The Whale (2022) directed by Darren Aronofsky. An adapted stage play, the “stage” is felt in the cinematography and choreography of the scenes. There is a claustrophobia that builds in the apartment of the morbidly obese and dying Charlie. And this apartment/stage is filled with broken people. Broken. People. Are they good? Are they evil? Or, are they simply broken? It’s a difficult film to inhabit at times, just as many of the characters find their lives difficult to inhabit. Notions of faith, freedom, health, relationship (family and friends), are grasped at and then slip away again. Herman Melville and Walt Whitman make “cameos” here and there. I thoroughly enjoyed this. The cast is stellar. The story may be honest, but brutally honest. I suppose there is redemption of a sort. Highly recommended.
After the wildness of Aronofsky’s Mother! (2017) this is a welcome return to a more grounded film.
Streaming on Netflix.
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