Upcoming A24 drama The Whale marks Darren Aronofsky's first directorial effort since Mother! in 2017. It also signals the beginning of actor Brendan Fraser's career resurgence, lovingly dubbed The Brenaissance by fans. Written by Samuel D. Hunter, and based on his play of the same name, the movie paints a sensitive portrait of a reclusive English teacher who struggles with severe obesity and a strained relationship with his teenage daughter.
Set to premiere later this year, it will join the ranks of similarly heartfelt emotional A24 dramas, such as The Farewell and Minari. With great performances to look forward to, here is everything we know about The Whale so far.
The Plot
There is no trailer for The Whale yet, but fortunately, Hunter's play provides all the information there is to know about the film's story. The critically acclaimed play debuted off-Broadway in 2012 and went on to win several awards, including a Lucille Lortel Award for Best Play and GLAAD Media Award for Outstanding New York Theater. The obese man referred to in the movie's synopsis is Charlie, who weighs 600 pounds and works as an online writing teacher. Charlie is described as self-loathing and self-deprecating, with his weight being the result of the guilt he felt after abandoning his family for his gay lover, who later died.
Other characters in the play include his estranged teenage daughter, Ellie; his ex-wife, Mary; his longtime nurse friend, Liz; and a young Mormon missionary named Elder Thomas. The play sees Charlie attempting to rebuild his relationship with Ellie for one last chance at redemption. A Chicago Tribune review of The Whale describes it as "devastating" but also "very funny," exploring themes of parenting, teaching, religion, and body image, as well as "the price paid by gay couples born in the wrong state or just a few years too soon."
The Cast
Brendan Fraser, in prosthetics, will lead The Whale as Charlie. The actor has starred in many hit movies over his decades-long career, and is best known for his roles in George of the Jungle and The Mummy trilogy. Fraser was a popular figure in Hollywood, mostly appearing in high-profile action-adventure movies, and then for some years, he disappeared. Trouble in his personal life led him to take a hiatus from acting, but now he's back and better than ever, with new projects in the works, including starring in Martin Scorsese's Killers of the Flower Moon and Max Barbakow's Brothers.
Actress Sadie Sink will play Ellie, Fraser's daughter in the movie. Sink had her breakthrough with Netflix's Stranger Things, and has also starred in the biographical drama The Glass Castle and the second installment of the horror trilogy Fear Street. Joining them in The Whale is Samantha Morton (Minority Report, The Walking Dead) as Mary, Hong Chau (Downsizing, Watchmen) as Liz, Ty Simpkins (Insidious, Avengers: Endgame) as Elder Thomas, and Sathya Sridharan (Bikini Moon, Minor Premise) in an unspecified role.
The Crew
Darren Aronofsky is known for directing enigmatic and often disturbing movies that usually fall under the psychological subgenre. His notable works include Requiem for a Dream, Black Swan, and, more recently, Mother! Released in 2000, Requiem for a Dream is a psychological drama starring Ellen Burstyn, Jared Leto, Jennifer Connelly and Marlon Wayans as four people struggling with drug addiction. The movie is critically acclaimed, with Ellen Burstyn winning an Academy Award for Best Actress.
10 years later, Black Swan was also met with critical acclaim; a psychological thriller starring Natalie Portman and Mila Kunis as ballet dancers in a deadly rivalry, it received 5 Academy Award nominations and 4 Golden Globe nominations, with Portman winning Best Actress at both award shows. Aronofsky's latest movie, Mother! received mixed reviews due to its controversial depiction of violence and biblical allegories, but follows suit as a psychological horror about a young woman (Jennifer Lawrence) whose tranquil existence is disturbed when her poet husband (Javier Bardem) invites strangers into their countryside home.
Author Samuel D. Hunter has written several other plays, including the Obie Award-winning A Bright New Boise and the recent A Case for the Existence of God. He also wrote and produced episodes of the comedy-drama series Baskets, starring Louie Anderson and Zach Galifianakis. Longtime collaborator of Aronofksy, Matthew Libatique (A Star is Born, Don't Worry Darling), will provide the cinematography for The Whale, with Rob Simonsen (500 Days of Summer, Ghostbusters: Afterlife) providing the score. Aronofsky's production company, Protozoa Pictures, will produce the movie and A24 will distribute.
Release Date
The Whale will premiere at the 79th Venice International Film Festival in September 2022 and has no theatrical release date yet. At the festival, the movie will screen alongside Andrew Dominik's Blonde, Olivia Wilde's Don't Worry Darling, and Ti West's Pearl, which is also an A24 release.