The Whale (2022) Movie Review
Director Darren Aronofsky’s recent films have had a rocky reception since his 2010 hit Black Swan. After back to back movies with religious themes Noah in 2014 and Mother! in 2017, The Whale feels like his attempt to gain favor with the critics and most especially to get his name back into the awards circuit. Aronofsky decides to (mostly) ditch the religious allegories and focus on one human being’s experience, which is admittedly what he does best.
Charlie (Brendan Fraser) is a reclusive English teacher who teaches his college students via Zoom. He lives alone and also happens to be 600 pounds. He has difficulties getting around and uses a walker to move from the couch to his bed to the bathroom and back again. His only in-person interactions are with his friend Liz (Hong Chau), a nurse who comes by periodically to check on him, bring him buckets of KFC chicken, and check his vitals. His world is interrupted when he begins to have chest pain. A missionary from Young Life named Thomas (Ty Simpkins) happens to burst through Charlie’s door in the midst of this attack. Charlie has congestive heart failure and is given about a week to live. The news vaults Charlie into action and he contacts his estranged daughter Ellie (Sadie Sink) with a plea to come visit. The rest of the movie consists of Charlie’s interactions with Liz, his daughter, and Thomas.
Every scene takes place in Charlie’s home, highlighting his inability to leave and giving us a look into his everyday world. Aronfsky keeps things interesting despite the static location by putting the other characters and the camera in motion. Charlie is immobile on the couch but when Ellie comes to visit she darts back and forth across the living room nonstop. Liz is also highly mobile and the camera follows her as Charlie tries to turn his head to keep up with her movements. The conversations cover a wide range of topics from Charlie’s health to his past relationships to writing. And there are side journeys for other characters that help keep things moving.
The movie is not inherently bad. Aronofsky is a very accomplished director and his skills are on full display here. Where Aronofsky goes a bit sideways is in his depiction of Charlie. He focuses so heavily on his weight that his other qualities get lost in the background. Long shots of Charlie’s naked body shot from below to emphasize his stomach, are set to dark, brooding music. When Charlie eats, Aronofsky zooms in on his greasy mouth and turns the sound up on his lips smacking as he chews. When he goes on a food binge, sinister music plays in the background conveying to you exactly how we should be feeling about Charlie’s eating. On more than one occasion the word disgusting is thrown around, sometimes by Charlie and sometimes by others. At times he becomes a spectacle more than a human being.
The script tries to infuse Charlie with bursts of optimism and a strong belief about the goodness of others but Aronofsky can’t quite put his weight aside long enough to examine him past that. Brendan Fraser’s excellent performance is the thing that redeems The Whale. He hones in on and conveys Charlie’s other qualities like kindness, a search for honesty, and a knack for humor that gives Charlie some degree of agency. It’s clear that Fraser, at least, doesn’t think Charlie is disgusting. Sadie Sink, Hong Chau, and Ty Simpkins each give memorable performances and although the cast is small, they help keep things interesting. Sink in particular is wonderfully vicious and so full of dualities you aren’t quite sure where she stands on any subject, other than maybe weed. The acting performances are why you should see The Whale and although it fares better than Noah, this isn’t exactly the triumphant return we all hoped for Aronofsky.
You’ll like this movie if:
1. You like character studies
2. You’re a fan of Aronofsky
3. You want to see Fraser at his best
