The Whalefall Production Designer Built a Whale's Stomach Out of Mattress Foam

In “Whalefall,” Jay, played by Austin Abrams, is a grieving son searching for his father's remains off the coast of California, and his dive takes him past a giant squid being chased by an 80-foot, 60-ton sperm whale. Getting swallowed by that whale means somebody had to build the inside of it. Production designer Ramsey Avery's materials of choice, per Variety: mattress foam and silicone bits. There's something fitting about a stomach made of the stuff you sleep on — soft, cheap, faintly bodily, and available in bulk. The whole premise leans on the audience accepting that the least believable element is the human drama rather than the whale.