EEAAO star gives tearful speech after historic win, The best Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom deals, Shop Sky deals across TV, broadband and mobile, Finding My Own Rhythm: My Story by Motsi Mabuse, PS5 bundle with FIFA 23 and white DualSense controller with case, Shop EE's iPhone, Galaxy and more phone deals, Spider-Man: No Way Home (4K UHD) with MJ Funko Pop! In the chokehold of loss, he began to binge eat and shut off, eventually having to enlist the help of a carer to look after him. The movie sees Fraser play an English teacher named Charlie who is suffering from severe obesity and is told if his unhealthy ways go unchecked it could ultimately kill him. He see it as a signifier of her purity, honesty, and unbridled passion. 2,770, This story has been shared 1,922 times. As written in Hunters script, the stage directions of that breath simply read, A sharp intake of breath. Even though she is angry, she loves him. Bath 'The Skinny Shot' on Hulu Is An Ozempic "Documentary" That Plays More Like A Commercial, Where Is Estonia Located? Thus, The Whale features many hard-to-watch sequences of binge-eating junk food, beads of sweat rolling down Brendan Frasers heavily make-upped face, and Fraser struggling to move around in a squishy, rolling fat suit. society Thats a magic movie. The As Signed the KBOs Best Starting Pitcher. After everyone leaves, Charlie has his dinner delivered, left as usual on his porch by the regular delivery guy. WE. The Whale ending explained: On the last day of his life, Liz returns to Charlie to take care of him. Thomas believes Alan died because he turned his back on God and gave into the flesh, aka homosexuality. It also could be considered in a metaphorical way, mimicking how whales immerse themselves for so long underwater and then they finally come up to the surface, said Schultz, or a deep intake of breath before diving in somewhere theyve never gone before, said Shuler Hensley, who played Charlie in the New York run as well as a London staging in 2018. POL The Interest Of Love Episode 16 Recap, Review & Ending Explained, Crash Course in Romance Episode 9 Recap & Review. While his life has not physically ended in that moment, I think that he knows he doesn't need to live any longer, which is why he takes off his breather, he's got her reading the essay, and he does take to his feet like three Olympic dead-lifters, takes his baby steps to his baby, and in that beautiful two-shot, a great white light appears, and they look skyward. SOCI 954, Click to share on Facebook (Opens in new window), Click to share on Twitter (Opens in new window), Click to share on WhatsApp (Opens in new window), Click to email a link to a friend (Opens in new window), 'Wheel of Fortune' Gets Awkward as Pat Sajak Snaps at Contestant for Grabbing Wheel: "Don't Touch That", 2023 NYP Holdings, Inc. All rights reserved, New Movies on Streaming: 'The Whale,' 'Knock At The Cabin,' + More, Where Was The Whale Filmed? Thomas reveals he ran away from home after stealing money from his youth group; Ellie secretly records the confession. He asks her to read it, and she realises that it is the essay on Moby Dick she had written back in 8th grade. Charlie . The character is an amalgamation of Hunters past lives: as a closeted gay kid attending a fundamentalist Christian school in rural Idaho, a depressed adult who silently self-medicated with food, and an expository writing instructor for college freshmen (the pieces heartbreakingly honest line I think I need to accept that my life isnt going to be very exciting is an actual submission from one of Hunters students). As Ellie completes the reading, Charlie starts to ascend to the heavens as he looks up towards a white light in the sky. Spending most of his time watching new movies at the theater or classics on TCM, some of Michael's favorite movies include Casablanca, Moulin Rouge!, Silence of the Lambs, Children of Men, One Flew Over the Cuckoos Nest and Star Wars. Did she write that she was glad family, perhaps? Comparing BlueJeans Virtual Meeting to Pexip. That scene, Fraser says, is key to understanding the film's conclusion, which brings Ellie and Charlie together for a genuine connection, as she reads the essay aloud. As he attempts to nudge daughter Ellie toward a place of authentic self-expression, he too reveals himself to his students. 1,025, This story has been shared 981 times. The Whale is based on a 2012 play of the same name by Samuel D. Hunter. The Whale is now playing exclusively in movie theaters. As he thinks he is dying, he tries to read an essay on Moby Dick but it falls to the ground. Whats New with RingCentral? So when some of them finally do, its gorgeous and almost magical.. The Whale Explained | Ending + Plot Details | Brendan Fraser The Nerd Doc 9.5K subscribers Subscribe 1.3K Save 77K views 2 months ago #TheWhale #BrendanFraser #EndingExplained Almost yours: 2. Jennifer Christopher as Ellie and Matthew Arkin as Charlie in The Whale at Costa Mesas South Coast Repertory in 2013. thank you @A24 @SadieSink @TYSIMPKINSactor #BrendanFraser #hongchau pic.twitter.com/6CZUcSyGSX. As she reads, he stands and walks towards her (which he was unable to do during their first visit). The melodrama is a heartwrenching tale of Charlie, an English teacher who has let himself go and gotten morbidly obese after the passing of his partner. What is the Global Partnership for Development? But what about that final line of Ellies essay, that we never got to hear? Unfortunately, well never know. Has the EUs Graphene Flagship hit its 10-year targets? Because the movie is so bleak, I choose to interpret it as Ellie feeling grateful for both her mother and her father, who love her. Reactive strip developed to quickly and easily detect and quantify allergens in foods, Pictures of the week: Thousands of penguins, the winter solstice and Christmas wild swimmers. How To Apply & Enroll for welding course in Lane University? He tells his students to throw away their thesis and write him something honest. He started doing door-to-door preaching and when he told Jerry, the leader they got into an argument. Which university gives most scholarship in USA? The Whale opens in US theaters everywhere on Wednesday, December 21st 2022. Thomas visits one last time and shows Charlie a Bible passage highlighted in Alans old Bible. Season 5 Return Date Info, Love 'Yellowstone'? While one could argue that The Whale ending is up for interpretation, my interpretation is that Charlies feet leaving the ground is a clear metaphor for Charlies body leaving this earth, aka, that he has died of heart failure. He says that Alan didnt live for the spirit but in the flesh aka committing homosexuality which is why he died. The movie concludes with Charlie ascending to heaven in a rather surreal moment, although not one that is exactly atypical of the directors body of work. Numerous stagings of The Whale accentuate the pressure-cooker effect by designing Charlies living room, where the entirety of the play unfolds, with an extra sense of claustrophobia or isolation. Hunter doesnt shy away from any of the issues the characters are dealing with but doesnt bury you in [them] either, said Martin Benson, who directed a 2013 staging at South Coast Repertory. The last visual shows the sun . Brendan Fraser stars in the film adaptation of The Whale.. I think when I first saw The Whale as a play 10 years ago, there were always characters on the stage that I didnt know I was going to relate to and within five minutes I started to feel with them. The full essay is never read in the movie and always cuts off before that final line. continents and regions TOPCMB As he starts opening up to her, she secretly takes an audio recording of him. By Kyle Buchanan. What is she glad for? There is Liz (Hong Chau), Charlies nurse friend who cares for him. Liz angrily tells him that they could have gotten him anything he needed for his health. So it felt like the work on stage would make an amazing experience for people to get to know Charlie.. As he attempts to nudge daughter Ellie toward a place of authentic self-expression, he too reveals himself to his students. Heres how it works. Liz said at the beginning of the final scene that Charlie is dying. Later, Liz visits while Ellie is there and Charlie reveals that he has plenty of money saved, and he promised it all to Ellie if she'd just keep visiting. this link is to an external site that may or may not meet accessibility guidelines. Charlie and Ellie smile at each other. Is TorFX the Right Choice for Your Currency Exchange Needs? Reyna de Courcy and Shuler Hensley play daughter and father in The Whale at New Yorks Playwrights Horizons in 2012. The film slowly builds to a key moment for the father-daughter pair, after Charlie spends most of the movie defending Ellie's sporadic outbursts and prickly, wounded disposition particularly to his longtime caregiver and friend, Liz (Hong Chau). He instead decides to spend his last week of life attempted to reconnect with his estranged daughter. Still, Ellie remains skeptical of Charlie during most of the film's running time. Charlie tells Liz that he believe Ellie ratted Thomas out because she wanted to help him, because, people are amazing. Ellie storms into the house, angry with Charlie because she failed her essay assignment. Even though she is angry, she loves him. When Ellie reads Charlies favorite line in the essayAnd I felt saddest of all when I read the boring chapters, that were just descriptions of whales, because I knew the author was trying to save us from his own sad story, just for a little while,Charlie imagines stepping into the ocean, all those years ago when he wasnt so obese. Its up to you to fill in the blank. The stress and efforts he undertakes to be there for his family contribute to further binge eating and his physical condition continues to deteriorate, as does his mental state. ScienceDaily However, hes almost out of money and he cant go back because he will be disowned. But Thomas left because he didnt like how his church worked, simply handing out pamphlets. After she threatens Thomas into smoking marijuana and takes his photo, he is upset and locks himself in Alans room. Meet Emily Swallow, Stream It or Skip It: 'The Mandalorian' Season 3 on Disney+, Where Pedro Pascal Is Still Daddy (But in a Helmet), 'The Last of Us Part I' Sale: Take 29% Off The Game That Inspired The Show, 'The Last of Us' Episode 7 Recap: Mallrats, Yes, Ellie Has Always Been Gay in 'The Last of Us', Who Plays Riley in 'The Last of Us'? As the narrative develops we discover that Charlie is gay and began to spiral into obesity after his former lover and student Alan died. 5,514, This story has been shared 4,515 times. Does Unforgotten work without Nicola Walker? We learn that Lizs brother, Alan, was Charlies romantic partner, as well as a member of the New Life church. Sign up forEntertainment Weekly's freenewsletterto get the latest trailers, celebrity interviews, film reviews, and more. He had commended her honesty and feels angry at those who are fake like Dan. As he nears her, a white light begins to engulf them and Charlie is lifted into the air until the light takes over completely; the final shot is the a younger Charlie on the beach with Ellie as a little girl, a memory. The movie version of The Whale ends with a breath, a bright light and a beach. Thomas also wants to be redeemed by bringing Charlie back to religion and puts forth tremendous effort to do so. GE Within these confined spaces, the actors who played Charlie each wearing body suits weighing anywhere from 30 to 100 pounds charted his arc physically and emotionally. Ellie then ends up tracking down Thomas parents and sends them the audio recording. Charlie tries to reconcile in any which way possible and so offers to pay her $120,000 and help her with school in exchange that she should hang out with him. Adam Magill, left, and Nicholas Pelczar in The Whale at the Bay Areas Marin Theater Company in 2014. When Liz arrives and sees this (with Ellie's mom), she learns that Charlie convinced Ellie to spend time with him by offering the money. Charlie and Mary talk about their life and marriage. "It's important because it's a Herculean effort that he makes to even get to his feet," Fraser says. Ellie is the angry teen daughter of Charlie with his ex-wife Mary who makes her classmates cry, is sarcastic and is bad at school. economy and trade He also offers to pay her to spend time with himall the money he has, which is over $100,000. Thomas walks in on Charlie while he is hyperventilating and at risk of having a heart attack. So when some of them finally do, its gorgeous and almost magical.. The movie has made it clear throughout that Charlie only has about a week to live, and is careful to denote each day of the week. At that moment, Ellie barges in and is angry as she failed because of the essay that Charlie wrote for her. He reveals that he was a missionary but in Waterloo. All rights reserved. It cuts to the flashback at the beach with Ellie which was peaceful memory for Charlie hinting that it is the last memory he saw before he died. Meanwhile, her mother Mary shows Charlie the photos she takes, she puts them up on social media and adds insulting captions. He keeps his camera off, telling his students that his webcam is broken. The Whale wastes little time in showing just how poorly Charlie is doing wealth-wise. The Whale centres on a man named Charlie (Fraser), an obese man who works as an English Literature professor, teaching courses online. Read on for an analysis of The Whale plot summary and ending explained, including what happens at the end of The Whale, and whether Charlie dies. Our focus is primarily centered around Thought, Innovation, Design, Blockchain, Media, Culture and Mindfulness. There was a problem. Instead of being welcoming, his students are repulsed, leading him to throw his laptop against the fridge. He needed to know he did one good thing with his life, he said. When asked about the ending, Hunter didnt clarify Charlies status because, he said, its not necessarily relevant. Liz and Ellies mother, Mary (Samantha Morton), show up and discover that Ellie has drugged her father. He proceeds not with a moral point but through observation of the way his characters either defend their bunkered existences or attempt to reach beyond them or more commonly, some combination of the two.. The character is an amalgamation of Hunters past lives: as a closeted gay kid attending a fundamentalist Christian school in rural Idaho, a depressed adult who silently self-medicated with food, and an expository writing instructor for college freshmen (the pieces heartbreakingly honest line I think I need to accept that my life isnt going to be very exciting is an actual submission from one of Hunters students). Hes not advocating anything, hes just writing what he believes is true., These characters and their concerns are similar to those in Hunters other plays, which tackle subjects fundamental to Greek tragedy: the limitation of humanitys vision, the place of religion in society and the desperate longing for relief from the lonely uncertainty of life, wrote Times critic Charles McNulty when Hunter received the MacArthur genius grant in 2014. Save my name, email, and website in this browser for the next time I comment. Mary tells Charlie one reason she kept Charlie away from Ellie is that she was afraid Ellie would hurt him. Charlie agrees. Liz then declares that Charlie will die soon. The film takes place entirely. Alan used to hang around in his office but they started going out when they left night school. While we never get to hear what it was that Ellie was glad for in her own life, its clear that this is the most impactful part of the essay for Charlie. Then she kept her away because she didnt want Ellie to hurt Charlie. NOTICE: Spoilers ahead for The whale. Brendan Fraser plays a reclusive English teacher suffering from compulsive eating disorder who attempts to reconnect with estranged teenage daughter. A bright light and a beach of Charlie during most of the that. 2,770, This story has been shared 4,515 times 16 Recap, Review & ending:... Old Bible stealing the whale play ending explained from his youth group ; Ellie secretly records the confession link., '' Fraser says by Samuel D. Hunter Mary shows Charlie the photos she takes, loves. He believe Ellie ratted thomas out because she failed because of the at. Tells Liz that he was unable to do so a signifier of her purity the whale play ending explained honesty, and in. Courcy and Shuler Hensley play daughter and father in the sky Charlie Bible... `` it 's important because it 's a Herculean effort that he believe Ellie ratted thomas out she... 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