Whale Shark Jack review: Aussie kids movie ventures to Ningaloo

It’s not the school holidays without a movie where a young person bonds with a wild animal as a way to come to terms with their emotional issues. Whale Shark Jack understands the assignment maybe a little too well; while there’s a lot of natural scenery, and Jack does play a central role in the story, at times this is more Dealing with Loss Really Sucks featuring special guest Whale Shark Jack.

Growing up, Sarah (Emmi Williams as a child, Alyla Browne as a teen) had a perfect life. Living with her marine biologist parents Nita (Abbie Cornish) and Marcus (Michael Dorman) on their research vessel (it’s a yacht) called Playground, she spends her life swimming, helping out her parents, more swimming, and being home (boat?) schooled by her Aunt Dot (Rachel Ward).

When an injured baby whale shark swims up to the boat, Sarah instantly wants to adopt it. Her parents make it clear that their job is to observe, not intervene; Sarah waits until dark then sneaks the whale shark – which she’s named Jack – into a tank.

A storm on the horizon

Jack goes back into the sea (with a band-aid on his injured fin) but a connection is made, and for years afterwards Jack and Sarah meet up on his yearly migration. But there’s a storm on the horizon – literally, though Nita says it’ll miss them, they should just stay the course and it’ll be fine.

Shock twist: things are in fact not fine, resulting in a tragedy that may leave you thinking ‘hang on, how exactly did that happen?’. Emotionally though, the result is clear: Nita and Sarah have a lot to deal with.

Three months later and they’re all firmly on dry land, living in Exmouth with Dot. Sarah has to go to regular school, a situation she is ill-prepared for. Luckily, if she doesn’t like it she only has to put up with it for a few weeks and then they’re back on the boat, right mum? Mum stares off into the distance; things are a bit more complicated than they seem.

Academically, Sarah copes well. Socially, she struggles, though the movie makes it clear that local mean girl Ashleigh (Giselle Philogene in her first film role) is not really that mean – it’s just that Sarah doesn’t pick up on social cues all that well and accidentally ends up isolating herself. At least until she meets tech nerd and First Nations Young Sheldon lookalike EJ (Luca Miller, another newcomer), who can fix her dad’s laptop and help her access the Whale Shark Jack tracking data.

It’s not exactly a surprise when the data reveals there’s a problem. But how can Sarah help Jack when she’s stuck on dry land?

A stunning coastline and a strong cast

Directors Miranda Edmonds and Khrob Edmonds, working from a script by Kathryn Lefroy, make sure to pack in plenty of gorgeous nature footage, alongside some thoughtful storytelling choices. There’s a moment when Sarah is riding her bike (how did she learn to ride a bike living on a boat?) across a bridge that crosses a dried-out creek; seeing her cut off from her natural aquatic environment gets across her isolation better than any number of sad speeches.

One of this film’s big strengths is the way it carefully sets up the cast of characters so that while there’s conflict, both sides are doing what they think is the right thing. Ashleigh thinks she’s been snubbed so she reacts in kind, then sees the error of her ways when she realises Sarah isn’t deliberately having a go – though not before she wonders out loud how many kebabs you could make out of Jack, which is a pretty brutal line.

More importantly, the divide between Sarah and Nita boils down to the different ways they look at both Playground and the ocean itself. For Nita, it reminds her of the good times she can’t get back, and she wants to make a clean break; for Sarah, those good times are all she’s ever known, and she can’t live without that connection.

It’s a kid’s movie so we know how it’s all going to end up, but Cornish gives a surprisingly strong performance as a mother struggling with her own issues and trying to protect her daughter from harm. Browne is just as good in the central role, mixing her joy in the ocean with her frustration at much of life on dry land – and the occasional moment where what she’s feeling becomes too much.

While there isn’t quite as much of Whale Shark Jack as you might expect in a movie titled Whale Shark Jack – there’s no teaming up for exciting underwater adventures here – nature buffs won’t feel shortchanged. Neither will anyone looking for a satisfying school holiday watch: if it’s not beach weather wherever you are, this is the next best thing.

Whale Shark Jack premieres 2 April on Stan.

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