The Whale (2022 film)

The Whale
Theatrical release poster
Directed by	Darren Aronofsky
Written by	Samuel D. Hunter
Based on	The Whale by Samuel D. Hunter
Produced by	Jeremy Dawson Ari Handel Darren Aronofsky
Starring	Brendan Fraser Sadie Sink Hong Chau Ty Simpkins Samantha Morton
Cinematography	Matthew Libatique
Edited by	Andrew Weisblum
Music by	Rob Simonsen
Production companies	A24 Protozoa Pictures
Distributed by	A24
Release dates	September 4, 2022 (2022-09-04) (Venice) December 9, 2022 (2022-12-09) (United States)
Running time	117 minutes
Country	United States
Language	English
Budget	$3 million
Box office	$57.6 million

The Whale is a 2022 American psychological drama film directed by Darren Aronofsky and adapted by Samuel D. Hunter, based on his 2012 play of the same name. The film stars Brendan Fraser, Sadie Sink, Hong Chau, Ty Simpkins, and Samantha Morton. The plot follows a morbidly obese, housebound 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 premiered at the 79th Venice International Film Festival on September 4, 2022. 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. The film received a polarized response; though critics lauded the acting, particularly Fraser, Chau and Sink, the film's portrayal of obesity-related struggles drew criticism. For his performance, Fraser won the Academy Award, Critics' Choice Award, and SAG Award for Best Actor. Chau was nominated for the Academy Award for Best Supporting Actress and the film won the Academy Award for Best Makeup and Hairstyling at the 95th Academy Awards ceremony.

Plot

In early 2016, Charlie, a morbidly obese English teacher, teaches online English writing courses to college students, but keeps his webcam off, ashamed of his physical appearance. Charlie isolates himself, never leaving his apartment in Moscow, Idaho. His nurse and only friend, Liz, enables him by bringing him unhealthy food, while contradictorily urging him to visit a hospital for a heart failure treatment, but Charlie insists he cannot afford medical care. Charlie is also visited by Thomas, a missionary for the New Life Church who wants to save him. He 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 with the two never interacting face-to-face.

Charlie hopes to reconnect with his estranged teenage daughter Ellie, whom he abandoned eight years ago when leaving his wife, Mary, for his male lover 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 her homework for her, though he also requests that she writes in a notebook he gives her. As Charlie's health worsens, Liz brings him a wheelchair so he can remain mobile.

Thomas visits a disgruntled Liz, who chastises him. She 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, leading a grief-stricken Charlie to cope with this by emotional eating, which caused his morbid obesity. 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, whereupon Thomas confesses to stealing his youth group's money and running away from home because he felt dissatisfied. Ellie secretly records the 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 being lied to about why he avoided medical treatment. Mary and Charlie argue over his decision to leave his family for Alan. Mary also expresses contempt for Ellie's sullen demeanor, though Charlie admits his hope that their daughter will prove he did "one thing right with his life". Later that night, after delivering the pizza, Dan sees Charlie for the first time and leaves horrified. As a result, Charlie has a severe binge-eating episode and sends a profanity-laden email to his students, telling them to disregard the classwork and just write 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. During his next class, Charlie tells his students he is being fired after 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 do not matter, but the honest things that his students wrote do, before abruptly ending 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 an essay he rewrote for her; in which Charlie had instead replaced it with an essay about Moby-Dick she wrote in eighth grade, as he considers it the most honest essay he has ever read. Ellie initially rebukes him as he attempts to reconcile one final time, but she decides to read 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 and Charlie begins to levitate as he is 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 who is Charlie's only friend
• Ty Simpkins as Thomas, a Christian missionary
• Samantha Morton as Mary, Charlie's ex-wife and Ellie's estranged mother
• 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. The actress chosen to portray Liz, Hong Chau, 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 4:3 aspect 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.

Release

The cast, director, and writer holding a press conference during the 2022 Venice Film Festival

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

The performances of Brendan Fraser and Hong Chau garnered critical acclaim, earning them Academy Award nominations for Best Actor and Best Supporting Actress respectively, with Fraser winning his category.

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

Awards and nominations for The Whale

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	2023	Most Valuable Film of the Year	Darren Aronofsky	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

External links

• Official screenplay
• The Whale at IMDb