Whale Fall

In 1938, the carcass of a whale washes ashore on a remote Welsh island—an eerie omen for Manod, a young woman who has never left the place she calls home. To her, the whale feels like a sign: of endings, of longing, and of the vast unknown beyond the sea.

Manod lives with her father and sister in a rugged, windswept world shaped by tradition and survival. But she yearns for something more—for a life beyond the island’s wild beauty and brutal demands. When two English ethnographers arrive to study the island's people and customs, Manod sees not only a rare glimpse of the outside world, but a possible path toward it.

As their stay stretches on, Manod finds herself drawn to the outsiders and the sense of possibility they bring. Yet her desire is shadowed by unease, as she begins to see how her community is being misunderstood—reduced to something quaint, even exotic. Torn between loyalty to her roots and her awakening sense of self, Manod must navigate the delicate space between belonging and becoming.