The Whale | Film Review

This year's Oscar nominees are a bit hazy now, but this was the one out of them all that I most wanted to see, so I'm really glad it came out on Prime Video.

A reclusive, morbidly obese English teacher (Brendan Fraser) tries to reconnect with his daughter (Sadie Sink).

I don't know how I feel about this film yet. I definitely found it interesting, and enjoyed some of the ways it explored certain themes, but I don't think it was as impactful as it could have been.

For a start, the exploration of the relationship between Charlie (Fraser) and Ellie (Sink) was really interesting to watch, but while this was set up to be the heart of the film, I didn't feel this until the end. I actually felt that the heart of the film was Charlie's relationship with his friend Liz (Hong Chau).

The cast was amazing, and it is clear why Brendan Fraser won an Oscar for his role.

The film touches on themes of loneliness, grief, family, abandonment, religion and so much more, but it never really goes as deeply into them as it could have. 

I had a hard time with the writing of some of the characters. For example, while I loved Charlie and Liz, Ellie and Thomas (Ty Simpkins) were characters that I didn't really understand. Thomas in particularly didn't feel entirely necessary to the story. One conversation in particular between Thomas and Liz would have been a lot more impactful if it had been a conversation between Liz and Ellie.

I loved that the film took place in one location, and the way that location was set up and lit. It almost makes the audience feel as claustrophobic and trapped as Charlie might have been feeling.

The ending was the best and most powerful thing about the film, but it still wasn't as impactful as I wanted it to be.

Overall, this is definitely worth a watch, but it wasn't as good as it could have been.

6.5/10