THE WHALE
Darren Aronofsky | 2022 | USA | 1h57m | Presented in the original English audio with English subtitles
THE WHALE is built almost entirely around one room and one extraordinary performance. Brendan Fraser plays Charlie, a reclusive English teacher living with severe obesity who is trying to reconnect with his estranged teenage daughter before his health deteriorates beyond repair.
Adapted by Samuel D. Hunter from his own stage play, the film keeps its theatrical origins visible. Characters arrive and leave Charlie’s apartment while years of resentment, guilt, affection and disappointment gradually accumulate. Darren Aronofsky resists opening the story out into something larger. The confinement is deliberate, keeping the audience close to Charlie and forcing every relationship to play out at uncomfortable proximity.
Fraser’s performance transformed the film into one of the major acting stories of 2022. After years away from leading roles, he won the Academy Award for Best Actor, while Hong Chau received a Supporting Actress nomination for her performance as Charlie’s closest friend and caregiver.
THE WHALE premiered in Competition at the Venice Film Festival, where Fraser’s performance immediately became the centre of its reception. Aronofsky had previously made REQUIEM FOR A DREAM, BLACK SWAN and THE WRESTLER, films similarly interested in people pushing their bodies and relationships toward breaking point. Here, however, the spectacle is almost completely stripped away. What remains is a difficult story about shame, forgiveness and the desperate need to be understood by another person.
Whatever you think of Aronofsky’s approach, Fraser is remarkable. The film depends on his ability to make Charlie funny, frustrating, intelligent and deeply vulnerable at the same time, and he carries every single minute of it.
Special thank you to Lifetime FOMO Film Club member Rhodey who has selected THE WHALE to screen in FOMO Secret Cinema this week.
FOOD AND DRINK POLICY: SHEREKILEBI Bar in FOMO Cinema opens 1 hour before the first screening of the day and closes at 01:30, serving a wide selection of beer, wine, cocktails, and non-alcoholic refreshments, as well as fresh hot popcorn! Outside food is allowed in the bar but not in the cinema. No alcohol or drinks from outside allowed. All guests are invited to arrive early and stay late!
LOCATION: FOMO Secret Cinema, Bazari Orbeliani, Tbilisi. A five minute walk from Liberty Square metro.
HOW TO FIND FOMO: Enter Bazari Orbeliani via Atoneli St above Carrefour and take the stairs on your left to Level 1. Signage on the door. You can also check our Instagram story highlights for a video showing exactly how to find us: https://www.instagram.com/s/aGlnaGxpZ2h0OjE3OTMzMTA2Mjk0MDI5MjM1
REFUND & CREDIT POLICY: If FOMO cancels a screening, all ticket holders will receive a full refund. If your plans change and you can no longer attend, we’ll issue you a credit for the value of your ticket, which can be used for any FOMO film screening within the following 30 days.
TICKETS are also available to purchase over the bar.
FOMO Secret Cinema • Bazari Orbeliani, 0105 Tbilisi, Georgia
