The Whale: A Morbid Spectacle of Self-Pity

"The Whale" wallows in the fetid excesses of the grotesque, masquerading as a parable of redemption. Brendan Fraser, encased in prosthetics, becomes a caricature of suffering, a fleshy grotesque akin to Simple Jack. Aronofsky feasts upon the protagonist's misery. His protagonist is drowning in diet soda, attempting a sticky suicide by junk food.

Sadie Sink's presence is a grating intrusion, another overwrought performance in a film bursting with artifice. The film mistakes surface-level manipulation for genuine emotional resonance, reducing profound themes of body image, sexuality, and faith to vulgar displays of shame.

Aronofsky bathes the screen in a murky dimness, a visual shorthand for the protagonist's interiority that is painfully obvious.