The Whale 2022 Review
Spoilers Ahead!
The Whale is an unflinching and overwhelmingly uncomfortable depiction of a morbidly obese man and his last-ditch efforts to reconnect with his rebellious teenage daughter before it’s too late.
The protagonist Charlie (Brendan Fraser) is an online English teacher, trapped in his cramped Idaho home with only the company of his best friend and at times nurse Liz (Hong Chau), and the occasional Christian preacher (Ty Simpkins).
I absolutely adored this film but before getting into why, I wanted to say it is certainly not for everyone. The scenes of intense binge eating can definitely be triggering for people with disordered eating or a negative relationship with food and I wouldn’t recommend it if you have issues with food and eating. However, I do think it tackles the topic of excessive eating with both realism and empathy. Some scenes are hard to watch but Charlie’s character is one of great strength who has simply been beaten down by his experiences and the film goes to great lengths to demonstrate this, neither romanticising nor criticising eating disorders.
I found this film to be a masterclass not only in emotive storytelling but also in style. The 4x3 aspect ratio of the film masterfully builds the claustrophobic and cramped atmosphere of Charlie’s life and ensures that Fraser’s prosthetic body takes up the majority of the screen in many scenes. It forces the watcher to feel confined not only within Charlie’s small house but also within his body. Lending itself to this feeling is the way the film never leaves Charlie's home aside from a few brief flashbacks, and the incredibly small cast.
Whilst all powerful in their own right, this cast is undoubtedly carried by Frasers beautifully emotional performance. He had some tough competition on Oscar night with the likes of Austin Butler, Collin Farrell and Paul Mescal, but it was hard to ignore his heart wrenching performance. (I say Bring on the Brenaissance!)
Director Darren Aronofsky is often incredibly hit or miss depending on how much you enjoy watching people go through terrible suffering. His signature melancholic style is very much present in this adaptation of Samuel Hunter’s play by the same name. However, there is also a more profound sense of hope that permeates this film quite unlike any of his other works.
Charlie is going to die; this is established from very early on in the story. However, he is also a painful optimist and is determined to fix what he feels is his biggest mistake in life, abandoning his daughter.
His daughter Ellie is for want of a better word, a brat. Putting sleeping pills in her disabled father’s food is amongst the many horrible things she says and does to everyone she comes across, it’s no wonder why her mother genuinely believes she’s raised a monster. However, Charlie refuses to see her that way and wants to make sure Ellie realises how wonderful it is before it’s too late.
The theme of forgiving oneself or perhaps just accepting oneself was handled with touching gentleness. We learn how both Charlie and Liz blame themselves for the death of his boyfriend who was also her brother, through passing comments and heart-wrenching monologues. This is quite neatly tied in with themes of regret and entrapment that are woven through the film alongside the, somewhat on the nose, motif of the essay on Moby Dick.
A particular highlight for me was the interaction between Charlie and his ex-wife (played by the wonderful Samantha Morton). Despite holding much resentment, they also share moments of incredible tenderness and Brendan Fraser’s speech about wanting to know that he ‘did one thing right with his life’ was nothing short of heartbreaking.
I feel this sums up the main reason I enjoyed The Whale so much, it is a film filled with nuance, no character is clearly good or evil, each relationship is complex, and no situation has an easy answer. It is not kind to the audience yet it is sprinkled with hope. Ultimately it is an incredibly uncomfortable but achingly realistic glimpse into the nuances of real life.
So, if you haven’t already and it seems like your thing, I’d highly recommend this film, just make sure to bring tissues.
28/03/2023