Hideo Kojima says ‘Whalefall’ ruined “eating squid” for him

Hideo Kojima has praised survival horror film Whalefall but the flick has put him off eating squid.

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Whalefall sees Austin Abrams’ Jay Gardiner looking for the body of his father (Josh Brolin) when the scuba diver is swallowed by an 80-foot, 60-tonne sperm whale. He has just one hour to escape before he runs out of oxygen.

For the project, director and writer Brian Duffield spent hours watching graphic videos of autopsies of beached sperm whales to make the film as accurate as possible.

Film buff Hideo Kojima has now shared his review of Whalefall on social media. “It was a literary film that explored, in a somewhat metafictional way, the Steinbeck-like relationship between whales and humans as part of an ecosystem, alongside the familial bond between father and son. The visual effects were also outstanding. However, I don’t think I’ll be eating squid for a while,” he wrote.

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Kojima went on to say that he “loves” whales, which is why they appear so frequently in his games. “When I was in the early years of elementary school, I researched whale ecology for a school project. Ever since then, I’ve been fascinated by their enormous size as mammals and their symbolic presence in the marine ecosystem.

“In Metal Gear Solid 2, Raiden is swallowed, digested, and excreted by the enormous Arsenal Gear, a whale that swallows digital information. Whales also feature in Metal Gear Solid 5 and Death Stranding,” and there are references to Herman Melville’s Moby Dick as well.

I watched “Whalefall.” I had received a copy of Daniel Kraus’s novel, on which the film is based, quite some time ago, but hadn’t had the chance to read it yet. Kraus was also involved in writing the screenplay. It was a literary film that explored, in a somewhat metafictional… pic.twitter.com/sJUVPJT9DF

— HIDEO_KOJIMA (@HIDEO_KOJIMA_EN) October 18, 2026

Last week, Kojima also shared his thoughts on Austin Abrams’ other movie, Resident Evil. “I wasn’t particularly interested at first, but since it’s Zach Cregger’s latest film, I went to see Resident Evil. Right from the opening, it hits you with music reminiscent of The Thing. From there, it’s a relentless barrage of classic horror techniques, terrifying situations and jump scares that never lets up until the very end. This isn’t a film adaptation of Resident Evil. It’s a film about the experience of playing Resident Evil controller in hand,” he wrote.

Kojima is currently involved in the movie adaptation of Death Stranding while his next game project OD will see him team up with some of his favourite directors for the horror anthology.

He’s also working on Physint, a completely new action espionage IP, that fuses film and gaming. “It will be created using cutting-edge technology and the best talents from around the world, both from film and video games. Of course this is an interactive ‘game’, but the look, story, theme, cast, acting, fashion, sound, etc are all at the next level of ‘digital entertainment’ that could be called a ‘movie’,” he explained when the project was announced back in 2024.