father’s personality and the way that he does it.

“And I think what the whale represents is a symbol of how to get out of our own way in order to inhale those gems that you need, because I think the father really wants him to become self-sustaining, and he does it in a way that’s almost paranoid. 

“So the son can’t hear it, and then when the son needs it, you see that he heard it. He just didn’t hear it in the way that he wanted to, and I don’t blame him, by the way.”

Whalefall gives Jay that closure at the end. We see him growing emotional as he reads the letter, laughing through tears. But the film never shows us what his dad actually wrote down. 

Why Whalefall doesn’t show the contents of Jay’s dad’s letter

Here’s the thing: the filmmakers actually wrote a version of the letter. And Whalefall originally included a segment from it on screen. But they decided against showing it, instead allowing audiences to create their own interpretation based on their own feelings and experiences.

Abrams was one of the cast members who saw the finished note. When asked by The Hollywood Reporter if he’ll ever reveal what it said, the actor replied, “Unh-unh… Maybe I’ll tell people personally.”

The interviewer then said, “It’s richer this way,” to which Abrams replied, “I really feel that way. If you put your own interpretation on it, that’s potentially going to be more meaningful and interesting than whatever was written. 

“You’re also projecting whatever you wish a family member had said to you if they’d written you a letter before they died. That’s valuable. So there’s value in the not knowing.”

In a separate THR interview, Brolin revealed that he didn’t even read the letter. “Ultimately, I never read what they wrote, and I never wanted to read it,” he said. 

“That was the next best thing to me. I created what Mitt wrote in my head, and I never wrote it down. I also know that Daniel didn’t write that letter in the book. So he and Brian have their version together, and I have my version, but it doesn’t really matter. 

“What matters is whatever version Austin read that day and how he, as Jay, took it.” The outlet added, “Duffield told Abrams what he and Kraus thought it said, and he instantly knew how to play the moment.”

In the Whalefall novel, the letter isn’t even a plot point. But there’s context that is still worth taking into consideration. At the end, the book says, “Jay didn’t find his dad’s remains. He is his dad’s remains.”

Kraus, who co-wrote the movie’s script with Duffield, spoke about the theme of mercy in his novel. “The book is divided into two sections, and those sections are drawn from my reading of the Book of Jonah,” the author told NPR in 2023.  

“And the sections are titled Truth and Mercy. I mean, there are truths. There are the facts of what Jay did to Mitt and what Mitt did to Jay. And I’m not saying they’re equal, you know? I think Mitt was worse to Jay than Jay ever was to Mitt. 

“But the second section of the book, titled Mercy, points toward or hopes for a better response, a way to understand that we’ve all been part of ugly truths and can we – when the chips are down, and particularly when life is ending, can we show mercy? 

“And that’s not something that I can really answer, you know, in a kind of blanket way. But it’s a question that the book really wrestles with.”

We likely won’t ever find out the contents of the letter, because that’s not the important part. The important part is what it signifies. 

Jay reading his father’s final words isn’t about forgetting the past or pretending everything was perfect. It’s about finally coming to terms with their relationship and realising that his father will always be a part of him. 

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Featured image credit: 20th Century Studios