My Review of "The Whale"

The Whale is a drama that came out in 2022. It's a very interesting movie that slowly reveals itself like an onion. Layer by layer it reveals how everything connects to one another. It's a tough movie to watch simply because it is quite an honest feeling depiction of what real characters would react.

It all starts out with a lecture from our main character Charlie. He's lecturing a group of students online. Everyone's camera is on but his is mysteriously shut off. In this first scene you can tell Charlie has a passion for writing and wants to engage with the kids but he's hiding something. Pretty soon we realize why his camera was off all this time.

He's an incredibly obese man and is just clinging onto life. It's obvious he doesn't have much confidence in himself but yet there's still some weird glimmer of hope in his eyes. We'll see as this movie progresses that he continues to have some ounce of optimism throughout this movie.

All seems to be lost when he seems to be having some sort of heart attack. Luckily there is a random missionary by the name of Thomas at the door. Thomas sees Charlie at his lowest moment. With that he believes he's been sent by god to help Charlie. Despite all his hardships Charlie still refuses help. He doesn't want to go to the hospital because of the heavy costs of medicine.

Fortunately for Charlie he has a friend by the name of Liz that comes over everyday to help him out. She's very concerned for Charlie and with this latest heart incident is worried that Charlie won't last through the week. This catalyzes the start of Charlie's road to redemption.

Charlie realizes this might be the last moments of his life so he wants to see his daughter Ellie for the last time. He's been estranged from from her for years and their relationship has rotted over time. So when Ellie comes back into his life it's no wonder she's pretty apprehensive in rehabilitating their relationship. As a viewer we come to realize why she is the way that she is as the onion layers get peeled away.

Moreover this is a story about how everyone has good in them but do them out of selfish reasons. It also makes us aware of the fact that we're all attached to one another. Each of our actions has a butterfly effect reaction to everyone around us. All of the characters in this movie are inherently connected to each other and you can see how one minor change can change the course of the movie.

I mentioned earlier that this movie felt honest and that's not because this is a theme that the movie continually talks about. Each of the characters have very realistic type of reactions to each other. They all have their own personal agendas that have put them into the positions that they are in. Many of the situations you see here could have been based off real life situations.

That's why it's kind of a really tough watch. The awkward and tense moments feel quite genuine and grounded. Not everyone will get into these types of dramas. It's good that Charlie continued to have his element of hope inside him because that helped me as a viewer watch this movie. This is quite a bleak movie and they don't really sugar coat anything.

Overall, I had some enjoyment with this movie but it is a very tough movie to go through. It's something that I'm glad I watched through but I don't think I would put myself through again. That's why I have to give this movie a 6.5 out of 10. It is a very well crafted movie and the acting is top notch. Entertainment wise this just wasn't up my alley.