'Killer Whale' Review: A Creature Feature with Big Themes but Familiar Waters
- Becca Johnson
- 1 hour ago
- 4 min read
By Becca Johnson - January 14, 2025
The first creature feature of the year arrives in Killer Whale, a story of revenge and survival directed by Jo-Anne Brechin (One Perfect Match). After a life-shattering tragedy, Trish (Mel Jarnson) tries to comfort her best friend Maddie (Virginia Gardner) by taking her on a spectacular adventure in a private lagoon halfway across the world. Their peaceful retreat soon becomes a terrifying fight to stay alive when the oceans most bloodthirsty predator seeks vengeance for a brutal life in captivity.
The premise may sound like it’s trying to flip the generic shark attack thriller on its head, but unfortunately, it suffers from the same shortcomings. Good performances and a stunning location cannot save Killer Whale from its poor CGI, predictable plot and weak dialogue.
Of course, as films like this tend to go, two friends can’t just decide to take a holiday together. There has to be a huge catastrophic event causing trauma, friendship breakdown and the opportunity for secrets to be revealed later on. The set-up for this story is a little on the melodramatic side, but packs somewhat of an emotional punch nonetheless. The leading event that sees Maddie and Trish take their trip abroad is the brutal murder of Maddie’s boyfriend - right in front of her eyes - at her workplace. This not only forces Maddie inside her shell for the foreseeable future, but draws her apart from bestie Trish. As soon as the vibrant Trish swans into her apartment a year later, she starts packing Maddie’s suitcase for her and promising her a holiday of dreams due to her recently earned influencer money. This opening sets the exact tone, storyline and vibe for the rest of the movie - a cheese fest.
Virginia Gardner truly put herself on the map a few years back, with a very similar outing that wound up pretty successful - Fall (2022). In that movie, she gets stranded with her bestie up a tower after taking her on an adrenaline-fueled trip and must survive the elements - sound familiar? Gardner is no stranger to a fight for survival, so it stands to reason that her performance within Killer Whale is believable. She may not put up as much of a fight as we’d like to see in our final girl-type characters, but her tragic backstory alongside Gardner’s solid performance help us somewhat root for her. Melanie Jarnson (Mortal Kombat) stars opposite, and whilst she isn’t as impressive as Gardner, the pair have good chemistry and a friendship that does seem genuinely strong yet fraught. Other supporting performers come and go, but it’s these two talents running the show. They do their best.
Social Commentary on Whale Captivity is its Strongest Idea
The real strength within the story is the social commentary. The reason for our whale’s unlikely killing spree is 20 years of captivity by humankind. The script does a good job at highlighting the dangers and cruelty of keeping whales in captivity, with tanks that are too small and prevent them from doing what they’re supposed to in the wild. Ceto, our titular whale in question, is simply a beautiful creature that’s taking her anger out of the kind that have imprisoned her - this is an intriguing take, and quite understandable too. Aside from this, the narrative unfortunately crumbles around it.
The dialogue is particularly drab, and pairing this with a predictable plot makes for quite the snooze fest at times. At first our two friends are headstrong, coming up with methods of survival that involve sticking to the rocks and creating water from a plastic sandwich bag. They even have a little bit of banter back and forth. Then comes the tension, as the longer they’re stranded, the closer they come to death. It’s all very generic and expected. A confession and a reveal lead to secrets flooding out, and unfortunately, not the type of secrets that spark interest or pack a punch. Ridiculous and stupid, this reveal does nothing to benefit the story or the script, instead creating a piece of conflict that was neither needed or warranted. Any other character interactions outside of our leading pair are also on the corny side. Killer Whale lacks creativity and oozes messiness.
The horror aspects don’t help it succeed, either. There’s a couple of intense, anxiety inducing scenes where the characters are in immediate danger, and credit where it’s due for a gnarly kill sequence during the first half. However, the CGI is so poor that it really does reduce any fear factor. It’s not only the whale that is affected but the location itself, and the blood that is shed. Though this is likely down to a budget restriction, it’s still a distraction - it simply doesn’t look real. If you’re expecting Killer Whale to hit differently because it’s a whale rather than a shark causing chaos, you’ll likely be let down. The only difference here is the creatures physical appearance, as the way it attacks, rises to the top of the water and stalks prey is exactly the same. The antagonist could be replaced with any underwater creature and have the same effect. What seems like a unique, fresh idea is executed is a recognizable, tired way. There is a lack of both scares and fresh ideas.
Killer Whale Can’t Escape Creature Feature Clichés
If Killer Whale put creativity higher on the priority list, it could’ve turned out very differently. Whilst there’s some intriguing themes about whale captivity and our actors do try their best, the corny, recycled material isn’t enough to make the film stand out as a whole. A melodramatic, silly opening continues into an occasionally tense but often bland slew of familiar conversations, predictable conflict and poor visuals. There’s some dumb fun to be had at times, but not of the memorable kind.
'Killer Whale' will be released in theatres, on demand and on digital January 16, 2026.
Want more film reviews? Dive into more reviews, rankings, and film conversations on our site. Explore Film Focus Online now!
