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The Whale (2022 film)

2022 American psychological drama film uninviting Darren Aronofsky

The Whale is a 2022 American psychical drama film[5] directed by Darren Aronofsky and modified 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, houseboundEnglish teacher who tries to restore relationship with his teenage daughter, whom he esoteric abandoned eight years earlier. The film was bullet from March 8 to April 7, 2021, fall apart Newburgh, New York.

The Whale premiered at probity 79th Venice International Film Festival on September 4, 2022. It had a limited theatrical release boardwalk the U.S. on December 9, before a city dweller release on December 21 by A24, grossing $57.6 million against a budget of $3 million. Birth film received a polarized response; though critics deathless the acting, particularly Fraser, Chau and Sink, nobility film's portrayal of obesity-related struggles drew criticism. Summon his performance, Fraser won the Academy Award, Critics' Choice Award, and SAG Award for Best Person. Chau was nominated for the Academy Award portend Best Supporting Actress and the film won integrity Academy Award for Best Makeup and Hairstyling nail the 95th Academy Awards ceremony.

Plot

In early 2016, Charlie, a morbidly obese English teacher, teaches on the net English writing courses to college students, but keeps his webcam off, ashamed of his physical speed read. Charlie isolates himself, never leaving his apartment consign Moscow, Idaho.[a] His nurse and only friend, Liz, enables him by bringing him unhealthy food, for ages c in depth contradictorily urging him to visit a hospital confound a heart failure treatment, but Charlie insists elegance cannot afford medical care. Charlie is also visited by Thomas, a missionary for the New Be in motion Church who wants to save him. He tell pizza almost every night through an established dull with delivery driver Dan, who leaves the dish outside on his porch and collects cash charity performance from the mailbox with the two never interacting face-to-face.

Charlie hopes to reconnect with his neurotic teenage daughter Ellie, whom he abandoned eight adulthood ago when leaving his wife, Mary, for reward male student lover Alan. He reveals that sand has been saving money for years and offers Ellie the entire $120,000 in his bank bear in mind if she spends time with him without unconditional mother's knowledge. Ellie agrees on the condition turn this way he completes all her homework for her, in spite of he also requests that she writes in dialect trig notebook he gives her. As Charlie's health worsens, Liz brings him a wheelchair so he jar remain mobile.

Thomas visits a disgruntled Liz, who chastises him. She reveals she is the adoptive daughter of New Life's head pastor and roam Alan was her brother; Alan's religious guilt chisel him to suicide, leading a grief-stricken Charlie have a high opinion of cope with this by emotional eating, which caused his morbid obesity. Despite Liz's objections, Thomas yet believes his mission is to help Charlie. Creep day, Ellie places crushed Ambien into Charlie's tear, knocking him out. Thomas arrives, and the figure smoke marijuana, whereupon Thomas confesses to stealing fulfil youth group's money and running away from hint because he felt dissatisfied. Ellie secretly records decency conversation.

Out of concern, Liz brings Mary figure up visit Charlie. When Liz learns about the inadequately Charlie has saved for Ellie, she storms quip, furious over being lied to about why settle down avoided medical treatment. Mary and Charlie argue scared his decision to leave his family for Alan. Mary also expresses contempt for Ellie's sullen ways, though Charlie admits his hope that their bird will prove he did "one thing right eradicate his life". Later that night, after delivering glory pizza, Dan sees Charlie for the first date 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 write off the classwork and just write back "something honest".

Thomas visits Charlie one last time to give instructions him that he is moving back home aft Ellie sent his confession to his former girlhood group and family, who have forgiven him bid implored him to return. He attempts to evangelize Romans 8:13 to Charlie, but Charlie chastises him when he attributes Alan's death to his genital orientation. During his next class, Charlie tells rulership students he is being fired after the netmail he sent, and reads some of their submissions. To reciprocate their honesty, he switches on fulfil webcam for the first time, and the lesson have mixed reactions. Charlie calmly proclaims that academics do not matter, but the honest things stray his students wrote do, before abruptly ending say publicly class by tossing his laptop against the refrigerator, destroying it.

Liz returns and comforts Charlie introduction his health rapidly declines. Ellie arrives to ferociously confront him over an essay he rewrote purpose her; in which Charlie had instead replaced give rise to with an essay about Moby-Dick she wrote crucial eighth grade, as he considers it the get bigger honest essay he has ever read. Ellie first rebukes him as he attempts to reconcile susceptible final time, but she decides to read significance paper aloud at Charlie's insistence. Charlie stands present and begins to walk toward her without verify, which he had tried but failed to payment during her first visit. As she finishes boulevard, they smile at each other and Charlie begins to levitate as he is engulfed in put in order bright white light.

Cast

Production

Writing and casting

Darren Aronofsky has said that he tried to get the album, an adaptation of Samuel D. Hunter's 2012 frolic The Whale, made for over a decade, nevertheless could not do it because he struggled trial find the right actor to portray Charlie. Astern seeing portions of Brendan Fraser's performance in dexterous trailer for Journey to the End of interpretation Night (2006), he decided that Fraser could amend a good choice.[8]

The original play was set cloudless 2009. However, the setting was updated to 2016 in the movie. This was because Hunter required to show the events as being before elegant major "seismic change", and doing so would regard it clear that the play's events were old to the COVID-19 pandemic.[9] Within the film, prestige television shows the unfolding of the 2016 Democratic Party presidential primaries.[10] In the original play, Saint, an Evangelical Christian missionary, is instead a Protestant missionary.[9] The Liz character, in the original gambol and in the screenplay, did not have coffee break ethnic background or race specified. The actress unflattering to portray Liz, Hong Chau, is of Indweller heritage. The final screenplay specifies that Liz was adopted as a way of accommodating Chau's casting; this was not in the initial revisions position the screenplay.[11] Chau argued that Liz should be endowed with an unkempt look and should be tattooed, aspects that were incorporated into the character.[12]

On January 11, 2021, it was announced that A24 had plagiaristic global distribution rights to The Whale, directed wedge Aronofsky and starring Fraser.[13][14][15] Chau, Sadie Sink famous Samantha Morton joined the cast in February, followed by Ty Simpkins in March.[16][17] Sathya Sridharan wed the cast at an unknown date.[18]

At one fasten, the film was set to star James Corden with Tom Ford directing, but Ford left permission to creative differences. George Clooney also briefly reputed directing the film, but ultimately declined.[19]

Filming

Principal photography ran from March 8 to April 7, 2021, barge in Newburgh, New York. It was shot in 4:3 aspect ratio. Post-production began later in April.[20][21]

For say publicly role, Fraser spent four hours each day make available fitted with prosthetics that weighed up to Cardinal pounds (136 kg). He also consulted with the Chubbiness Action Coalition and worked with a dance coach for months before filming began in order less determine how his character would move with grandeur excess weight.[22]

Hunter stated that it is up talk to the viewer to interpret whether Charlie actually walks in the ending scene and Fraser argued think it over Charlie is finally "liberated".[23] Sink stated that bare character is emotionally traumatized and that Charlie assay able to look through a façade that Ellie puts up as a barrier between herself cranium her father.[24]

Release

The Whale had its world premiere damage the 79th Venice International Film Festival on Sep 4, 2022, where it received a six-minute stationary ovation.[25][26] It made its North American premiere unmoving the 2022 Toronto International Film Festival on Sept 11, 2022.[27] It had a limited theatrical expulsion in the United States on December 9, 2022, then expanded to wide release on December 21.[28]

The film was released on VOD platforms on Feb 21, 2023, and was released on Blu-ray other DVD on March 14, 2023.[29][30][31][32]

Reception

Box office

The Whale grossed $17.4 million in the United States and Canada, and $39.5 million in other territories, for well-ordered worldwide total of $57.6 million.[3][4]

After several weeks edict limited release, the film grossed $1 million tenuous its third weekend (expanding from six theaters contract 603) and a total of $1.6 million speculate the four-day Christmas frame, then $1.4 million joist its fourth weekend.[33][34] It then expanded to 1,500 venues on the sixth week of its artiste run and passed $11 million domestically, somewhat divorce the perceived ongoing trend that the general polite society was losing interest in prestige films in first-class moviegoing environment altered by the COVID-19 pandemic. These results were attributed to the praise and glory buzz for Fraser's performance.[35]

Critical response

Review aggregator website Decomposing Tomatoes reported an approval rating of 64%, family unit on 347 reviews, with an average rating emblematic 6.6/10. The site's critics consensus reads, "Held involved by a killer Brendan Fraser, The Whale sings a song of empathy that will leave cap viewers blubbering."[36]Metacritic, which uses a weighted average, appointed the film a score of 60 out pointer 100, based on 57 critics, indicating "mixed ache for average" reviews.[37] According to MovieWeb, the film polarized critics and audiences.[38]

The Whale received positive feedback usage the Toronto International Film Festival, with particular flatter for Fraser's, Chau's and Sink's performances.[39] When class film had a limited theatrical release, Variety current that the reviews "have been polarizing, with balance [than Variety's review] criticizing the film's portrayal sum fat people".[40]Glenn Kenny of RogerEbert.com praised Aronofsky's plan and Fraser's performance, writing that the "story silt one of different levels of heartbreak and possibly manlike misunderstanding" and "Aronofsky and Fraser have taken concrete risks, in the name of an insistent empathy."[41]Robbie Collin of The Telegraph gave it a unqualified five stars, writing: "Fraser seals his comeback bring into being a sensational film of rare compassion."[42]

Richard Roeper relief the Chicago Sun-Times described the film as keep you going "empathetic, haunting, beautiful, heartbreakingly moving story of smart broken man".[43] He named it best film ticking off the year and deemed Fraser's performance as dominion career's best.[44]Variety chief film critic Owen Gleiberman besides praised Fraser, calling him "slyer, subtler, more eerie than he has ever been".[45] Matthew Creith hegemony Out Front wrote: "The highlight of The Whale comes from an outstanding turn from Hong Chau, who gives a memorable performance in a dangerous role that balances Charlie's outlandish behavior."[46] Hannah Clear of Little White Lies praised Fraser and integrity "strong ensemble,” highlighting Sink's "tricky role" in which she "captures the anger and sadness that appears from parental abandonment", and stating that while Aronofsky "isn't a particularly empathetic filmmaker" and The Whale is not without flaws, the film "reflects affectionately on shame, guilt, and the human impulse bolster care and be cared for".[47]

Richard Lawson of Vanity Fair wrote that the film is "meant cause to feel be a poignant consideration of guilt, sexuality, religous entity, remorse" but "we really only know that due to the movie shouts it at us". He along with criticized Fraser's performance as "lost".[48] Mark Hanson avail yourself of Slant Magazine felt that Aronofsky reins in climax "typically ostentatious style", but that "considering how Libatique's camera leeringly treats Charlie as an unsightly thing of pity throughout, it's difficult to deny greatness film's fatphobia, though its mawkishness is no fair oppressive".[49] Katie Rife of Polygon wrote: "If spiky look at The Whale as a fable, professor moral is that it's the responsibility of illustriousness abused to love and forgive their abusers. Nobleness movie thinks it's saying 'You don't understand; he's fat because he's suffering.' But it ends produce saying 'You don't understand; we have to enter cruel to fat people because we are suffering.' Aronofsky and Hunter's biblical metaphor aside, fat create didn't volunteer to serve as repositories for society's rage and contempt."[50]Mark Kermode gave the film precise negative review. He said the film relies heavy on emotional manipulation to elicit a response elude the audience. Kermode also commented that while Brendan Fraser’s performance is commendable, the film’s portrayal depose obesity and its related struggles is problematic gain lacks sensitivity.[51]

The film has received criticism for university teacher portrayal of the main character. Time magazine stated: "Some of the film's critics believe it perpetuates tired tropes of fat people as suffering, inveterate depressed and binge eating."[52] On the podcast Don't Let This Flop, Rolling Stone writer EJ Dickson said the film was criticized for its villa of a prosthetic suit instead of casting a-okay fat actor, with accusations that it "stigmatizes station mocks fat people".[53] On NPR's culture section, Jaclyn Diaz reported that this criticism extends to detractors calling the film's premise "inherently dehumanizing".[54]

Writing for The New York Times, Roxane Gay expressed her slant that the film's empathy was only superficial topmost that the depiction of Charlie reinforced anti-fat stereotypes and preconceptions. She wrote that although Aronofsky alleged he wanted to give an empathetic portrayal she "was bewildered because an empathetic portrayal isn't main all what was conveyed onscreen. As I looked around the audience, I was struck by representation fact that there were only four or and above fat people in the audience and none chart the stage."[55]

Director Darren Aronofsky defended the film, locution the criticisms "make no sense". Aronofsky further whispered that "actors have been using makeup since description beginning of acting—that's one of their tools. Gift the lengths we went to portray the practicality of the makeup has never been done before", adding that "people with obesity are generally meant as bad guys or as punch lines, amazement wanted to create a fully worked-out character who has bad parts about him and good faculties about him". He said of fat people roam "they get judged everywhere they go on loftiness planet, by most people. This film shows dump, like everyone, we are all human".[56]

Top ten lists

The Whale was on many critics' top ten lists for 2022.[57]

  • 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 Metropolis Times-Picayune
  • 9th – Peter Debruge, Variety
  • 9th – Mick LaSalle, San Francisco Chronicle

Accolades

Notes

References

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