The Whale's ending is devastating as it sees the end of Charlie's life. He tried reconnecting with his daughter Ellie, but it was always one-sided. Ellie was cruel to Charlie throughout the movie, but there is hope she could finally see in herself what Charlie did all those years.
The Whale is a film that feels uncomfortable. The subject matter is uncomfortable; not only is it about a man struggling with obesity, but it is also about someone dying from congestive heart disease, someone who is estranged from their family, and the entire film takes place in one space.
Charlie eats to sadly harm himself. He is the manifestation of trauma. That what he puts into his body for all that harm that he has endured all his life, he's been derided. It's manifest on who he is as a human being, that's a lot of pain for this man.
I've never seen a movie try so hard to be as sad as possible, I could feel the music and the crying but I didn't even slightly cry. And I cry at a lot of movies but this felt so forced. The cast did great but the rest of the movie is just watching this man eat himself to death.
The Whale is a true classical tragedy in the Aristotelian/Shakespearean sense, but one for the modern age. While we've often settled for bleak, one-note films about the ills of modern society, The Whale elevates political critique to operatic storytelling.
Unquestionably, “The Whale” portrays many of Charlie's circumstances as overwhelmingly sad and unfortunate. It depicts the devastating impacts of the complex interplay between Charlie's relationship with his weight and depression on his self-worth and capacity to be involved in his daughter's life.
The Whale is a wonderful surprise masterpiece! Brendan Fraser has proved he still has it. It's a beautiful performance that's long overdue for him. A film that will make you cry and love Brendan.
The Whale addresses the extent to which depression can impact physical health. Darren Aronofsky's The Whale is a sad reminder of the toll depression can take on someone and how damaging that can be for their mental and physical health.
The Whale is not a true story but is based on a 2012 play by Samuel D. Hunter, who also wrote the film. Dale Calandra played the original Charlie in a similar transformation to Fraser's for The Whale movie, during the play's original run at the Victory Gardens Biograph Theater in Chicago.
Why doesn t Charlie go to the hospital in The Whale?
Charlie refuses to go, citing the fact that he has no money and can't afford the hospital bills. He instead decides to spend his last week of life attempted to reconnect with his estranged daughter.
The Whale ending explored Charlie's desire to help Ellie find happiness before he dies. This is the only way he feels will absolve him of his past mistakes. Thomas also wants to be redeemed by bringing Charlie back to religion and puts forth tremendous effort to do so.
In the movie "The Whale", Brendan Fraser wore a fat suit to portray his character, Charlie. The suit was designed by Tony Gardner and his team at Alterian Inc. Fraser gained some weight for the role, but the majority of his appearance was achieved through the use of the fat suit and prosthetics.
After its premiere at the 2022 Venice Film Festival — where Fraser was moved to tears during the six-minute ovation that followed the screening — the film was criticized for its portrayal of people affected by obesity and was accused of perpetuating anti-fat stereotypes.
TRIGGER WARNING: The script for this film contains extensive fatphobia. Backstories involve homophobic abuse, particularly from religious organizations. The film's cynical take on religion may be upsetting to a churchgoing audience.
The white whale is a metaphor for the destructive force of nature. Although nature is an anonymous force which takes no sides and simply follows its own natural course, Ahab seems to see nature as something that has power over him, which is something that he cannot accept.
With a heartbreaking story brought powerfully to life by Brendan Fraser's starring performance, The Whale's as hard to watch as it is to look away from.
Religious trauma leading to suicide, love, loss, secrets, regret, redemption, and binge eating disorder are themes in Darren Aronofsky's The Whale. Throughout the movie, Charlie inflicted more pain and trauma on his body with every episode of binge eating. He eats to numb his pain but also sadly to harm himself.
Not a whole lot of people are going to really enjoy “The Whale.” Director Darren Aronofsky's new drama is the kind that leans into relentless agony, demoralization, rage — and mostly within the confines of a single living room, the space where we watch a 600-pound teacher deteriorate emotionally and physically.
Though - no spoilers here - the looming sense of tragedy that Aronowski is incapable of not laying all over his films is a pretty good indication why The Whale isn't billed as “Feelgood romp of the year”. It is an unabashed tear-jerker, the sort that critics are generally a bit sniffy about.
The fatness was the subject and the point. I began to realize that this movie was not a melodrama, nor an uplifting tale about redemption; to me, “The Whale” is a body horror film that exploits the fear and disgust people feel toward fatness.
The Whale's ending is devastating as it sees the end of Charlie's life. He tried reconnecting with his daughter Ellie, but it was always one-sided. Ellie was cruel to Charlie throughout the movie, but there is hope she could finally see in herself what Charlie did all those years.
In the years since, Charlie is completely estranged from Ellie (Sadie Sink), and Alan died by suicide after a period of sleep deprivation and anorexia.
Over the course of The Whale, we learn that Charlie ended his marriage to his wife Mary as he was hiding his homosexuality until he fell in love with a man named Alan. This resulted in Charlie losing contact with his daughter Ellie, which he has always felt guilty about.
