The Whale (2022)
83%RT Audience Score: 91%
Awards & Nominations: NA
Held together by a killer Brendan Fraser, The Whale sings a song of empathy that will leave most viewers blubbering.
“The Whale” is a movie that is held together by an outstanding performance from Brendan Fraser. It tells a moving story of empathy that is sure to bring tears to the eyes of most viewers.
Production Company(ies)
LGBTQ Stories, Protozoa Pictures, Psychological
Distributor
A24
Release Type
Theatrical, Theatrical (Limited)
Filming Location(s)
Newburgh, New York, United States; New York, New York, United States
MPAA / Certificate
R
Year of Release
2022
-
Color:Color
-
Sound mix:Dolby Digital, Dolby
-
Aspect ratio:1.33 : 11.85 : 1
-
Runtime:1h 57m
-
Language(s):English
-
Country of origin:United States
-
Release date:Release Date (Theaters): Dec 21, 2022 Wide
Genre(s)
Drama
Keyword(s)
The Whale, Brendan Fraser, Sadie Sink, Hong Chau, Ty Simpkins, Samantha Morton, directed by Darren Aronofsky, written by Samuel D Hunter, drama, R rating, box office performance, $2.6M gross USA, A24, Dolby Digital, reviewed by Richard Roeper, Chris Hewitt, Barry Hertz, Odie Henderson, Adam Graham, Ann Hornaday, Chris Feil, Patrick McDonald, Linda Cook, Randall King, Leo Brady, Golden Globe nominations, empathy, obesity, estranged daughter, redemption
Worldwide gross: $48,798,270
Worldwide gross (inflation-adjusted): $34,782,788
Worldwide gross ranking (inflation-adjusted): 1,494
Worldwide tickets sold (est.): 3,793,107
US/Canada gross: $17,233,837
US/Canada gross (inflation-adjusted): $18,089,389
US/Canada gross ranking (inflation-adjusted): 1,439
US/Canada opening weekend: $332,152
US/Canada opening weekend (inflation-adjusted): $355,623
US/Canada opening weekend ranking (inflation-adjusted): 1,486
Budget and Earnings Details
Production budget (est.): NA
Production budget (inflation-adjusted): NA
Production budget ranking: NA
Marketing and distribution budget (inflation-adjusted est.): NA
Box office net earnings to date (inflation-adjusted est.): NA
ROI to date (est.): NA
ROI ranking: NA
Sadie Sink – Ellie
Hong Chau – Mary
Ty Simpkins – Thomas
Samantha Morton – Liz
Darren Aronofsky – Director
Director(s)
Darren Aronofsky
Writer(s)
Samuel D. Hunter
Producer(s)
NA
Film Festivals
Venice, Toronto
Awards & Nominations
NA
Academy Awards
Oscar Nominees
All Critics (246) | Top Critics (60) | Fresh (161) | Rotten (85)
Fraser delivers the best work of his career.
December 23, 2022 | Rating: 4/4
Richard Roeper
Chicago Sun-Times
TOP CRITIC
Fraser’s choices are so subtly intelligent that we barely notice what amounts to his costume, so attuned are we to the way his Charlie teeters on the brink of life and death.
December 23, 2022 | Rating: 2.5/4
Chris Hewitt
Minneapolis Star Tribune
TOP CRITIC
The Whale is not a cruel spectacle – it is just a dull, repetitive one.
December 21, 2022
Barry Hertz
Globe and Mail
TOP CRITIC
Aronofsky has proven he can direct, so what to make of the fact that this film is so hateful and vile?
December 21, 2022 | Rating: 0.5/4
Odie Henderson
Boston Globe
TOP CRITIC
The Whale is messy and compromised, but finds its honesty in the emotional core of its lead performance. See it for Fraser, try and drown out the rest.
December 20, 2022 | Rating: B-
Adam Graham
Detroit News
TOP CRITIC
A murky-looking, claustrophobic exercise in emotionalism at its most trite and ostentatiously maudlin.
December 20, 2022 | Rating: 1.5/4
Ann Hornaday
Washington Post
TOP CRITIC
Rather than creating authentic empathy from the audience, the film is more interested in making a spectacle of Charlie’s suffering and his body.
December 30, 2022
Chris Feil
The Daily Beast
The story has obvious stage play roots with the requisite ‘playing to the back row,’ but the praise of Fraser’s performance is legit. He provides Charlie with a sweet darkness in both the inherent positive nature of his soul and the harsh slow suicide.
December 30, 2022 | Rating: 3.5/5
Patrick McDonald
WBGR-FM (93.7 FM – Monroe, WI)
Brendan Fraser’s extraordinary performance will break you heart.
December 30, 2022 | Rating: 3.5 stars
Linda Cook
OurQuadCities / WHBF-TV (Illinois)
Director Darren Aronofsky has demonstrated a penchant for grandiose metaphysical statements in past films, such as The Fountain, Black Swan and Mother!, but he is back down to earth in his new film, The Whale.
December 30, 2022 | Rating: 4/5
Randall King
Winnipeg Free Press
The Whale is a mammoth undertaking, lacking in subtlety, and compassion, that leaves the viewer gasping for air on the beach.
December 30, 2022 | Rating: 1.5/4
Leo Brady
AMovieGuy.com
Though all movies are subjective experiences, I would argue that Aronofsky is way too much of a provocateur to commit fully to the kind of sensitivity and empathy this material surely needed to circumvent its parade of immobile trauma.
December 29, 2022 | Rating: C-
Nathaniel Rogers
The Film Experience…
Plot
Charlie, a 600-pound reclusive English teacher, attempts to reconnect with his 17-year-old daughter. The two became estranged after Charlie abandoned his family for his gay lover, who later died. Charlie then turned to compulsive eating out of grief. Based on the play by Samuel D. Hunter.
Trivia
Goofs / Tidbits
Fresh Kernels does not have any Goofs listed for the film The Whale (2022).
Darren-Aronofsky.jpg
