The Whale
critic Reviews
, 66% Fresh Tomatometer Score- Held together by a killer Brendan Fraser, The Whale sings a song of empathy that will leave most viewers blubbering.
- , Fresh Tomatometer ScoreDeborah RossThe Spectator
Ultimately, it alludes to things without adding up to much of anything. Still, the performances are all excellent, and Fraser is especially compelling, bringing a sincerity to Charlie, and an openness and gentleness.
Read full article - , Rotten Tomatometer ScoreDanny LeighFinancial Times
The film needs empathy for Charlie to have a genuine reason for being. But Aronofsky sees his characters the way certain children look at spiders. Which leg first?
Read full article - , Rotten Tomatometer ScoreDonald ClarkeIrish Times
Deals in the worst, most jaded conventions of bourgeois middlebrow dinner theatre from the 1950s ... Not even someone so warm as Fraser can win us over to the most jaw-droppingly daft final shot in recent cinema.
Read full article - , Fresh Tomatometer ScoreSophie ButcherEmpire Magazine
The Whale is best appreciated as a moving, stripped-back character study, with a stunning lead performance.
Read full article - , Rotten Tomatometer ScoreDavid SextonNew Statesman
Brendan Fraser, cherished for his earlier roles as an endearing naïve, performs miracles in making Charlie likeable... Enduring such an awful play is a high price to pay to see some acting, though.
Read full article - , Fresh Tomatometer Scorett stern-enziWXIX-TV (Cincinnati, OH)
It's an amazing film.
Read full article - , Fresh Tomatometer ScoreJames LuxfordCity AM
If ever a performance saved a movie, it’s Brendan Fraser in The Whale. The voyeuristic elements of the film are outshone by the humanity that radiates from its star and supporting cast, making for a flawed film that nonetheless pulls at the heartstrings.
Read full article - , Fresh Tomatometer ScoreJim Schembrijimschembri.com
The Whale tackles a clutch of tough topics – obesity; isolation; body shaming; betrayal; forgiveness – with sensitivity and a raw honesty that can sometimes be hard to take...a pungent performance-based arthouse film made for adults.
Read full article - , Fresh Tomatometer ScoreAndiee PaviourNobody's Reading This But Me
Brendan Fraser stretches every limit in director Darren Aronofsky’s painful exploration of physical entrapment.
Read full article - , Rotten Tomatometer ScoreChris WasserSunday Independent (Ireland)
A drippy, big-screen soap opera.
Read full article