The Whale

‘The Whale’ is a gripping drama featuring a phenomenal comeback from actor Brendan Fraser (‘The Mummy’ trilogy, ‘Crash’) as a father trying to reconnect with his estranged teenage daughter, played by rising star Sadie Sink (‘Stranger Things’)… Oscar-nominated director Darren Aronofsky (‘Black Swan’, ‘Requiem for a Dream’) paints a moving portrait of a man who wants to redefine his life. Charlie (Fraser) lives in seclusion and teaches English online. He is seriously overweight and seems to have lost everything. Still, full of hope, Charlie tries to reconnect with his 17-year-old daughter Ellie (Sink). But she blames him for abandoning his family. We slowly discover how Charlie became the man we see, and how he still hopes to be a father to Ellie. ‘The Whale’ is both heartwarming and heartbreaking. Aronofsky and Fraser move you to tears…

‘Brendan Fraser gives the performance of a lifetime in a housebound family drama with a big heart… Aronofsky is not a director who makes easy films. Whether drug addiction (“Requiem for a Dream”), terminal illness (“The Fountain”) or obsessive self-harm (“The Wrestler,” “Black Swan”), he tackles difficult subjects head on, presenting profound challenges to his audience… And he does it brilliantly… This engrossing chamber piece really belongs to [Fraser]. It is, by far, his most impressive performance, both in terms of meeting its gruelling physical demands and in terms of embodying a complete human being, from sweat-drenched surface to shining soul.’—Dan Jolin, Time Out