Cinema Scholars reviews Darren Aronofsky’s new drama The Whale. The film stars Brendan Fraser, Hong Chau, Sadie Sink, and Ty Simpkins. Following a limited release in New York and Los Angeles, A24 will release The Whale nationwide in theaters on December 21, 2022.
Introduction
In real life, a complex array of variables influence major life experiences. In movies, big personal events typically occur in a vacuum of sorts. There simply isn’t enough bandwidth in a film to adequately represent all the factors that lead a person to a certain conclusion. It’s not easy to weave together a story that includes the important intricacies of a life lived. Much less the more subtle nuances that help guide a person’s plight. When a filmmaker can adequately combine these multi-facets into a cohesive narrative, the result is often equally complicated and compelling.
In Darren Aronofsky’s latest powerhouse drama, The Whale, the director aptly balances multiple heavy-hitting issues. While tackling sticky subjects like addiction, homophobia, abandonment, and isolation, a heart-wrenching story of regret and atonement takes shape.
Charlie (Brendan Fraser) is an English professor who conducts his classes completely online. A blessing and a curse for the middle-aged man whose weight has ballooned to around 600 pounds. Indefinitely ensconced in his upstairs apartment, Charlie lives a reclusive life, giving off-camera lectures and grading papers. Meanwhile, he fights the urge to indulge in his addiction to food. A nearly impossible feat considering his best friend Liz (Hong Chau) is at his beck and call. This enabling cycle, on top of unaddressed emotional issues, is the perfect recipe for an agonizing downward spiral.
When Charlie experiences a series of near-fatal health scares, he decides to reevaluate his life. Like the complicated split from his ex-wife that lead to an 8-year absence from his daughter’s life. In order to reconnect with his daughter, Charlie must first face his own demons. Then he can come to terms with his mistakes and the grief that has consumed him.
Analysis
Like reality, The Whale is multi-layered with various issues orbiting around a central situation. For Charlie, his predicament is the sum of many factors, but grief is a central trigger. He can’t shake the utter despair over losing the lover who prompted his divorce. The guilt surrounding that decision and subsequent estrangement from his daughter is compounded by the fact that his paramour was a student and male.
When Charlie is finally confronted by his daughter Ellie, she spares zero of her acid tongue for her desperate father. Their newfound dialogue takes on a borderline abusive tone as Ellie tests the boundaries of her dad’s dignity. As her brand of angsty punishment for his abandonment slowly ebbs into understanding, they both begin to form a unique mutual respect. While it is Ellie grappling with abandonment issues in this variable of the narrative, Ellie’s growth and acceptance are equally matched by her father’s.
As with many people afflicted with some form of addiction, one of the more complicated dynamics is found between the suffering and those who enable them. Enablers don’t realize that they are perpetuating the very behavior that makes them indispensable. Being needed and appreciated can be an addiction all its own. Liz cares deeply for Charlie, as his only remaining caretaker and advocate, but also through her ties to his former life. Yet another borderline-abusive relationship emerges as Liz tries to help Charlie while simultaneously plying him with the calories that fuel the vicious cycle.
Themes of isolation hit differently in a post-Covid world in comparison to 2012 when Samuel D. Hunter debuted his stage version of The Whale. Nevertheless, this idea of technology-enabled solitude resonates loud and clear. This is accentuated by the fact that the entire drama plays out in the confines of Charlie’s abode. For better or worse, people don’t necessarily have to interact with the outside world anymore to survive. With the click of a mouse, nearly anything you want can be delivered directly to your door. Yet another facet of Charlie’s journey is realized as the shut-in attempts to re-engage with the outside world.
And we haven’t even gotten to the commentary on the medical system, homophobia, and Evangelical Christianity. Much less the subtle, nearly obligatory, nod to Mary’s alcohol abuse. The Whale has its issues. But the balance and symmetry of the story arc defy any chance of the film getting muddled amid all the melodrama.
Performances
When it comes to Fraser’s performance as the long-suffering lead, believe the hype. Fraser is barely recognizable under layers of foam, yet he still manages to exude the same undeniable energy that catapulted him to fame in the early 90s. The dramatic moments will seal the deal for Fraser at award time. But it’s the glimmer of zeal for life Fraser occasionally lets through that makes the depth of his tragic character shine. Paired with those emotional moments, you truly begin to forget that his words were written on a page before he uttered them.
Hot off her turn as the deliciously domineering high-end hostess in The Menu, Hong Chau channels a similar badass energy into caring enabler Liz. Chau’s no-nonsense brand of compassion makes the complex cycle of caretaking, scolding, and ultimately enabling feel uncomfortably relatable. Through her careful performance, the semi-abusive pattern becomes even more intricate as more of her character’s motivation is revealed. Chau’s delicate dance between dedicated friend and weary martyr shows how tricky it is to break the cycle of enabling. Especially when you don’t know you’re part of the problem.
Cornering the brooding teenage girl market these days, Sadie Sink brings a much-needed air of snark and biting realism to The Whale. Her character represents Charlie’s main motivation. But she also serves as a mirror for him to face what he’s done to himself. Her character says the awful things that only adolescent honesty allows. But Sink’s portrayal lets on that Ellie is much more than an angry girl with abandonment issues. In a few clutch moments, Sink breaks the veneer of annoying teen angst to let Ellie’s fragility bubble up to the surface in an exceptionally emotional turn.
In the small but important role of Charlie’s ex, Mary, Samantha Morton’s presence immediately galvanizes the picture. With the bitterness at a slow simmer, Morton’s take on the always troubled-but-trying Mary is aptly abrasive. Her character helps answer some looming questions while Morton paints a clear picture of an emotionally damaged person.
In a sort of lightning rod character of the film, Ty Simpkins’ Thomas provides the wide-eyed outsider view into Charlie’s world. Brought to the apartment through divine intervention (according to the young Christian missionary himself), Simpkin’s innocence and self-righteousness are a tragic counterpoint to all the self-realization in The Whale.
Further Discussion
In addition to all the emotional strife of The Whale, Aronofsky makes you marinate in the discomfort of Charlie’s physical state as well. Much like the director’s visceral depiction of substance abuse in Requiem For A Dream, Aronofsky applies the same grittiness to the obesity epidemic. Every labored breath, every heave to move his body even an inch registers like a train wreck. You don’t want to see, yet you can’t look away. With incredibly realistic prosthetics designed by Adrien Morot, the real weight of Charlie’s, well, weight is inescapable.
While the adapted play does feel very much like an adapted play, Aronofsky and cinematographer Matthew Libatique lean into the confinement with a cloistered, pallid pallet. The production design team channels the cluttered aesthetic of a hermit with a depressing effect.
Though the heaviness (pun intended) of The Whale is indisputable, Charlie’s emotional voyage is riveting nonetheless. Despite competing themes, Aronofsky keeps the ship on course with engrossing story development and commanding performances. For a film that never leaves its central location, The Whale embarks on an epic emotional journey and exploration of man’s inhumanity to man, including himself.
Following a limited release in New York and Los Angeles, A24 will release The Whale nationwide in theaters on December 21, 2022.
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