Killer Whale review: film neither effective nor enjoyably bad

Polygon, in a review Published 2 days ago, calls the new creature feature Killer Whale a micro-thriller that fails to be either satisfying or enjoyably bad; the film debuts on VOD and in select theaters Jan. 16.

The review summarizes the setup: Virginia Gardner plays Maddie, a grieving cellist whose boyfriend Chad (Isaac Crawley) is killed during a robbery; a year later Maddie, her best friend Trish (Melanie Jarnson) and Trish’s partner Josh (Mitchell Hope) break into a rundown marine park to see Ceto, a mistreated killer whale, and later find themselves trapped on a rock in a secluded lagoon after the whale escapes captivity. The critic singles out awkward plotting and staging, odd choices like the characters going barefoot, what it calls fake-looking creature and sky effects, and interpersonal tensions that don’t land, while noting Gardner remains charming even if she lacks the intensity of comparable leads.

The review compares the film unfavorably to The Shallows and Fall—calling it essentially "The Shallow Fall"—and says the filmmakers never make a clear thematic connection between Maddie and the whale. Ultimately, the critic concludes Killer Whale is neither good nor enjoyably campy, points readers to Primate as a better recent women-versus-nature micro-thriller, and says the film "winds up dead in the water."

Key Topics

Culture, Killer Whale, Virginia Gardner, Jo-anne Brechin, Melanie Jarnson, The Shallows