Man who survived being swallowed by a whale shares his thoughts on bizarre new thriller about same situation

A man who was engulfed by a humpback whale in 2021 has opened up about the striking similarities between his ordeal and the highly anticipated new thriller Whalefall.

All that Michael Packard could think about while trapped inside one of the largest mammals in the whole world was his wife and two sons, who were 12 and 15 at the time.

"This is it, Michael. This is it. This is how you die," he told himself, before what can only be described as a miracle occurred.

A longtime lobster diver, the then 56-year-old was off Herring Cove Beach in Cape Cod, Mass, when he swam down to the ocean floor in June 2021.

"All of a sudden, I felt this huge shove and the next thing I knew it was completely black," he said in an interview with Cape Cod Times.

As it turns out, a humpback whale had taken Packard, whole, into its mouth, and he could feel the enormous mammal 'squeezing'.

And while his story isn't the inspiration behind the new whale-survival thriller Whalefall, the stories aren't too dissimilar.

Packard could not believe he survived. (WCVB Channel 5 Boston)

Released today (October 16), the fictional movie is inspired by Daniel Kraus's 2023 novel, and follows the story of Jay Gardiner, who is swallowed whole by a sperm whale and must fight his way out.

The synopsis reads: "Following the death of his father, Jay Gardiner goes diving off the coast of California in search of his remains.

"He soon finds himself in a desperate fight for survival when he's swallowed whole by a massive whale. Trapped inside its belly, he must figure out a way to escape as his oxygen supply starts to run out."

And Packard said he can 'totally relate' to the film, noting that even the trailer gave him 'shiver bumps'.

Following the screening, speaking with CNN, the survivor said: "He was there where the tongue was contracting, and I could feel the tongue of my whale contracting on me, and the movements of this giant animal, so I could totally relate."

Packard survived after the whale he was trapped inside took a sharp turn upward.

And when it reached the surface of the water, the whale 'started shaking its head and getting all erratic'.

Following the roughly 40 second ordeal, Packard saw daylight again.

"I was just laying on the surface floating and saw his tail and he went back down, and I was like, 'Oh my god, I got out of that, I survived."