Fraser plays a morbidly obese recluse English teacher who struggles to do things as customary as opening the door for a visitor or picking something up off the floor. Charlie is getting sicker with the days which frustrates and hurts his nurse and friend, Liz (Hong Chau), and daughter Ellie, with whom he tries to rebuild his abandoned relationship with.
The story is told over the course of a week and is set entirely within a small, dark, and dingy apartment in Idaho, but visits from his daughter, wife, and a Christian missionary set on spiritually saving his life make Charlie’s last days memorable, conveying everybody’s fundamental human need for connection and companionship.
Aronofsky explores the protagonist’s self hatred and sorrow with undisguised intent
Unfortunate pasts are revealed through the theme of honesty and a discussion of religious homophobia, which caused the death of Charlie’s late boyfriend whom he left his wife and daughter for. Aronofsky explores the protagonist’s self hatred and sorrow with undisguised intent by making him say “I’m sorry” again and again, but admittedly along with the same outfits being worn every day this gives the audience an insight into the repetitiveness and mundanity of Charlie’s life after his partner’s death.
A Christian missionary with a secret identity serves for a confusing and unnecessary plot twist to expose that the nature of family is to forgive, and to inject a glimmer of hope into the audience to think that maybe Charlie’s family will forgive him for leaving them; maybe the intention here was to create tension, but to me feels futile and unnecessary to the overall message and plot of the story.
a candid look at the gruesome and not so pretty side of overconsumption and greed so prevalent in our generation
Post-lockdown films such as this one which discuss how people should not live or spend their lives alone may feel relatable or relevant to some, as lockdown was a difficult period and helps the audience relate to the main character with their own experiences of feeling lonely, their only human contact with someone not in their household being over video chat. But the significance of this film, I believe exceeds the boundaries of ‘lockdown was bad’ and ‘loneliness is sad’ as in my opinion it also takes a candid look at the gruesome and not so pretty side of overconsumption and greed so prevalent in our generation, even if the pace did dawdle at times. Our main figure wants so desperately to give his daughter all the money he owns, to the point that he thinks so much is worth his life.
The Whale dives deep into the ugly truths of grief, depression, religious trauma, and addiction, with the main character making you feel sorry for him even though he technically put himself in that situation. In all honesty this film had me and everyone else crying in the movie theatre. The ending scene, whilst being a little silly, made the watcher feel unsatisfied and dispirited, not unlike the consistent mood of Ellie or how Charlie feels about his own life.