The Whale is a 2022 American psychological drama film directed by Darren Aronofsky and written by Samuel D. Hunter, based on his 2012 play. The film stars Brendan Fraser, Sadie Sink, Hong Chau, Ty Simpkins, and Samantha Morton. The plot follows a morbidly obese, reclusive English teacher who tries to restore his relationship with his teenage daughter, whom he had abandoned eight years earlier. The film was shot from March 8 to April 7, 2021, in Newburgh, New York.
| The Whale | |
|---|---|
 Theatrical release poster | |
| Directed by | Darren Aronofsky |
| Written by | Samuel D. Hunter |
| Based on | The Whale by Samuel D. Hunter |
| Produced by |
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| Starring |
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| Cinematography | Matthew Libatique |
| Edited by | Andrew Weisblum |
| Music by | Rob Simonsen |
Production companies | A24 Protozoa Pictures |
| Distributed by | A24 |
Release dates |
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Running time | 117 minutes |
| Country | United States |
| Language | English |
| Budget | $3 million |
| Box office | $57.6 million |
The Whale premiered at the 79th Venice International Film Festival on September 4, 2022 and received a polarized response. Although critics lauded the acting, particularly Fraser, Chau and Sink, the film's portrayal of obesity-related struggles drew criticism. Notwithstanding, it was received with acclaim in the awards season. At the 95th Academy Awards ceremony, The Whale won the Oscars for Best Actor (Fraser), Best Makeup and Hairstyling and a Best Supporting Actress nomination for Chau. At the 76th British Academy Film Awards, the film was nominated for Best Adapted Screenplay, Best Make Up & Hair, Best Supporting Actress (Chau) and Best Actor for Fraser's performance, who also received a nomination for Best Actor in a Motion Picture – Drama at the 80th Golden Globe Awards.
It had a limited theatrical release in the U.S. on December 9, before a wide release on December 21 by A24, grossing $57.6 million against a budget of $3 million.
Plot
In early 2016, Charlie is a morbidly obese recluse in Moscow, Idaho. He never leaves his apartment, from where he teaches online English writing courses to college students, but keeps his webcam off, ashamed of his appearance. His nurse and only friend Liz enables him by bringing him unhealthy food, while urging him to visit a hospital for heart failure treatment, though Charlie insists he cannot afford medical care. Charlie is visited by Thomas, a missionary for the New Life Church who wants to save him. Charlie orders pizza almost every night through an established routine with delivery driver Dan, who leaves the pizza outside on his porch and collects cash payment from the mailbox, the two never interacting face-to-face.
Charlie hopes to reconnect with his estranged teenage daughter Ellie, whom he abandoned eight years before when leaving his wife, Mary, for a male student of his, Alan. He reveals that he has been saving money for years and offers Ellie the entire $120,000 in his bank account if she spends time with him without her mother's knowledge. Ellie agrees on the condition that he completes all of her homework for her, though he also requests that she write in a notebook he gives her. As Charlie's health worsens, Liz brings him a wheelchair so he can remain mobile.
Thomas again visits Charlie. Liz arrives and angrily orders Thomas to leave, then changes her mind and has a talk with him outside. Liz chastises Thomas for his efforts to help Charlie, then reveals she is the adopted daughter of New Life's head pastor and that Alan was her brother; Alan's religious guilt drove him to suicide, and Charlie turned to emotional eating to cope with his grief, leading to his current weight. Despite Liz's objections, Thomas still believes his mission is to help Charlie. One day, Ellie places crushed Ambien into Charlie's food, knocking him out. Thomas arrives, and the two smoke marijuana, which Ellie photographs, whereupon Thomas confesses to stealing his youth group's money and running away from home because he felt dissatisfied with New Life's mission work there. Ellie secretly records their conversation.
Out of concern, Liz brings Mary to visit Charlie. When Liz learns about the amount Charlie has saved for Ellie, she storms out, furious over having been lied to about why he avoided medical treatment. Mary and Charlie argue over his decision to leave his family for Alan. Mary is further exasperated with Ellie's apparently malevolent behavior, but Charlie expresses hope that Ellie will prove he did "one thing right with his life". Later that night, after delivering the pizza and waiting outside in the rain, Dan sees Charlie for the first time, then leaves in a state of shock and disgust. Charlie subsequently has a severe binge-eating episode and sends a profanity-laden email to his students, telling them to disregard the classwork and just write him back "something honest".
Thomas visits Charlie one last time to inform him that he is moving back home after Ellie sent his confession to his former youth group and family, who have forgiven him and implored him to return. He attempts to preach Romans 8:13 to Charlie, but Charlie chastises him when he attributes Alan's death to his sexual orientation and furiously orders him out. During his next class, Charlie tells his students he is being fired for the email he sent, and reads some of their submissions. To reciprocate their honesty, he switches on his webcam for the first time, and the students have mixed reactions. Charlie calmly proclaims that academics and college do not matter, but the honest things his students have written do. He then abruptly ends the class by tossing his laptop against the fridge, destroying it.
Liz returns and comforts Charlie as his health rapidly declines. Ellie arrives to furiously confront him over the failing grade she received on an essay he supposedly rewrote for her, which he secretly replaced with an essay she wrote in eighth grade about Moby-Dick that he considers the most honest essay he has ever read. Ellie initially rebukes him as he attempts to reconcile one final time, but reads the paper aloud at Charlie's insistence. Charlie stands up and begins to walk toward her without assistance, which he had tried but failed to do during her first visit. As she finishes reading, they smile at each other. Charlie begins to levitate, engulfed in a bright white light.
Cast
- Brendan Fraser as Charlie, a morbidly obese and reclusive English teacher
- Sadie Sink as Ellie, Charlie's estranged biological daughter
- Jacey Sink as young Ellie
- Hong Chau as Liz, a nurse and Charlie's only friend
- Ty Simpkins as Thomas, a Christian missionary that befriends Charlie, Ellie, and Liz. He is based off of Elder Thomas from the play.
- Samantha Morton as Mary, Charlie's ex-wife and Ellie's estranged mom
- Sathya Sridharan as Dan, a pizza delivery man from a restaurant Charlie frequently orders from
Production
Writing and casting
Darren Aronofsky has said that he tried to get the film, an adaptation of Samuel D. Hunter's 2012 play The Whale, made for over a decade, but could not do it because he struggled to find the right actor to portray Charlie. After seeing portions of Brendan Fraser's performance in a trailer for Journey to the End of the Night (2006), he decided that Fraser could be a good choice.
The original play was set in 2009. However, the setting was updated to 2016 in the movie. This was because Hunter wanted to show the events as being before a major "seismic change", and doing so would make it clear that the play's events were prior to the COVID-19 pandemic. Within the film, the television shows the unfolding of the 2016 Republican Party presidential primaries. In the original play, Thomas, an Evangelical Christian missionary, is instead a Mormon missionary. The Liz character, in the original play and in the screenplay, did not have her ethnic background or race specified. Hong Chau, the actress chosen to portray Liz, is of Asian heritage. The final screenplay specifies that Liz was adopted as a way of accommodating Chau's casting; this was not in the initial revisions of the screenplay. Chau argued that Liz should have an unkempt look and should be tattooed, aspects that were incorporated into the character.
On January 11, 2021, it was announced that A24 had obtained global distribution rights to The Whale, directed by Aronofsky and starring Fraser. Chau, Sadie Sink and Samantha Morton joined the cast in February, followed by Ty Simpkins in March. Sathya Sridharan joined the cast at an unknown date.
At one point, the film was set to star James Corden with Tom Ford directing, but Ford left due to creative differences. George Clooney also briefly considered directing the film, but ultimately declined.
Filming
Principal photography ran from March 8 to April 7, 2021, in Newburgh, New York. It was shot in Academy ratio. Post-production began later in April.
For the role, Fraser spent four hours each day being fitted with prosthetics that weighed up to 300 pounds (136 kg). He also consulted with the Obesity Action Coalition and worked with a dance instructor for months before filming began in order to determine how his character would move with the excess weight.
Hunter stated that it is up to the viewer to interpret whether Charlie actually walks in the ending scene and Fraser argued that Charlie is finally "liberated". Sink stated that her character is emotionally traumatized and that Charlie is able to look through a façade that Ellie puts up as a barrier between herself and her father.
Music
Release
The Whale had its world premiere at the 79th Venice International Film Festival on September 4, 2022, where it received a six-minute standing ovation. It made its North American premiere at the 2022 Toronto International Film Festival on September 11, 2022. It had a limited theatrical release in the United States on December 9, 2022, then expanded to wide release on December 21.
The film was released on VOD platforms on February 21, 2023, and was released on Blu-ray and DVD on March 14, 2023.
Reception
Box office
The Whale grossed $17.4 million in the United States and Canada, and $39.5 million in other territories, for a worldwide total of $57.6 million.
After several weeks in limited release, the film grossed $1 million in its third weekend (expanding from six theaters to 603) and a total of $1.6 million over the four-day Christmas frame, then $1.4 million in its fourth weekend. It then expanded to 1,500 venues on the sixth week of its theatrical run and passed $11 million domestically, somewhat breaking the perceived ongoing trend that the general public was losing interest in prestige films in a moviegoing environment altered by the COVID-19 pandemic. These results were attributed to the praise and awards buzz for Fraser's performance.
Critical response
Review aggregator website Rotten Tomatoes reported an approval rating of 64%, based on 347 reviews, with an average rating of 6.6/10. The site's critics consensus reads, "Held together by a killer Brendan Fraser, The Whale sings a song of empathy that will leave most viewers blubbering."Metacritic, which uses a weighted average, assigned the film a score of 60 out of 100, based on 57 critics, indicating "mixed or average" reviews. According to MovieWeb, the film polarized critics and audiences.
The Whale received positive feedback at the Toronto International Film Festival, with particular praise for Fraser's, Chau's and Sink's performances. When the film had a limited theatrical release, Variety reported that the reviews "have been polarizing, with others [than Variety's review] criticizing the film's portrayal of fat people".Glenn Kenny of RogerEbert.com praised Aronofsky's direction and Fraser's performance, writing that the "story is one of different levels of heartbreak and human misunderstanding" and "Aronofsky and Fraser have taken substantive risks, in the name of an insistent empathy."Robbie Collin of The Telegraph gave it a perfect five stars, writing: "Fraser seals his comeback in a sensational film of rare compassion."
Richard Roeper of the Chicago Sun-Times described the film as an "empathetic, haunting, beautiful, heartbreakingly moving story of a broken man". He named it best film of the year and deemed Fraser's performance as his career's best.Variety chief film critic Owen Gleiberman also praised Fraser, calling him "slyer, subtler, more haunting than he has ever been". Matthew Creith of Out Front wrote: "The highlight of The Whale comes from an outstanding turn from Hong Chau, who gives a memorable performance in a vital role that balances Charlie's outlandish behavior." Hannah Strong of Little White Lies praised Fraser and the "strong ensemble,” highlighting Sink's "tricky role" in which she "captures the anger and sadness that comes from parental abandonment", and stating that while Aronofsky "isn't a particularly empathetic filmmaker" and The Whale is not without flaws, the film "reflects tenderly on shame, guilt, and the human impulse to care and be cared for".
Richard Lawson of Vanity Fair wrote that the film is "meant to be a poignant consideration of guilt, sexuality, religion, remorse" but "we really only know that because the movie shouts it at us". He also criticized Fraser's performance as "lost". Mark Hanson of Slant Magazine felt that Aronofsky reins in his "typically ostentatious style", but that "considering how Libatique's camera leeringly treats Charlie as an unsightly object of pity throughout, it's difficult to deny the film's fatphobia, though its mawkishness is no less oppressive". Katie Rife of Polygon wrote: "If you look at The Whale as a fable, its moral is that it's the responsibility of the abused to love and forgive their abusers. The movie thinks it's saying 'You don't understand; he's fat because he's suffering.' But it ends up saying 'You don't understand; we have to be cruel to fat people because we are suffering.' Aronofsky and Hunter's biblical metaphor aside, fat people didn't volunteer to serve as repositories for society's rage and contempt."Mark Kermode gave the film a negative review. He said the film relies heavily on emotional manipulation to elicit a response from the audience. Kermode also commented that while Brendan Fraser's performance is commendable, the film's portrayal of obesity and its related struggles is problematic and lacks sensitivity.
The film has received criticism for its portrayal of the main character. Time magazine stated: "Some of the film's critics believe it perpetuates tired tropes of fat people as suffering, chronically depressed and binge eating." On the podcast Don't Let This Flop, Rolling Stone writer EJ Dickson said the film was criticized for its use of a prosthetic suit instead of casting a fat actor, with accusations that it "stigmatizes and mocks fat people". On NPR's culture section, Jaclyn Diaz reported that this criticism extends to detractors calling the film's premise "inherently dehumanizing".
Writing for The New York Times, Roxane Gay expressed her opinion that the film's empathy was only superficial and that the depiction of Charlie reinforced anti-fat stereotypes and preconceptions. She wrote that although Aronofsky said he wanted to give an empathetic portrayal she "was bewildered because an empathetic portrayal isn't at all what was conveyed onscreen. As I looked around the audience, I was struck by the fact that there were only four or so fat people in the audience and none on the stage."
Director Darren Aronofsky defended the film, saying the criticisms "make no sense". Aronofsky further said that "actors have been using makeup since the beginning of acting—that's one of their tools. And the lengths we went to portray the realism of the makeup has never been done before", adding that "people with obesity are generally written as bad guys or as punch lines, we wanted to create a fully worked-out character who has bad parts about him and good parts about him". He said of fat people that "they get judged everywhere they go on the planet, by most people. This film shows that, like everyone, we are all human".
Top ten lists
The Whale was on many critics' top ten lists for 2022.
- 1st – Richard Roeper, Chicago Sun-Times
- 2nd – Brian Truitt, USA Today
- 4th – Lauren Coates & Susan Wloszczyna, RogerEbert.com
- 5th – Carla Renata, RogerEbert.com
- 6th – Richard Whittaker, Austin Chronicle
- 6th – Jeff Sneider, Los Angeles Magazine
- 7th – Mike Scott, New Orleans Times-Picayune
- 9th – Peter Debruge, Variety
- 9th – Mick LaSalle, San Francisco Chronicle
Accolades
| Award | Date of ceremony | Category | Recipient(s) | Result | Ref. |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| AACTA International Awards | February 24, 2023 | Best Actor | Brendan Fraser | Nominated | |
| AARP Movies for Grownups Awards | January 28, 2023 | Best Actor | Won | ||
| Academy Awards | March 12, 2023 | Best Actor | Won | ||
| Best Supporting Actress | Hong Chau | Nominated | |||
| Best Makeup and Hairstyling | Adrien Morot, Judy Chin and Annemarie Bradley | Won | |||
| Alliance of Women Film Journalists | January 5, 2023 | Best Actor | Brendan Fraser | Nominated | |
| Best Actress in a Supporting Role | Hong Chau | Nominated | |||
| Best Screenplay – Adapted | Samuel D. Hunter | Nominated | |||
| Best Woman's Breakthrough Performance | Sadie Sink | Nominated | |||
| Artios Awards | March 9, 2023 | Studio or Independent – Drama | Lindsay Graham, Bret Howe and Mary Vernieu | Nominated | |
| Austin Film Critics Association | January 10, 2023 | Best Actor | Brendan Fraser | Nominated | |
| Best Adapted Screenplay | Samuel D. Hunter | Nominated | |||
| British Academy Film Awards | February 19, 2023 | Best Actor in a Leading Role | Brendan Fraser | Nominated | |
| Best Actress in a Supporting Role | Hong Chau | Nominated | |||
| Best Adapted Screenplay | Samuel D. Hunter | Nominated | |||
| Best Make Up & Hair | Adrien Morot, Judy Chin and Annemarie Bradley | Nominated | |||
| Capri Hollywood International Film Festival | December 26, 2022 – January 2, 2023 | Best Actor | Brendan Fraser | Won | |
| Chicago Film Critics Association | December 14, 2022 | Best Actor | Nominated | ||
| Best Supporting Actress | Hong Chau | Nominated | |||
| Cinema for Peace Awards | February 24, 2023 | Cinema for Peace Dove for the Most Valuable Film of the Year | The Whale | Nominated | |
| Critics' Choice Awards | January 15, 2023 | Best Actor | Brendan Fraser | Won | |
| Best Young Actor/Actress | Sadie Sink | Nominated | |||
| Best Adapted Screenplay | Samuel D. Hunter | Nominated | |||
| Best Hair and Makeup | The Whale | Nominated | |||
| Dallas–Fort Worth Film Critics Association | December 19, 2022 | Best Picture | 7th place | ||
| Best Actor | Brendan Fraser | Runner-up | |||
| Best Supporting Actress | Hong Chau | Runner-up | |||
| Denver Film Festival | November 2–13, 2023 | Rare Pearl Award | Darren Aronofsky | Won | |
| Dorian Awards | February 23, 2023 | Film Performance of the Year | Brendan Fraser | Nominated | |
| Supporting Film Performance of the Year | Hong Chau | Nominated | |||
| Florida Film Critics Circle | December 22, 2022 | Best Actor | Brendan Fraser | Runner-up | |
| Georgia Film Critics Association | January 13, 2023 | Best Actor | Runner-up | ||
| Golden Globe Awards | January 10, 2023 | Best Actor in a Motion Picture – Drama | Nominated | ||
| Golden Trailer Awards | June 29, 2023 | Best Drama | "People" (Woollen & Associates) | Nominated | |
| Best Independent Trailer | Nominated | ||||
| Best Independent TV Spot | "Acclaim" (GrandSon) | Nominated | |||
| Gotham Independent Film Awards | November 28, 2022 | Outstanding Lead Performance | Brendan Fraser | Nominated | |
| Outstanding Supporting Performance | Hong Chau | Nominated | |||
| Hollywood Critics Association Awards | February 24, 2023 | Best Actor | Brendan Fraser | Won | |
| Best Supporting Actress | Hong Chau | Nominated | |||
| Best Adapted Screenplay | Samuel D. Hunter | Nominated | |||
| Hollywood Critics Association Creative Arts Awards | February 24, 2023 | Best Makeup and Hairstyling | Adrien Morot, Judy Chin and Annemarie Bradley | Won | |
| Hollywood Music in Media Awards | November 16, 2022 | Best Original Score in an Independent Film | Rob Simonsen | Nominated | |
| Houston Film Critics Society | February 18, 2023 | Best Actor | Brendan Fraser | Nominated | |
| Kansas City Film Critics Circle | January 22, 2023 | Best Lead Actor | Runner-up | ||
| London Critics Circle Film Awards | February 5, 2023 | Actor of the Year | Nominated | ||
| Supporting Actress of the Year | Hong Chau | Nominated | |||
| Make-Up Artists and Hair Stylists Guild | February 11, 2023 | Best Special Make-Up Effects | Adrien Morot, Kathy Tse and Chris Gallaher | Won | |
| Mill Valley Film Festival | October 6–16, 2022 | Audience Favorite – US Cinema | The Whale | Won | |
| Montclair Film Festival | October 21–30, 2022 | Junior Jury Prize | Won | ||
| New York Film Critics Online | December 11, 2022 | Best Supporting Actress | Hong Chau | Won | |
| Online Film Critics Society | January 23, 2023 | Best Actor | Brendan Fraser | Nominated | |
| Palm Springs International Film Festival | January 5–16, 2023 | Spotlight Award | Won | ||
| Producers Guild of America Awards | February 25, 2023 | Outstanding Producer of Theatrical Motion Pictures | Jeremy Dawson, Ari Handel and Darren Aronofsky | Nominated | |
| San Diego Film Critics Society | January 6, 2023 | Best Actor | Brendan Fraser | Nominated | |
| Best Adapted Screenplay | Samuel D. Hunter | Nominated | |||
| San Francisco Bay Area Film Critics Circle | January 9, 2023 | Best Actor | Brendan Fraser | Nominated | |
| Best Adapted Screenplay | Samuel D. Hunter | Nominated | |||
| Santa Barbara International Film Festival | February 8–18, 2023 | American Riviera Award | Brendan Fraser | Won | |
| Satellite Awards | March 3, 2023 | Best Actor in a Motion Picture – Drama | Won | ||
| Best Adapted Screenplay | Samuel D. Hunter | Nominated | |||
| Screen Actors Guild Awards | February 26, 2023 | Outstanding Performance by a Male Actor in a Leading Role | Brendan Fraser | Won | |
| Outstanding Performance by a Female Actor in a Supporting Role | Hong Chau | Nominated | |||
| Seattle Film Critics Society | January 17, 2023 | Best Actor in a Leading Role | Brendan Fraser | Nominated | |
| Society of Composers & Lyricists Awards | February 15, 2023 | Outstanding Original Score for an Independent Film | Rob Simonsen | Nominated | |
| St. Louis Film Critics Association | December 18, 2022 | Best Actor | Brendan Fraser | Won | |
| Toronto Film Critics Association | January 8, 2023 | Best Actor | Runner-up | ||
| Toronto International Film Festival | September 8–18, 2022 | Tribute Actor Award | Won | ||
| Tromsø International Film Festival | January 16–22, 2023 | Aurora Award | Darren Aronofsky | Nominated | |
| Venice Film Festival | August 31 – September 10, 2022 | 10th Interfilm Award for Promoting Interreligious Dialogue | Won | ||
| Leoncino d'Oro Award | Won | ||||
| Premio CinemaSarà Award | Won | ||||
| Sorriso Diverso Venezia Award for Best Foreign Film | Won | ||||
| Golden Lion | Nominated | ||||
| Queer Lion | Nominated | ||||
| Washington D.C. Area Film Critics Association | December 12, 2022 | Best Actor | Brendan Fraser | Nominated | |
| Best Adapted Screenplay | Samuel D. Hunter | Nominated | |||
| Best Youth Performance | Sadie Sink | Nominated | |||
| Women Film Critics Circle | December 19, 2022 | Best Actor | Brendan Fraser | Won |