Directed by Darren Aronofsky, The Whale tells the story of a 600 lb (270 kg) man named Charlie (Brendan Fraser), who is trying to reconnect with his seventeen-year-old daughter (Sadie Sink). The two grew apart after Charlie left his family for a man, who later died and as a result, Charlie then went on to binge-eat out of pain and guilt, leading to his current appearance. Now at risk of congestive heart failure, Charlie seeks to redeem himself in the limited time he has left.
It has been many years since I’ve last seen Brendan Fraser on the big screen and for me and many others, he was one of those special actors that many of us grew up with, and I found him to be a truly underrated national treasure. So when I heard he was going to be making a major comeback in an A24 film I was completely on board regardless of what the story was and who was making it.
Having finally seen the film there are many words to describe it. Beautiful, brutal, deep, grueling, shocking, heartbreaking, powerful, and most of all human. It’s been a long time since an original film hit me in the way this one did. Darren Aronofsky takes a very simple premise in a very simple setting and crafts something magnificent that is guaranteed to get many kinds of emotions and reactions from all who watch it.
This isn’t a story about a large man who gets a happy ending. This is a story about a person who has made many mistakes and is too far gone physically and mentally to go back but is trying to do one thing right before he goes. It’s a magnificent story of redemption and humanity all told in a simple yet extremely effective way. This film features a small cast but it’s a cast that brings so much raw emotion and humanity to this film.
Leading the charge is Brendan Fraser as Charlie who delivers quite possibly the most phenomenal performance of his career and the best performance of this entire year in films. Charlie is a character who has made many poor choices in the past and has been driven by the guilt of those choices and the loss of his boyfriend to completely give in to binge eating.
His physical and mental health has deteriorated to such extremes and you can see that he realizes this and is not proud of what he has become, but he has almost no chance of putting a stop to it at this point. He knows he has very little time left and that any kind of major change for himself now is impossible. What he truly wishes to do is reconcile with his daughter and be able to right one of his greatest wrongs before his time runs out. But obviously, it’s not so simple as we see him endure a struggle that is hard to watch, and we know his grief and guilt don’t completely erase the mistakes he’s made that had serious consequences on people’s lives. Without being in the same situation as him you still feel everything that he is going through.
Fraser truly gave so much life and humanity to this character; he’s worthy of all the recognition he has received and truly proves just how much of an incredible actor, he’s just waiting for his time to shine. This is Fraser at his best and I really hope we can see a lot more of him going forward, especially after a performance like this.
His estranged daughter Ellie is given an equally phenomenal performance by Sadie Sink who perfectly portrays a young and extremely rebellious teen who has made her own mistakes and also gives so much raw emotion to the film. Her life was molded by the betrayal she felt from her father and we can see how it’s caused her to say and do a lot of awful things. She’s a character who is very angry and hateful on the outside but does show signs of actually caring about things even when she says she doesn’t.
Even though Charlie wants nothing but the best for his daughter we can completely understand her reasons for not wanting anything to do with him and why she says horrible stuff to his face. It’s never a one-sided conflict but instead, a realistic portrayal of an estranged relationship not holding back on the honest emotions and thoughts the two have about things.
Hong Chau as Liz, Charlie’s caretaker, holds a lot of the emotional weight in this film, experiencing so much within a short amount of time, and Chau delivers this beautifully in her performance. Liz is more than just a medical nurse for Charlie but a deeply caring friend that goes to great lengths for him even when he refuses to get proper medical help. She endures so many struggles with helping Charlie that one wonders how anyone could put up with it. But it’s clear that her heart is so large that truly nothing can stop her from being there for a friend, and is protective of him when there are so many risks to his life coming at him in such a short amount of time.
A big surprise of this film was Ty Simpkins as a Christian Missionary who is desperately trying to “save” Charlie in his time of need. Now a character like this could easily fall into an annoying character category that could potentially undermine everything in the film, but that’s not the case as he plays a major part in the lives of all the characters, and adds depth to an already deep and impactful film. And Ty Simpkins delivers one hell of a performance that’s worth recognition along with everyone else.
The film is set primarily in one location and you truly feel the claustrophobia and isolation of it that chokes out any ray of hopeful light and adds to the bleak tone of this film. And even in such a small place everything that happens from a writing and acting perspective tells its own story visually. This small place is made to feel even smaller due to a 1.33 aspect ratio for the cinematography that enhances the constrictive nature of the environment and makes Charlie’s size appear even larger, like a goldfish that’s grown too big in a small bowl. Truly incredible set work and cinematography make this film feel larger than it is and make the impact of certain scenes hit that much harder.
Also, huge praise has to go to Rob Simonsen with his masterful and emotionally charged score that also enhances a lot of scenes in the film and encourages you to feel specific emotions for specific scenes.
I can understand why some people have a hard time watching this film, because of how impactful it can be and sometimes even triggering in certain ways. But it is truly a beautifully crafted film with many layers and so many human emotions in it that is worth seeing, especially if you are someone who came mostly for Brendan Fraser. It’s a film that floored me in ways that I didn’t expect and easily lands in my top favorite films of this year. I’m going to give The Whale an A+ = 100.
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