The Whale
The Whale
7.664%91%
A reclusive, morbidly obese English teacher attempts to reconnect with his estranged teenage daughter.
Kevin Ward reviewedJuly 4, 2025
Was not expecting to be moved the way that I was while watching this. Even halfway through it’s runtime, I still wasn’t. I kept getting pulled out by Sadie Sink’s rather over-the-top misanthropic teen angst. I did think some moment depicting Charlie’s morbid obesity were a bit overdone, particularly the binge scene. I say all that to get my only negatives of the film out of the way, though. Fraser gives a wonderful performance and was perfectly cast. It absolutely requires a certain amount of physicality, but his kind eyes portray an optimism and kindness that shines through the tremendous prosthetic. Hong Chau and Samantha Morton are both excellent in support. While I didn’t like Sink’s performance for most of the film, in the final moments Aronofsky pulled the string and all of the elements (Fraser, Sink, Chau, score, etc) came together for a beautiful catharsis.