A cinematic adaptation of Samuel D. Hunter’s 2012 play of the same name, The Whale, was released in the United States by Darren Aronofsky in 2022. Brendan Fraser, Sadie Sink, Hong Chau, Ty Simpkins and Samantha Morton are among the cast of this picture.
The protagonist in this story is a lonely, overweight English teacher who desperately wants to repair his relationship with his teenage daughter. The events depicted in The Whale are fictional. It’s fiction, even if it was based on Hunter’s life. Charlie, played by Brendan Fraser is a fictional character, as are all of the others in the film.
The film’s reception was mixed among critics, although many praised the actions of the performers, especially that of Fraser and Chau. It cost $3 million to produce but only brought in $36.6 million. The 95th Academy Awards, the 28th Critics’ Choice Awards and the 29th Screen Actors Guild Awards all bestowed their top acting honors upon Fraser.
The film also got nominations for Best Theatrical Motion Picture from the Producers Guild of America and Best Supporting Actress for Chau at the Academy Awards.
What is the Movie the Whale About?
The Whale is not based on a true story. It is a work of fiction, even if it was based on Hunter’s life. Charlie, played by Brendan Fraser is a fictional character, as are all of the others in the film.
Charlie, a solitary English professor, teaches online college writing courses while never turning on his webcam because he is ashamed of his weight. His nurse and best friend, Liz, is the one who suggests he go to the hospital because of his dangerously high risk of congestive heart failure.
He declines because he is concerned he will accumulate unmanageable debt and be unable to escape its clutches. Thomas, a missionary with the New Life Church comes to see him as well, hoping that Charlie may accept Christ. Charlie routinely gets pizza and the delivery guy, Dan, always follows the same predictable routine.
He brings Charlie’s pizza receives payment from the mailbox and leaves without ever engaging with Charlie beyond a few shouted pleasantries through the door. Charlie hasn’t seen his teenage daughter, Ellie, in over eight years, but he’s hoping to make amends with her.
If she will spend time with him behind her mother’s back, Charlie will pay her mother $120,000 from his savings account. Ellie gives in when he offers to edit an essay for school, but he insists that she use a notebook he provides her with as well.
While Thomas continues to visit Charlie, Liz expresses her frustration by telling him that he is not in need of rescue. When asked who she is, she says she is the adopted daughter of New Life’s senior pastor and that Alan, Charlie’s late boyfriend whose suicide over religious guilt triggered her to start binge eating was her brother.
Thomas sees himself as having to aid Charlie, despite Liz’s disapproval. Charlie’s health is deteriorating after he chokes on a meatball sandwich, so Liz brings him a wheelchair so he can get around his apartment more easily. After making Charlie a sandwich one day, Ellie sneaks some crushed Ambien into his meal.
When smoking pot together, Thomas eventually passes out and Ellie starts questioning him. Since he was unhappy, Thomas says he took money from the youth group and ditched his family and church. Ellie makes a covert recording of his admission on her phone.
When Liz invites Charlie’s ex-wife and Ellie’s mother, Mary, to visit, the truth about Ellie’s hidden rendezvous with her father is exposed. When Charlie reveals to Liz the exact sum he had saved to leave Ellie, an argument ensues. Mary and Charlie have an angry discussion about how their marriage has fallen apart and how they have failed as parents while they are alone.
As Mary walks away, a distraught Charlie says that he only wants Ellie to tell him he made the right decision once in his life. Charlie’s extreme binge-eating episode begins after Dan catches his first glance at him and responds with contempt.
During this time, he sends a profanity-laced email to his pupils, encouraging them to ignore the classwork and simply write back something honest.
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Thomas pays one last visit to Charlie before going back home to tell him that his former youth group and family have forgiven him and are welcoming him home after receiving his confession via Ellie. When he tries to preach to Charlie and tries to pin Alan’s death on Alan’s s*xual orientation, Charlie corrects him.
Charlie explains at his next class that he is being replaced owing to complaints and reads some of the students’ suggestions. The pupils are shocked when he turns on his webcam for the first time in class, but he remains calm telling them that the only thing that matters is what they wrote and then ends class by smashing his laptop against the fridge.
When Charlie’s death draws close, Liz, plagued by remorse at having abandoned him, tries to soothe him. Suddenly, Ellie shows up to confront him about the revised essay. He admits that he switched out her revised paper for the honest essay she wrote about Moby-Dick when they were in eighth grade.
Although Charlie makes one more attempt at reconciliation, Ellie tearfully reprimands him. Charlie sits up and tries to move toward her without assistance, just as he had tried and failed on Ellie’s initial visit and Ellie hesitantly reads the article.
A dazzling white light envelops Charlie as Ellie finishes reading and he begins to float. Their trip to the Oregon Coast is captured in the final image, a joyful family memory.
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