THE WHALE

In Director Darren Aronofsky’s The Whale, Brendan Fraser gives a virtuosic performance as Charlie, an English teacher living with severe obesity whose time is running out. As he makes a last bold attempt to reconcile with his broken family, Charlie must confront, with his full heart and fierce wit, long-buried traumas and unspoken love that have haunted him for decades. Taking place over five days, Charlie seeks connection with various people in his life—his estranged daughter, an ex-wife, his best friend, his online students, and even the wide-eyed missionary at his front door. Through each of these encounters, we gain insight into Charlie’s life as he wrestles with the enormity of his regret, the duty of fatherhood, and the feasibility of goodness itself. For Aronofsky, “This is what cinema is all about… a story like this can put us into the shoes of a man we might otherwise never even wonder about, and remind us that all the promise of love and redemption is there in every human existence.” Based on the acclaimed play of the same name by Samuel D. Hunter.

Q & A following the screening with Brendan Fraser and Sam Hunter.  

117 min.