The Whale ending explained: On the last day of his life, Liz returns to Charlie to take care of him. 2023 ArticulateToday. Liz returns and reconciles with Charlie, spending time with him as he nears his seemingly inevitable death. The Whale is not based on a true story. The last visual shows the sun shining, the tide rising and falling, and a younger, slimmer version of the lead. Want more movie news? 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 he attempts to nudge daughter Ellie toward a place of authentic self-expression, he too reveals himself to his students. Charlie sobs that he is sorry for leaving Ellie. However, hes able to share a peaceful moment with his daughter before he attempts to stand up and dies. He asks her to read it, and she realises that it is the essay on Moby Dick she had written back in 8th grade. 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. The way its structured, this play is designed to slowly and repeatedly turn up the pressure until it almost cant be tolerated, said Davis McCallum, who directed a 2012 off-Broadway staging at Playwrights Horizons. The writer also finds the chapters which spend pages describing the whale boring and as an English teacher, Charlie finds the honesty refreshing. Or for the fact that she has books to read, to escape her own sad story, just for a little while? In the end, Charlie goes downhill when the delivery man, Dan, who always asks Charlie how he's doing when he leaves his food at the door, sees his obese self. Ellie slips Charlie sleeping pills, and while he is unconscious, Thomas the missionary once again comes to visit, and Ellie threatens to kill her father if Thomas doesnt smoke pot with her. As she does, Charlie struggles to his feet and, without any assistance, takes painful steps toward Ellie, doing what he wanted her and his students to do be completely honest and reveal their true selves. As he attempts to nudge daughter Ellie toward a place of authentic self-expression, he too reveals himself to his students. Bath Charlie, who is beginning to hyperventilate, tells Ellie that he didnt write the essayshe did. Corsage Is an Intimate, Imaginative Portrait of an Empress, 12 Hospital Positions That Require Little Experience, Inside Tips From Past WGU Test-Takers: Passing Your Exam Made Easy, What You Need to Know About the University of Phoenix Settlement, Comparing California Institute of Technology and MIT, 10 Fun and Exciting Things to Do Near Illinois Institute of Technology. He says while he did something wrong, it brought him to Charlie and that he can save him as he pulls out Alans Bible that he had found in his room. Hunter, who also adapted the screenplay for film, based the story on his own experience with obesity in college. The last visual shows the sun . You can watch and interpret for yourself: The Whale is now in theaters nationwide via A24. Ellie, too, returns just as Charlie faces his final hours, to rebuke him for changing the essay he promised he'd write for her. The Whale is based on a 2012 play of the same name by Samuel D. Hunter. 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. She tells him to go to the hospital and he says the money is for Ellie. Again, Charlie attempts to rise up and walk toward her. Its up to you to fill in the blank. Choosing to stay or leave, both paths are complicated and tragic in their own ways, but ultimately, I think Charlie took the more hopeful route, and chose to look for the salvation one can find through human connection.. ScienceDaily Travel . The intention is that, by the time Charlie shares that hes giving his life savings to Ellie, and endures great pain to stand up and walk toward her as she reads her Moby-Dick essay aloud to him, the audience would feel the overwhelming fulfillment Charlie gets during his final breath in the play. Jennifer Christopher as Ellie and Matthew Arkin as Charlie in The Whale at Costa Mesas South Coast Repertory in 2013. Thomas also wants to be redeemed by bringing Charlie back to religion and puts forth tremendous effort to do so. Mary tells Charlie one reason she kept Charlie away from Ellie is that she was afraid Ellie would hurt him. The moviewhich is now available to purchase on digital platforms like Amazon Prime Videois a relentlessly uncomfortable and cruel two hours documenting the (spoiler alert!) In the film, Fraser plays an English teacher named Charlie who suffers from severe obesity and is told that if his unhealthy ways are left unchecked it could ultimately kill him. Once upon a time, when a gigantic Marlboro Man was perched in front of the Chateau Marmont and a three-course meal for two still cost well under a . He always has his video camera off, leading some to speculate in the chat section about his personal life. It would go on to win numerous awards, including the Lucille Lortel Award for Best Play, a 2013 Drama Desk Special Award for Significant Contribution to Theaters, the 2013 GLAAD Media Award for Outstanding New York Theater and more. Its revealed that Ellie has demons of her own and has been bullying people online. review The movie itself isn't particularly oblique, nor is the ending that ambiguous despite its artistic license. (Get it? To say The Whale is a difficult watch is the understatement of the century. By Gabriella Geisinger 27 Feb 2023 The Whale has received heaps of critical acclaim, but is not. Though Hunter didnt write the beach scene that follows Charlies onscreen ascension, he called it marvelous and shared an interpretation of what it might mean: If its a flashback to the last time Charlie went swimming in the ocean, close to when the family fell apart, what I see in that shot is a man staring down the abyss of self-actualization, contemplating the decision he has to make about the different avenues he can take. See Fraser explain the movie's ending in the video above. 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. Liz seems to realize that she is saying goodbye to Charlie, and tells him shell wait downstairs. The Whale ending explained: What happened to Brendan Fraser's Charlie? All rights reserved. | Credit: A24 "Ellie torments him, when she cases him out the fist time. Charlie doesnt think much of it but then he sees Ellies post about him being fat that Mary had left open on his laptop. Speaking to Entertainment Weekly, Fraser gave his interpretation on the . ", "He's struggling this entire film to put a mirror up to his daughter to say, 'This is who you are,' and in those final moments, that mirror is this essay," Hunter explains. Adapted from Samuel D. Hunter's play, "The Whale" is the story of an English teacher who is suffering from an eating disorder and other unresolved issues in his life. His goal is self-destructive, but you want the audience to understand what has driven him to do this, and that his redemption is in the relationship he tries to forge with his daughter. Hes dying, Liz replies. 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. The full essay is never read in the movie and always cuts off before that final line. Liz informs Charlie that his blood pressure is at a dangerous level, and that he needs to go to the hospital, or he will very likely die of congestive heart failure by the end of the week. He isn't able to embrace his past and is on a journey of self-destruction where he has lost the will to live entirely. Meanwhile, Dan the delivery guy who was always nice to Charlie, waits to see Charlies appearance at the next delivery by tricking him and is disgusted. She had even declined his money when her truck broke down as she thought he was broke and would walk through the snow to get him food. 1,685, This story has been shared 1,682 times. Darren AronofskyX WHALE has already proven to be one of the most controversial films of the year, which isn't all that surprising given Aronofsky's history in making controversial projects.Bye Brendan Fraser received widespread acclaim for its powerful performance of the overweight Professor Charlie, the film was seen as "fat . 5 Reasons Why Webex is the #1 Choice for Businesses ? 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 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. Editor's Note: The following are spoilers for The Whale. The accolades it has garnered already, however, have piqued people's interests. After Charlie calms down, Thomas asks why Charlie asked him to read it. Unfortunately, well never know. Articulate Today is an Intelligent News Platform with an aim to expand the thinking and possibilities of a future world that we can collectively create. NEWS1 Ellie secretly records his confession. Mary comes with Liz when she hears about Ellie hanging out with Charlie and is shocked to see his appearance. Your email address will not be published. "It's important because it's a Herculean effort that he makes to even get to his feet," Fraser says. His goal is self-destructive, but you want the audience to understand what has driven him to do this, and that his redemption is in the relationship he tries to forge with his daughter. Peaky Blinders's Cillian Murphy and his wife Yvonne McGuinness keep love life discreet, {{#media.media_details}} {{#media.focal_point}}. By Kyle Buchanan. Charlies health is rapidly declining. As written in Hunters script, the stage directions of that breath simply read, A sharp intake of breath. 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. Ellies mom sent the essay to Charlie, and Charlie believes its the best essay hes ever read. GE The last visual shows the sun shining, the tide rising and falling, and a younger, slimmer version of the title . Adam Magill, left, and Nicholas Pelczar in The Whale at the Bay Areas Marin Theater Company in 2014. The final moments of this play and this movie abandon realism a little bit, and its no longer about this guy in this apartment, he explained. If the serene seaside scene confused you, youre not alone: That final flashback was a surprise to playwright and screenwriter Samuel D. Hunter, as director Darren Aronofsky tacked it on without discussing it with him. The following contains spoilers from the movie The Whale, now playing in theaters. 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. The Whale Ending Explained#thewhale #thewhalea24 #a24Indiegogo Linkhttps://www.indiegogo.com/projects/minced-meatMake sure to like this video, subscribe to o. After she threatens Thomas into smoking marijuana and takes his photo, he is upset and locks himself in Alans room. The movie version of The Whale ends with a breath, a bright light and a beach. 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). As he thinks he is dying, he tries to read an essay on Moby Dick but it falls to the ground. He needed to know he did one good thing with his life, he said. Its an essay on Moby Dick that Ellie wrote in 8th grade. She snaps an incriminating photo of Thomas, and then confronts him: She knows hes not from New Life, because she knows that New Life no longer has door-to-door missionaries. Liz said at the beginning of the final scene that Charlie is dying. And then it has this really cathartic release at the end of the piece a blackout, a sound effect, and a moment where the audience just lived in that silent darkness together.. Mary reveals that Ellie has been surreptitiously taking photos of Charlie and putting them on Facebook, but Charlie doesn't care, finally admitting the crux of his motivations: he needs to know that he did one thing right with his life. Brendan Fraser plays a reclusive English teacher suffering from compulsive eating disorder who attempts to reconnect with estranged teenage daughter. After everyone leaves, Charlie has his dinner delivered, left as usual on his porch by the regular delivery guy. 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. sports News Mary leaves, and Thomas arrives to reveal that he's going home; Ellie sent his confession to his youth group, but they accepted his apology. It is later revealed that the essay was written by his daughter, Ellie. Brendan Fraser stars in the film adaptation of The Whale.. Welcome to the Quantum Realm. Charlie, in his grief, began binge-eating in response. He rashly posts a prompt on his students online message board, challenging them to write something honest. Visit our corporate site (opens in new tab). The Whale may end in a seemingly confusing way, but it's not It's not that obtuse, really. 1,025, This story has been shared 981 times. Dan is clearly disgusted by Charlie. With that, the movie ends. 3,273, This story has been shared 2,918 times. And while he was lonely and tired, he did not want to come back home as his father had arranged his marriage to a girl he did not know. ET. Fraser explains his interpretation of what the last exchange between Charlie and Ellie (Sadie Sink) means for both characters: "He's liberated.". Is TorFX the Right Choice for Your Currency Exchange Needs? 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Nope explained: Jean Jacket, Gordy's Home and more, Knives Out 3: Everything you need to know. In an interview with Digital Spy, the writer talked . That night, Charlie recites the essay by heart which describes Moby Dick, the whale as a poor big animal. How To Apply & Enroll for welding course in Lane University? The bull whale pulls itself onto shore and strands itself there, waiting for its death. They did not see each other after she turned 8 as Mary got full custody after Charlie had an extramarital affair. The Ending Of The Whale Explained A24 By Tom Moore / Dec. 20, 2022 8:30 am EST Darren Aronofsky, the director of "Black Swan" and "Requiem for a Dream," returns with "The Whale," a new film. nfl Likewise, the off-Broadway version strategically lit the space so that it felt as if his room were hovering in this dark void, said director McCallum; the Chicago staging positioned the proscenium like an island in the sea, which was really effective because theyre all alone on their own islands in some ways, with all these barriers to connection, said director Schultz. I had a lot of unprocessed emotions from attending a fundamentalist Christian school where my sexuality came to bear in an ugly way, and that emerged in an unhealthy relationship with food. He reveals that he was a missionary but in Waterloo. 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The Whale writer Samuel D Hunter has opened up about how he had no idea that the film's ending had changed from the play. As she does, he starts to get up on his own and walks towards her. The next day, Liz confirms that Charlie's time is almost up. The love and connection that Charlie gives Ellie is a gift, and hopefully she will remain true to her voice and herself in a way that he gave up on, said Hal Brooks, who directed the Denver premiere. The lights snap to black. Many theater makers say that breath could very well be his last inhale, after which he is finally freed from the pains of his body, his loneliness, his grief. Check out What to Watch's thoughts on the movie in our The Whale review. She knows he can't look over his shoulder. 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