The Whale review: "Brendan Fraser on career-best form"

Brendan Fraser in The Whale
(Image: © A24)

GamesRadar+ Verdict

A career-best Brendan Fraser will elicit tears and discussion... and he’ll likely be going home with gold come awards season.

Why you can trust GamesRadar+ Our experts review games, movies and tech over countless hours, so you can choose the best for you. Find out more about our reviews policy.

The nailed-on awards-bothering performance to beat has arrived in the shape of Brendan Fraser’s living-with-obesity shut-in, who’s seeking forgiveness from his daughter, and himself, in Darren Aronofsky’s button-pushing adaptation of Samuel D. Hunter’s hit play, The Whale. Buried in a 600lb body-adjustment suit with wispy hair, clammy skin, and the sadness of a condemned animal in his eyes, Fraser’s Charlie is a man whose addictive emotional eating has brought him to the edge of death in his cramped Idaho apartment. 

Imprisoned by his own shame and lack of mobility, he spends his days teaching online students literature (with the camera switched off), wanking miserably over gay porn and over-apologizing to everyone, from the missionary (Ty Simpkins) who arrives on his doorstep in the middle of a collapse to his chippy/caring nurse friend Liz (Hong Chau), estranged teen daughter Ellie (Sadie Sink) and his ex-wife Mary (Samantha Morton).

Charlie’s blood pressure has climbed to a critical 238/134 and, eschewing medical intervention apart from the comfort Liz offers, he knows that his days are numbered. “He won’t be here next week,” plain-speaking Liz tells visitors as Charlie’s vital organs start to fail. The body he’s created from pain, compulsion, and as a literal buffer to society seems to be finally ushering him out of the cruel world he inhabits. But even as his physical existence fades, Charlie’s soul still burns bright. An unshakeable optimist, he puts his trust in the belief that “people are amazing” and “incapable of not caring”. 

Not caring is certainly a challenge for viewers when watching Fraser bring such emotional clout and heat-seeking hope to Charlie, a man who asks for truth from his students, sees the best in his spiky daughter and chooses compassion in a misanthropic world. 

Fraser’s casting may prompt questions about whether an actor who understood Charlie’s struggle from a daily point of view might have offered a more truthful rendering of the character. But with his expressive eyes and ponderous cadence – and his own personal journey – this feels like a role he’s been waiting for his whole career. 

Equally, food addiction is simplified, while Charlie’s innate goodness could be viewed as cinematic salve to make obesity more palatable to a society that still doesn’t recognize eating disorders as a disease as insidious as drug dependency or alcoholism. Additionally, the staginess of the original material is still evident, while the manipulative score acts as an unsophisticated emotional primer.

But, quibbles and conversation starters aside, The Whale is Aronofsky's kindest work to date, a film that asks its audience to practice acceptance, understanding, empathy, and forgiveness. It unpicks wounds relating to parental abandonment, self-destruction, loneliness, marriage breakdown, and sexual orientation as well as the triggers and tribulations of self-medicating with food. In that, it’s a film that takes the specific and makes it universal. And in the wake of recent global events, it’s likely to prompt catharsis and blubbing for audiences.

It’s not just Fraser who will be buoyed by this project either. Stranger Things’ Sink is luminous and ambiguous as a hurt brat (is she acting out of spite or acting up?) while Hong Chau is emotionally devastating as a woman inescapably complicit in her friend’s decline while also trying to help; she’s both feeder and physician. She also has most of the best zingers in a screenplay (written by Hunter himself) that walks a fine line between amusing and emotive. It’s also one that chooses to turn towards the light (in every way), rather than descend into the darkness.


The Whale reaches US theaters on December 9, but does not yet have a UK release date. For more, check out the most exciting upcoming movies heading your way soon.

More info

GenreDrama
More
Contributing Editor, Total Film

Jane Crowther is a contributing editor to Total Film magazine, having formerly been the longtime Editor, as well as serving as the Editor-in-Chief of the Film Group here at Future Plc, which covers Total Film, SFX, and numerous TV and women's interest brands. Jane is also the vice-chair of The Critics' Circle and a BAFTA member. You'll find Jane on GamesRadar+ exploring the biggest movies in the world and living up to her reputation as one of the most authoritative voices on film in the industry. 

Read more
Robert Pattinson as Mickey in Mickey 17
Mickey 17 Review: "Bong Joon Ho's best English movie to date and arguably Robert Pattinson's best movie ever"
Adrien Brody in The Brutalist
Adrien Brody and the cast and director of The Brutalist on their Oscar-nominated movie: "To make great cinema, you have to be vulnerable"
Wolf Man review: Christopher Abbott as Blake Lovell
Wolf Man Review: "A frightening and heartrending new horror take on an enduring monster"
I'm Still Here
Oscars Best Picture nominee I'm Still Here tells a powerful, hidden story of Brazil's past – and it's been championed by everyone from Guillermo del Toro to Alfonso Cuarón
Christopher Abbott in Bring Them Down
Poor Things' Christopher Abbott on his new thriller with Barry Keoghan that's "like a mafia movie with sheep"
Calliana Liang as Chloe in Steven Soderbergh's new horror-drama Presence
New haunted house horror Presence is unlike anything you've seen before – and cements Steven Soderbergh as one of our most interesting filmmakers
Latest in Drama Movies
Claire Danes as Juliet and Miriam Margolyes as Nurse in the movie Romeo + Juliet.
The 33 greatest movies based on Shakespeare
Bloodsport
The 32 greatest '80s action movies
Cosmo Jarvis
Christopher Nolan's The Odyssey adds Shogun star to its massively star-studded cast, and I'm getting Oppenheimer vibes all over again
Adrien Brody in The Brutalist
This year's Best Actor Oscars speech broke a record that was over 80 years old
Adrien Brody as László Tóth in The Brutalist
Oscars 2025 live coverage: All the winners, red carpet, and the 97th Academy Awards' biggest moments – as it happens
The Last Showgirl
Beneath the glitz and glam of The Last Showgirl is a heartbreaking story about what mothers give up
Latest in Reviews
Lenovo Legion Go S with FlyKnight gameplay on screen featuring player character holding bow and arrow with enemy ant in backdrop.
Lenovo Legion Go S Windows 11 review: “my heart aches for this mixed up handheld”
Talisman 5th Edition game components
Talisman 5th Edition review: "The characterful imperfections of the original game remain clear to see "
WWE 2K25
WWE 2K25 review: "A colossal package even if you never go anywhere near Virtual Currency"
Altered: Trial by Frost booster box and packs on a playmat
Altered: Trial by Frost review - "Satisfying enough to offer highly varied gameplay"
Three SteelSeries QcK Performance mouse pads on a wooden desk
I didn't expect to prefer a coarser mouse pad, but SteelSeries' new QcK Performance range has changed my mind
Boro and Alta sit on a bench together in Wanderstop
Wanderstop review: "Exalting the transformative power of tea"