Criticlysm Reviews

THE WHALE (2022)

By Matthew Roe

So, I saw Darren Aronofsky's new film, The Whale, and I have many thoughts and feelings. But, we'll whittle down the biggest points for the sake of brevity.

First (of course) Brendan Fraser gives the finest performance of his career as Charlie, without any shred of doubt. If anything will convince you to see this admittedly stressful and highly anxious experience, his performance is it. Having said that, the rest of the cast put in solid work as well — most especially Hong Chau as Liz. No doubt that Sadie Sink pulled off an effective Ellie, but her performance (and maybe how the character is actually written) is a bit too one-note at times. A lot of anger, and a lot of underlying anxiety, but she stops just shy of the full-on punch the character could have delivered. There were opportunities to explore her better — as well as Ty Simpkins' Thomas — that sort of slipped through the cracks. Samantha Morton is always great, so no real notes there. If anything, I wish she was in the film a scene or two more, but that's from a place of gluttony more than anything else.

The decision to present the film in 4:3 is an interesting choice, and I feel it works to augment the experience for most of the runtime. It increases an overall sense of impending tragedy while buttressing the combative dynamics between the characters. The walls are closing in, and the clock is ticking in so many more ways than one. Cinematographer Matthew Libatique continues his excellent career-long collaboration with Aronofsky, though this outing is considerably more straight-forward than all of their previous works - not really a criticism, just an observation. I felt they could have pushed the visual style a whole lot more, allowing for more effective immersion in the story, but that might just be coming from my unceasing hunger for all things Libatique (he's in my top five favorite DoPs).

“...an overall sense of impending tragedy...”

Andrew Weisblum's editing doubles down on the presentation and pacing that hallmarks The Wrestler — his first editorial collab with Aronofsky, besides special effects editing on The Fountain — and he maintains the film's complicated continuity regardless of how chaotic any scene might be. It proves again how complex an artist he is, and why filmmakers like Aronofsky and Wes Anderson keep coming back to him to cut their films. Though there is such a reliance on naturalism, when the film decides to veer into more stylized territory, the two elements don’t really find a way to effectively merge. So, that dissonance unfortunately undoes some of the narrative tension at the exact moment where the film really cannot afford it.

The screenplay by Samuel D. Hunter, based on his 2012 play of the same name, is pretty sharp and tragic throughout. Though, I wasn't able to shake the constant feeling that this movie was definitely adapted from a play. From the blocking to the dialogue - everyone manages to say everything that needs to be said exactly when they need to say it, as opposed to letting internalized emotional resonance carry the more poignant parts - the movie felt more like a deliberately staged performance more than any previous Aronofsky film. There are times where this actually is a benefit, mostly during Fraser's most devastating moments. I also feel that the screenplay is conversely far more nuanced and complex than a lot of other critics have given the film credit. The film isn't just about Charlie, nor is it just about the obvious connection between his obese character and the titular animal. This film involves every "whale" that each of the characters are forced to contend with, whether by their own making or not. I can't say much without spoiling major elements, but overall it is an intensely nuanced approach to an extremely complicated social atmosphere. It could have been considerably more naturalistic, to better compliment Libatique's visuals, but it is mostly effective.

“...involves every ‘whale’ that each of the characters are forced to contend with, whether by their own making or not.”

But when we get to Rob Simonsen's music, I can start to understand why people have walked away feeling like the empathetic core of the film is superficial. Though, I do not agree overall with that assessment, the overuse of the musical score does press the story a bit more into that territory than the filmmakers probably had intended. The music isn't "bad" or "hokey," it's actually fairly well-composed and its peak moments are genuinely heart-wrenching. There's just way too damn much of it. So much of the movie's runtime is scored by traditionally melodramatic tunes that the score's lingering presence cheapens the moments where the drama is palpable enough on its own. It's a really strange turn for Aronofsky, especially since his last film - 2017's mother! - had no music whatsoever, and that he's proven to have a pretty firm grasp on the mix between traditional score and diegetic sound carrying scenes going all the way back to Pi. If there were more moments in The Whale which allowed just the performances and the ambience to tell the story, the end result might have been different for some audiences.

Overall I am a fan of how Aronofsky approached the material. I haven't read or seen a performance of the original stage play, but the presented story oozes with unbridled empathy for its characters — especially the hard-to-like-or-maybe-even-tolerate ones. Just as nearly every Aronofsky film, The Whale focuses on a mess of characters handling teetering towers built of guilt, shame, trauma, fear, and hope. This is also coupled by an unrelenting pursuit for redemption, while understanding that redemption is hardly ever guaranteed, let alone even possible. It is a film about loss, the failure of singular-support structures, and what we want for others versus what they actually need.

While it is easy to take the overt themes and moments of thinly-veiled soapboxing at its face value, that would be doing the complex narrative, clever subtext, and powerfully nuanced characters a great disservice. I understand I have an outsider's opinion when it comes to the world of morbid obesity, with my own experiences with body dysmorphia being negligible when interpreting and appreciating The Whale. While I recognize this, it is hard for me to see this film as being inherently fatphobic or superficially empathetic towards those who are morbidly obese. The movie is considerably more expansive and understated than this conclusion allows.

The Whale is a highly controversial experience, and it needs to be — there isn't a solitary subject addressed in this movie that isn't (in some way) a hotly-debated social circumstance.

★★★★ / ☆☆☆☆☆