Best movies like A Whale for the Killing

Nature betrayed it. Whalers wanted it. And a whole town is ready to kill it.

A unique, carefully handpicked, selection of the best movies like A Whale for the Killing Starring Peter Strauss, Dee Wallace, Kathryn Walker, Bruce McGill, and more. If you liked A Whale for the Killing then you may also like: You Are Here: A Come From Away Story, The Viking, Orca, Rare Birds, Born to Be Wild and many more popular movies featured on this list. You can further filter the list even more or get a random selection from the list of similar movies, to make your selection even easier.

A conservationst, stranded with his family at a Newfoundland coastal resort, flies in the face of custom and fights an entire community to prevent a trapped whale's slaughter with only the support of his wife and one of the locals.

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You Are Here: A Come From Away Story

When all North American air traffic was grounded after the terrorist attacks on 9/11, over six thousand passengers from all over the world were stranded in the tiny community of Gander, Newfoundland. For five days the people of Gander housed, fed, clothed, and entertained their homesick visitors, creating a lasting memory for the waylaid passengers and forming a unique bond that continues to this day between the people of Gander, and the ‘come from aways’.

The Viking

Originally called White Thunder, American producer Varick Frissell's 1931 film was inspired by his love for the Canadian Arctic Circle. Set in a beautifully black-and-white filmed Newfoundland, it is the story of a rivalry between two seal hunters that plays out on the ice floes during a hunt. Unsatisfied with the first cut, Frissell arranged for the crew to accompany an actual Newfoundland seal hunt on The SS Viking, on which an explosion of dynamite (carried regularly at the time on Arctic ships to combat ice jams) killed many members of the crew, including Frissell. The film was renamed in honor of the dead.

Orca

After witnessing the killing of his mate and offspring at the hands of a reckless Irish captain, a vengeful killer whale rampages through the fisherman's Newfoundland harbor. Under pressure from the villagers, the captain, a female marine biologist and an Indigenous tribalist venture after the great beast, who will meet them on its own turf.

Rare Birds

A down-and-out restaurateur and his neighbor hatch a plan to lure luminaries to their small Newfoundland town.

Born to Be Wild

Born to Be Wild observes various orphaned jungle animals and their day-to-day behavioural interactions with the individuals who rescue them and raise them to adulthood. The film unfurls in two separate geographic spheres. Half of it takes place in the rain forests of Borneo, where celebrated primatologist Dr. Birute Galdikas assists baby orangutans; the other half takes place on the arid savannahs of Kenya, where zoologist Dame Daphne Sheldrick works with baby elephant calves.

Dear Zachary: A Letter to a Son About His Father

In 2001, Andrew Bagby, a medical resident, is murdered not long after breaking up with his girlfriend. Soon after, when she announces she's pregnant, one of Andrew's many close friends, Kurt Kuenne, begins this film, a gift to the child.

Free Willy: Escape from Pirate's Cove

After young Kirra leaves her Australian home to summer with her grandfather in South Africa, she soon discovers a baby orca stranded in the lagoon near her grandfather’s rundown seaside amusement park. She names the lonely whale Willy--and embarks on a great quest to lead the little guy back to his anxious pod.

Grown Up Movie Star

The story of Ruby, 13, determined to grow up fast after her mother runs away to become a movie star, leaving Ruby with her hopelessly rural father.

Immaculate Memories: The Uncluttered Worlds of Christopher Pratt

The life and art of Christopher Pratt. 'Canada's most famous living painter' - The Globe & Mail. This is the first feature-length documentary that Christopher Pratt has agreed to participate in. An honest, funny, eloquent, bizarre, and sometimes unsettling account of his life and art, and an extremely important cultural document.

The Secret of Roan Inish

Ten-year-old Fiona is sent to live with her grandparents in a small fishing village in Donegal, Ireland. She soon learns the local legend that an ancestor of hers married a Selkie – a seal who can turn into a human. Years earlier, her baby brother was washed out to sea and never seen again, so when Fiona spies a naked little boy on the abandoned Isle of Roan Inish, she is compelled to investigate.

The Shipping News

An emotionally-beaten man with his young daughter moves to his ancestral home in Newfoundland to reclaim his life.

The Snail and the Whale

A half hour animated film for all the family based on the much-loved book written by Julia Donaldson and illustrated by Axel Scheffler. The Snail and the Whale is the much loved classic that shows us a restless young snail who has ambitions to travel the world. The other snails think she should stay put, but she puts out a call for a “Lift wanted around the world”. Eventually her call is answered by a great big grey-blue humpback whale! She sets off with him across the seas. On their journey the snail and the whale discover towering icebergs and far-off lands, fiery mountains and golden sands. The snail is delighted by the wonderful world around her, until she realises how small it makes her feel.

The Spirit of St. Louis

Charles 'Slim' Lindbergh struggles to finance and design an airplane that will make his New York to Paris flight the first solo trans-Atlantic crossing.

The Boys of St. Vincent

The true story of boys being sexually abused at their orphanage, run by a religious community in Newfoundland.

The Boys of St. Vincent: 15 Years Later

Fifteen years after the events of The Boys of St. Vincent took place, the various boys involved are brought in to testify against the brothers, now finally standing trial, who assaulted them when they were children.

Island of the Dead

Stranded on a deserted island, a group of people struggle to survive against a swarm of supernatural flies.

Alphas

A coastal community is terrorized by a school of sharks. The townspeople decide the only way to deal with the man-eating threat is to unleash a damaged killer whale held for years in solitary confinement after it killed its trainer.

Run Like Hell

Every year, sisters Samantha and Maggie fly home to spend Fourth of July with their parents. But this year Samantha's new husband Dan has mapped out the perfect road trip. With Maggie's husband's Jeep packed to the brim, they head out. But the fun is cut short when their car gets stolen, leaving them stranded in the middle of the desert. With no car, and no cell service, they are forced to seek the help of some small town locals. As the stranded travellers wait for the Sheriff to locate their car, it becomes painfully obvious that the locals have other plans for them. When there's nowhere to hide, all they can do is Run Like Hell.

Return to Nim's Island

Fourteen year old Nim, more determined than ever to protect her island and all the wildlife that call it home, faces off against resort developers and animal poachers. Soon she realizes she can’t depend on her animal cohorts alone and must make her first human friend – Edmund, who’s run away to the island from the mainland – to save her home.

Restless Spirits

A young girl, who struggles with her pilot father's death in a plane crash years before, visits her grandmother in Newfoundland. While there, she encounters the ghosts of two pilots, who are condemned to Earth to constantly re-live their own crash that occurred in 1927. The girl decides to help the pair by helping them re-build their airplane and complete their flight so they may be released and, in turn, deal with her own emotional bondage.

Luna: Spirit of the Whale

When a government representative announces that he intends to reunite an orphaned orca with his pod by transporting him hundreds of miles over dry land, the Mowachaht-Muchalaht First Nations Band, which believes that the spirit of their late chief resides in the majestic ocean mammal, does everything within their power to thwart the controversial plan. As the community grows increasingly divided over how to handle the situation, a young aboriginal boy wrestles with his own identity and new Band chief Mike Maquinna prepares for the trial by fire that could shape his entire future.

Fear Island

Veteran wildlife conservationist Bradley Trevor Grieve leads an elite team into uncharted Alaskan wilderness in search of Grandfather, a bear locals believe is the largest to ever roam the earth.

The Mystic Masseur

Circa 1940 in Trinidad, still a British Colony, lives Ganesh Ramseyor, of East Indian origin, along with his wife, Leela. He longs to reach out to people, especially to Hindus, in order to promote the Hindu Faith, and be known as a writer. He does get considerable success, so much so that he becomes famous as a miracle worker, having cured a man of sharing intimacy with his bicycle; prevented a man from believing that he can fly; and convincing a young woman to end her fast. His fame spreads all over the island and thousands throng to seek his blessings, which he does dole out quite benevolently, without charging any fees from the poor and the needy. He then decides to spread his wings by challenging the local politician Pandit Narayan Chandrashekhar alias Cyrus T., and takes over The Hindu Organization, thence opening his way to a seat in the prestigious Member of the Legislative Assembly

The Grand Seduction

A small fishing village must procure a local doctor to secure a lucrative business contract. When unlikely candidate and big city doctor Paul Lewis lands in their lap for a trial residence, the townsfolk rally together to charm him into staying. As the doctor’s time in the village winds to a close, acting mayor Murray French has no choice but to pull out all the stops and begin The Grand Seduction.

Come from Away

7,000 passengers are stranded in the small town of Gander, Newfoundland after all flights into the US are grounded on September 11, 2001. Filmed live on stage at the Gerald Schoenfeld Theater in New York City.

The Quiet Woman

The former wife of a criminal moves to a coastal town and takes over the running of a bar known as The Quiet Woman. She becomes outraged when she discovers the previous owner had allowed local smugglers to use it as a base. She soon has become romantically involved with one of the smugglers, which causes enormous problems when a customs officer turns up, followed closely by her former husband.

The Great Obsession

This documentary produced for TV follows a project consisting in remaking the journey of discoveries in the footsteps of Cartier's book. Sailors, some from Saint-Malo, others from the river, were entrusted with the care of navigation.

Diverted

On September 11th, 2001, 38 planes headed to New York City were diverted to Gander, Newfoundland, Canada. A town of 9,000 took in 7,000 passengers for 4 days until American airspace reopened.

Love & Savagery

In 1969, a visiting geologist from Newfoundland arouses scandal in a small Irish village when he romances a local girl who’s destined for the convent.

A Fire in the Cold Season

A whisper among the sprawling forests and mill towns of central Newfoundland. A body found on the side of a river brings together a reclusive fur trapper and a heartsick mother-to-be. Scott is lonely and desperate to give himself meaning. Mona is strong-willed, but frustrated by her fragility. As a reluctant dependence blossoms the pair find themselves wading into violence, answering for the debts of a dead man. Stalked by outlaws, they plan an exit.

Heyday!

During World War II, the usually sleepy town of Gander, Newfoundland is abuzz with activity as the stopover point for many flights between North America and the European Theater. Teenager Terry Fleming, who lives just outside of Gander, is feeling conflicted. He wants to work in Gander so that he can have access to the plethora of movie stars and GIs flying though the area.

Finding Mary March

This film discusses the search for the last remains of Demasduit (Mary March), one of the last of the Indigenous Beothuk people, set in the Red Indian Lake area of Central Newfoundland. A young girl, Bernadette Buchans, believes that she is related to Mary March. Throughout the whole film, Bernadette and her father Ted are searching for the grave of her mother. An archaeologist/ photographer, Nancy George, accompanies them and she also believes that she has family connections to the Beothuks.

Secret Nation

A graduate history student returns to her native Newfoundland, searching for proof of a conspiracy surrounding the referendum that saw Newfoundland join Canada.

Cry for the Strangers

The little coastal town of Clark's Harbor seems like the perfect place for psychiatrist Brad Russell and his wife to get a little peace and spend more time with each other. But the locals don't seem very friendly and every time a storm rolls in another mysterious death occurs... Could an ancient Indian legend of ghostly tribes and human sacrifice have anything to do with it?

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