Brendan Fraser gives a career-defining performance in Academy Award-nominated director Darren Aronofsky’s (Black Swan) arrestingly intimate drama about a reclusive English professor struggling with personal relationships and self-acceptance, adapted from the stage play by Samuel D. Hunter.
Writing instructor Charlie (Fraser) never seems to have his webcam enabled while teaching online. He makes excuses and is so good-natured that no one makes a fuss, but the real reason for his invisibility is his appearance. Charlie weighs 600 pounds. His obesity starts to pose a grave threat to his health and his friend Liz (Hong Chau; The Menu, Driveways), a nurse, begs him to check into a hospital, but also recognizes that it might be more important to simply offer support.
Charlie’s current status quo is upended by the return of his long-estranged adolescent daughter, Ellie (Sadie Sink; Stranger Things), though her willingness to resume a relationship seems prompted as much by Charlie’s offers to ghostwrite her school essays as it is by her sense of familial loyalty. Meanwhile, Charlie receives visits from a door-to-door evangelist (Ty Simpkins) who engages him in a dialogue about redemption that, despite Charlie’s lack of religious inclination, proves surprisingly resonant. Can any of these folks, regardless of their personal agendas, serve as the lifeline to self-acceptance that Charlie so urgently needs?
The film’s six-minute standing ovation at its Venice International Film Festival World Premiere was a fitting recognition of the incredible performances from the stellar cast and Fraser, in particular, whose sincere portrayal is astonishing.
Official Selection – 79th Venice International Film Festival
Official Selection – 2022 Toronto International Film Festival
3 x 2023 Academy Award® Nominee
BEST LEADING ACTOR – Brendan Fraser
BEST SUPPORTING ACTRESS – Hong Chau
BEST MAKEUP & HAIRSTYLING
2023 Golden Globe® Nominee
BEST ACTOR, DRAMA – Brendan Fraser
2023 Critics Choice® WINNER
BEST ACTOR – Brendan Fraser
2 x 2023 Screen Actors Guild Award® Nominee
BEST SUPPORTING ACTRESS – Hong Chau
BEST LEAD ACTOR – Brendan Fraser
"The Whale isn't just a great film -- it's an important one, too."
- IGN
"Darren Aronofsky's testament to empathy and redemption shatters you, before putting you back together. Brendan Fraser gives the performance of a lifetime."
- AWARDS RADAR
"Fraser's performance is one for the ages."
- SAN JOSE MERCURY NEWS
"An incredible performance by Brendan Fraser."
- FILM INQUIRY
Thursday 2nd February
117 min
M
Hong Chau, Brendan Fraser, Samantha Morton, Ty Simpkins, Sadie Sink
Darren Aronofsky
Comedy
Pentridge Cinema, Palace Balwyn, Palace Cinema Como, Palace Brighton Bay, Palace Dendy Brighton, The Kino, Palace Westgarth, Palace Norton Street, Palace Central, Palace Verona, Palace Byron Bay, Palace James St, Palace Barracks, Palace Electric Cinema, Palace Raine Square
