Review: The Whale

Image courtesy of A24.

Darren Aronofsky's "The Whale" is a movie that's sure to draw mixed reactions and sure to be misunderstood. It's a movie meant to be compassionate, although some reviews have accused it of fat shaming its lead character - a 600-pound man who is slowly eating himself to death following the death of his lover. Some reviews have accused it of portraying grotesquerie - but to me that says more about the comfort level some people have in spending time with this particular character.

Based on Samuel D. Hunter's play, the film follows a reclusive online English teacher Charlie (Brendan Fraser), who keeps his screen blank when speaking with his class of students, blaming it on a broken camera, during the final days of his life. He is suffering from congestive heart failure, can barely move from his seat on the couch in his Idaho home, and is often visited by a friend named Liz (Hong Chau), whose connection to him we only learn late in the film.

Charlie was once married to a woman named Mary (Samantha Morton) - who makes a few appearances late in the film - and had a daughter, Ellie (Sadie Sink), who pops back up in his life. Despite her having valid reasons for being angry with her father - who left her mother years before for another man, who committed suicide after being rejected by his church by throwing himself off a bridge - Ellie shows a lack of kindness.

The film's setup is simple as it primarily observes Charlie as he attempts to rekindle a relationship with his daughter and help her with her writing assignments (she's about to flunk out of high school), all the while being visited by a young church missionary (Ty Simpkins) - the one character the film probably could have done without - who wants to save him and Liz, a nurse who seemingly believes it to be her duty to witness Charlie's deterioration.

Aronofsky's films are never quite what you'd call lightweight fare - "The Wrestler" and "Black Swan" are tense character studies, "Requiem for a Dream" is a grueling addiction tale, and "Mother!" has caused some serious debate among its proponents (I count myself among them) and detractors since its release five years ago - but "The Whale" is an especially wrenching picture. 

The material itself makes for a heavy lift, but Fraser's extremely committed performance - his wearing a fat suit has caused some consternation - makes it slightly less of one due to the amount of humanity and pathos he brings to the role. Fraser has been popping up in some solid indie films in recent years - notably, Steven Soderbergh's "No Sudden Move" and, soon, Martin Scorsese's "Killers of the Flower Moon" - but his performance here is career-best work.

I feel obligated to point out that the film/play's title isn't a fat joke - but rather a reference to Herman Melville's "Moby Dick," which plays a significant role in the relationship between Charlie and his estranged daughter.

"The Whale" will not be an easy sit for all viewers. It's primarily set in one location - and mainly centered around Charlie's couch, where he sits and receives visitors - and the material is deeply sad, often unsettling and, in typical Aronofsky style, fairly gloomy. But this is not a film that views its central character in horror, but rather sees the humanity in a lost soul. The film's powerful central performance - and some solid supporting work, from Chau especially - make for a challenging and moving experience.