Maybe he was thinking about what would happen if he stayed in that marriage: Ellie would have grown up with a closeted father, [his lover] Alan would have been miserable and, as Liz points out, would have probably died way before he did when he was with Charlie, Hunter continued. In a fit of rage, he took the petty cash of $2,400 from the church and left. 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. Charlies health is rapidly declining. So when some of them finally do, its gorgeous and almost magical.. 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. 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. Mary leaves in tears, and Charlie, also in tears, tells her that he has to believe hes done one good thing in his life, aka Ellie. 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. 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. GE The students react in shock and disgust. After Charlie confirms that Thomas is being homophobic, he gets angry and starts recounting how they dated and made love and describes his body which disgusts Thomas who runs away. 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 an 2012 off-Broadway staging at Playwrights Horizons. While he was an adult, Charlie knew that it was wrong but he was in a bad space when he was married to Mary. Visit our corporate site (opens in new tab). This is slightly different from how the stage version of The Whale ends, with a hard cut to black. 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. at long last THE WHALE trailer has arrived. Charlie tells Liz that he believe Ellie ratted. 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. 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. So in that final moment, whatever flaws he had, whatever mistakes he made and in whatever ways he couldnt love himself enough, he lived a life redeemed, because he gave everything to save his daughter.. The following contains spoilers from the movie "The Whale," now playing in theaters. He says he wants to save at least one person and thought it could be 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). Its a brilliant ending, because audience members have constantly told me they couldnt breathe afterwards. 2023 ArticulateToday. The Weve all done it: walk into a Sephora for something specific, promising ourselves well stay focused. The film, surprisingly to some, missed out on Best Picture and Best Adapted Screenplay; The Whale's source material is a 2012 play of the same name. Charlie and Ellie smile at each other. Whether Charlie dies at the end of The Whale is up for debate. March 1, 2023, 12:58 p.m. Charlie doesnt think much of it but then he sees Ellies post about him being fat that Mary had left open on his laptop. Our focus is primarily centered around Thought, Innovation, Design, Blockchain, Media, Culture and Mindfulness. As written in Hunters script, the stage directions of that breath simply read, A sharp intake of breath. He rashly posts a prompt on his students online message board, challenging them to write something honest. Ellies mom sent the essay to Charlie, and Charlie believes its the best essay hes ever read. continents and regions As he reaches Ellie, he takes a final deep breath, looks up and everything fades to white as Charlie dies. 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. That's where things get fantastical, as Fraser calls the final sequence an act of "contrition" for Charlie, in which he's "liberated" after finally breaking through her defensive armor, reaffirming to Ellie that he sees her for the person she is and always was. She ends up telling Liz about the $120k he had been saving for Ellie who is upset as she thought he was broke. But before that can happen, Charlie is determined to reconnect with his estranged daughter Ellie (Sadie Sink). How to watch the PGA Tour 2023: live stream Arnold Palmer Invitational, Puerto Rico Open and more online, How to watch F1 online: stream every Formula 1 2023 race live from around the world, EastEnders boss teases return of ICONIC Slater star, Physical: 100 season 2: what we know so far, Future of The Traitors UK confirmed at last. Throughout The Whale, Charlie is visited by his estranged and troubled daughter, Ellie (Sadie Sink), and his frustrated ex-wife, Mary (Samantha Morton), both of whom Charlie abandoned when he ended his marriage and came out as gay; Liz (Hong Chau), a conflicted caregiver who is also the sibling of Charlies late lover; and Thomas (Ty Simpkins), a fundamentalist missionary who is far from home. The Whale is a one-room play adapted for the big screen by Darren Aronofsky and stars Brendan Fraser in what is considered his comeback movie in Hollywood. Charlie thrusts an essay about Herman Melvilles Moby Dick into Thomass hands and instructs him to read it. Ellie secretly records his confession. 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. The movie version of The Whale ends with a breath, a bright light and a beach. And by the end of the play, I was sobbing., He continued: So that was really exciting as a potential for cinema because thats when movies are the best, when you meet characters that are unexpected but you are completely connected. The last visual shows the sun shining, the tide rising and falling, and a younger, slimmer version of the lead. This story has been shared 6,491 times. 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. (Zoey Kang / A24) 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. Copyright 2023 Meredith Corporation. The young missionary comes and tells Charlie about Ellie tracking down his parents. 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. 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. Ellie storms out too, telling her dad to just fucking die already. Charlie gives Ellie the essay she asked for before she leaves. Welcome to the Quantum Realm. What is the Global Partnership for Development? When Charlie learns that Ellie is in danger of flunking out of high school, he offers to help her with her upcoming essay. NAME Then with a gasp, Charlie floats off the floor and into a bright white light. 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. "It's important because it's a Herculean effort that he makes to even get to his feet," Fraser says. Liz returns and reconciles with Charlie, spending time with him as he nears his seemingly inevitable death. COVID 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. 10 Feature Updates for Q3 2022 ? He needed to know he did one good thing with his life, he said. But the endings overall effect echoes the final moment of its source material, which actors and directors whove staged the popular play consider to be a release that, when performed, feels communal and generally satisfying for the audience in the room. However, she stops at the door, tearful, and decides to read it. Please refresh the page and try again. 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 Whale trailer cr. 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. 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. Liz said at the beginning of the final scene that Charlie is dying. 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 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). 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. Charlie, for once, stands up for himself, and more or less tells Thomas to piss off. She's cross, she's angry for the sadness she feels, and that's how this 17-year-old brilliant kid comports herself. Daren Aronofsky directed The Whale, which in addition to Fraser and Sink stars Hong Chau (The Menu), Ty Simpkins (Jurassic World) and Samantha Morton (The Serpent Queen). Hes diagnosed with congestive heart failure and he decides to be his true self with no regrets, saying and doing things with no shame or hesitation. Ellie steps toward Charlie. 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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. Whats New with RingCentral? The last visual shows the sun shining, the tide rising and falling, and a younger, slimmer version of the title . Turns out, the partner was none other than Charlie. With that, the movie ends. 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. ASIA He asks her to read it to him one last time now that he is dying, but she refuses and goes to leave. He keeps his camera off, telling his students that his webcam is broken. 1,712, This story has been shared 1,685 times. Ellie storms in, upset that the essay Charlie gave her to turn in got an F. The reason why it did was because it was not on the subject Ellie was assigned, but the Moby Dick essay Charlie had Thomas read to him. What We Know About Her Continued 'Today Show' Absence, Savannah Guthrie Rushed Out Of 'Today' After Testing Positive For COVID-19 During Live Broadcast, Drew Barrymore and Ross Mathews Disgusted After Guy Fieri Feeds Them Spray Cheese on 'The Drew Barrymore Show', 'Jeopardy!' Both the play and the movie "The Whale" center on Charlie (Brendan Fraser), a reclusive, morbidly obese instructor of online writing classes who has been eating himself to death since the passing of his lover, a casualty of religious homophobia. Charlie and Mary talk about their life and marriage. Charlie tells her he reached out because he is dying and she is angry. You will receive a verification email shortly. Then she kept her away because she didnt want Ellie to hurt Charlie. 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