[Review] The Whale (9/10)

 

Title - The Whale
Production - A24, Protozoa Pictures
Starring - Brendan Fraser, Sadie Sink, Hong Chau, Ty Simpkins, Samantha Morton
Writer - Samuel D. Hunter
Director - Darren Aronofsky
Release - 21 December 2022

Brendan Fraser's return and it's a brilliant performance. A mostly gentle one but when he burst out, it was overwhelmingly moving. 

His belief in her daughter was just achingly beautiful, even though she didn't deserve it. Or perhaps because of how much she didn't deserve it, he became even more wonderful. And to the end, that belief also made the whole outing such a sad story right until the end. 

Hong Chau deserved a spot in this year's nomination. Her performance, like Fraser, powerful and gentle as needed. And she exceled in all of them. 

There's something about Fraser's character that exuded warmth, but at the same time, because of his size, you can't help but feel pity; especially when he went into his destructive mode. That's why the relationship with Chau's character, I think, was the best onscreen relationship of the year. 

That ending as Sadie Sink's character opened the front door, I believe Darren Aronofsky left that sequence open for interpretation. Either we see what we saw, or she never stayed. Either way, it's emotionally charged and sad.

But to have witnessed Fraser's performance here was a privilege.