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Starring: Brendan Fraser, Sadie Sink, Hong Chau, Samantha Morton, Ty Simpkins
OUR RATING: ★★★☆☆
Story:
A24 psychological drama directed by Darren Aronofsky. The Whale (2022) centers on obese middle-aged reclusive English teacher Charlie (Brendan Fraser), who tries to reconnect with his estranged teenage daughter, Ellie (Sadie Sink), for one last chance at redemption. The two grew apart after Charlie left his family for a man, who later died, causing Charlie to then binge eat out of pain and guilt.
Our Favorite Quotes:
'Do you ever get the feeling people are incapable of not caring? People are amazing.' - Charlie (The Whale) Click To Tweet
Best Quotes
Thomas: You need help.
Charlie: I don’t go to hospitals.
Thomas: [referring to the essay on Moby-Dick] Why did you have me read it to you?
Charlie: Because I thought I was dying. And I wanted to hear it one last time.
Liz: You should have called an ambulance.
Charlie: With no health insurance?
Liz: Being in debt is better than being dead. What’s wrong with you?
Liz: You’re wheezing.
Charlie: I always wheeze, Liz.
Liz: You’re wheezing more.
Liz: F***ing hate New Life. My dad forced me to go when I was a kid. It was awful, growing up with all that “end times” bulls**t. You’re young. Why the hell would you want to believe that the world is about to end?
Thomas: I believe that when Christ returns, it’s going to be beautiful.
Liz: Believe me, he doesn’t want to hear about New Life.
Thomas: Why?
Liz: Because it’s caused him a lot of pain.
Thomas: How?
Liz: It killed his boyfriend.
Thomas: You’re saying the church…
Liz: Killed Charlie’s boyfriend, yes.
Liz: We don’t need you coming over here. Especially not now. Not this week.
Thomas: Why?
Liz: Because he probably won’t be here next week.
Thomas: Where is he going?
Liz: You have congestive heart failure. If you don’t go to the hospital, you’ll be dead by the weekend. You will die.
Charlie: Well, then, I better get to work, because I have a lot of essays this week.
Charlie: I’m sorry.
Liz: You say you’re sorry one more time, I will shove a knife right into you. I swear to God!
Charlie: Go ahead. What’s it going to do? My internal organs are two feet in, at least.
Charlie: [reciting the essay about Ahab from Moby Dick] His entire life is set around trying to kill a certain whale. I think this is sad because the whale doesn’t have any emotions. He’s just a poor, big animal. And I feel bad for Ahab as well, because he thinks that his life will be better if he can just kill this whale. But in reality, it won’t help him at all. This book made me think about my own life.
Ellie: Does this mean now I’m going to get fat?
Charlie: No, it doesn’t. I was always big. I just, I let it get out of control.
Charlie: You don’t like school?
Ellie: Only idiots like high school.
Ellie: Are you actually trying to parent me right now?
Charlie: No. I’m Sorry. I just thought that maybe we could spend some time with each other.
Ellie: I’m not spending time with you. You’re disgusting.
Charlie: Well, I’m a lot bigger than I was since last time you saw me.
Ellie: No, I’m not talking about what you look like. You’d be disgusting even if you weren’t this fat.
'It doesn't help people to tell them that they should believe in God. Why would that help people?' - Ellie (The Whale) Click To Tweet
Charlie: I just thought that maybe we can get to know each other.
Ellie: I don’t even know why I’m here.
Charlie: I can pay you.
Ellie: You want to pay me to spend time with you?
Charlie: I don’t need a little machine to tell me to take a few deep breaths and stop sweating.
Liz: Well, apparently, you f***ing do.
Liz: [to Charlie, referring to Ellie] You haven’t seen her since she was eight years-old, and you’re going to reconnect with her by doing her homework for her?
Charlie: [referring to Ellie] I’m worried that she’s forgotten what an amazing person she is.
Liz: Goddamn it, Charlie. What is wrong with you? Chew your food like a normal human being! You could have just died right in front of me!
Charlie: I’m sorry. I’m sorry, Liz.
Ellie: [referring to Walt Whitman] You’re just like my teachers. You think just because I’m not losing my s**t over the poem, it’s because I didn’t read it. I did read it. It’s overwritten, and dumb, and repetitive. And even though he thinks his metaphor of “I” is deep, it’s actually just a bunch of bulls**t. And, in reality, he’s just some worthless 19th century f***ot.
Charlie: That’s an interesting perspective. It would make for an interesting essay.
Charlie: Ellie, I don’t need you here to write these essays for you. If you want to go, you can go. You can still have the money.
Ellie: I thought you wanted to get to know me.
Charlie: I do. But I don’t want to force you to be here. It’s up to you.
Charlie: [referring to Mary] She really only tells me things about you.
Ellie: Why?
Charlie: Because that’s all I want to know about.
Ellie: Why did you gain all that weight?
Charlie: Someone close to me passed away, and it had an effect on me.
Ellie: Your boyfriend.
Charlie: My partner.
Ellie: [to Charlie, as he’s crying in the bathroom] Are you okay? Unless you’re dying, there’s no way I’m going in there.
'I need to know that I have done one thing right with my life.' - Charlie (The Whale) Click To Tweet
Ellie: I’m his daughter.
Thomas: Oh.
Ellie: Are you surprised?
Thomas: Yeah, I guess.
Ellie: What’s more surprising? That a gay guy has a daughter, or that someone actually found his p**is? I’m kidding.
Ellie: What I like about religion is that it assumes that everyone is an idiot and that they’re all incapable of saving themselves. I think they got something right with that.
Ellie: What I don’t like about religion is that when people accept Jesus, or whatever, they suddenly think that they’re better than everyone else. By accepting the fact that they’re stupid sinners, somehow they’ve become better, and they turn into a**holes.
Charlie: [referring to the Bible] I thought it was devastating. God creates us, expels us from paradise. We wander around for thousands of years killing each other, before He comes back and saves a hundred and forty-four thousand of us. Meanwhile, seven and a half billion of us fall into hell.
'I don't think I believe anyone can save anyone.' - Liz (The Whale) Click To Tweet
Thomas: God hasn’t turned His back on you. If you accept Him, He’ll release you from this. He’ll take your soul out of this body and give you a brand-new body. One made of pure light. I mean, don’t you want that?
Charlie: I’m not interested in being saved.
Charlie: [to Thomas] I am not attracted to you. Please, you got to believe me when I say I’m not attracted to you. You’re a fetus.
Charlie: Thomas, tell me the truth. Do you find me disgusting?
Thomas: No. I just want to help. Please, just let me help.
Liz: [to Thomas] Okay, listen. I know this is fun for you. You get to travel around, act superior than everyone else, and eventually, you go home, get some boring job, have too many kids. It’s God’s plan. But there are other types of people. People like Charlie, for whom this amazing plan doesn’t fit. So, just stay away from him. He doesn’t need this right now.
Trailer: