Story: Based on a 2012 play by Samuel D. Hunter, ‘The Whale’ follows a week in the life of a reclusive English teacher Charlie (Brendan Fraser), whose suffering isn’t limited to the one caused by his morbid obesity.
Review: The ‘Brenaissance’ is real. In his major movie comeback, 90’s heartthrob Brendan Fraser delivers the finest performance of his career. He tears your heart out with his devastating, soul-crushing portrayal of a man consumed by guilt, depression and self-loathing. He curses himself for letting his weight and pain get out of control and despises his own shadow. In a moment of extreme vulnerability, he asks his estranged daughter, “Who could have wanted me to be a part of their life?”
Unable to come to terms with the loss of his boyfriend, the only person who thought he was beautiful, Charlie does everything possible to accelerate his road to death. Given his deteriorating health and teen daughter’s wrath for distancing her at 8, Charlie’s pain runs deeper than the one visible on the surface. Holding a cynical view towards the world, he tells himself and his only friend and caregiver-nurse Liz (Hong Chau) that he needs no saving, nor can anyone save him.
However, despite his circumstances, deep down he hopes that people are incapable of not caring. He hides himself from the prying eyes of the judgmental world fearing it might find his physical appearance ‘disgusting’. He constantly apologises to everyone for no rhyme or reason as he truly believes that he doesn’t deserve to be happy. Fraser internalises his character’s anxiety and inner turmoil. The fact that he himself was ostracised and isolated from Hollywood for his honesty, makes his portrayal of Charlie more relevant.
Charlie gives online classes by switching off his chat video, until he realises, he needs to be as honest with himself and others, as he expects them to be with him.
True to the original work, Darren Aronofsky’s film unfolds like a play within the confined space of Charlie’s dimly lit Idaho apartment that rarely sees sunlight or rain. It works as a metaphor for lack of hope. While the film is largely a one-man show and performance oriented, the art direction and production design play a massive role in shaping this story into an intimate, emotionally drowning, sinking experience. Aronofsky cleverly weaves religion, isolation, and even transactional relationships between a parent and child into his narrative.
The film masterfully highlights the thankless job of caretakers and the abandonment they face. Hong Chau is outstanding as Liz. Sadie Sink plays the angsty teenager confidently, perhaps an extension of her character from the Stranger Things. Rob Simonsen’s melancholic music and Matthew Libatique’s cinematography adds to the atmospherics.
The Whale doesn’t shy away from questioning one’s existence and purpose of living. It isn’t an easy watch and feels deeply personal and traumatic.

The Whale