The Loneliest Whale: The Search for 52

Name: The Loneliest Whale: The Search for 52
Genre: Adventure, Documentary
Released: July 9, 2021
Duration: 96 min
Rating: 67
Cast: Joshua Zeman, Kate Micucci

2021

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Generally favorable reviews based on 8 Critic Reviews

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Generally favorable reviews based on 5 Ratings

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8.0	User Score Generally favorable reviews based on 5 Ratings

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The Loneliest Whale: The Search For 52: So Who Does Respond?

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Movie Details & Credits

Bleecker Street Media | Release Date: July 9, 2021 | PG

Starring: Joshua Zeman, Kate Micucci

Movie Facts:

VOD release: July 16, 2021

Summary: The Loneliest Whale is a cinematic quest to find the “52 Hertz Whale,” which scientists believe has spent its entire life in solitude calling out at a frequency that is different from any other whale. As the film embarks on this engrossing journey, audiences will explore what this whale’s lonely plight can teach us — not just about ourThe Loneliest Whale is a cinematic quest to find the “52 Hertz Whale,” which scientists believe has spent its entire life in solitude calling out at a frequency that is different from any other whale. As the film embarks on this engrossing journey, audiences will explore what this whale’s lonely plight can teach us — not just about our changing relationship to the oceans, but to each other. … Expand

Director: Joshua Zeman

Genre(s): Adventure, Documentary

Rating: PG

Runtime: 96 min

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Critic Reviews

100

Kim Hughes

Jul 13, 2021

The Loneliest Whale is gripping and highly persuasive, blending hard science with real-life action/adventure sequences, talking-head interviews, and — sorry, sorry — a whale of a true story that has been headline news for years. Read full review

Stephanie Zacharek

Jul 9, 2021

Even if you don’t care much about whales, or don’t think you do, Joshua Zeman’s enthusiastic documentary The Loneliest Whale: The Search for 52 might make you care about people who care about whales. Read full review

Carlos Aguilar

Jul 8, 2021

While Zeman’s enthusiasm is occasionally infectious, his conjectures, explained in voiceover, are riddled with platitudes and self-centered sound bites that say more about an egotistical need to be the first at something, to be the one who found 52, than about our connection with our large swimming counterparts. Read full review

Mark Jenkins

Jun 26, 2021

While 52 remains something of a mystery, The Loneliest Whale renders him less of a metaphor. Read full review

The Guardian Cath Clarke

Apr 4, 2022

This is a film raised a fair few notches by the wonder of geekery, the absolute joy of seeing scientists living and breathing their work. Read full review

Sheri Linden

Jul 9, 2021

The preceding journey might have been smoother, but the doc is a reminder that we still know so little about the oceans and their inhabitants, and an illustration of how much hope we attach to them. Read full review

Tomris Laffly

Jul 8, 2021

The result is a well-meaning but somewhat granola, partly engaging yet disorganized documentary, one that searches for an imprecise story and struggles to keep its chief ambitions afloat. Read full review

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Brent_Marchant

Aug 12, 2021

The search for connection is something that we all understand, not only as a social practice, but also as a personal and collective need. So, when we hear about an individual who is unable to fulfill that requirement, we're often saddened by this deficiency, regardless of whether thisThe search for connection is something that we all understand, not only as a social practice, but also as a personal and collective need. So, when we hear about an individual who is unable to fulfill that requirement, we're often saddened by this deficiency, regardless of whether this circumstance involves a human or some other creature. Such is the case for a believed-hybrid whale that sings its songs on a unique frequency, making it fundamentally unable to communicate with its peers and causing it to labeled as the ultimate social outcast. This has thus led to the emergence of a mythology sentimentally celebrated in story and even song, all backed by an abundance of empathy for this loner of the deep, a creature that has come to be known as "the loneliest whale." The search for this elusive cetacean provides the focus of filmmaker Joshua Zeman's captivating new documentary, which shares the story of this solitary specimen and the long-shot expedition launched to find it. The film generally tells the tale in a beautifully filmed and engaging vehicle, though it has unfortunate tendencies to slip off into tangents that are awkwardly introduced and to insert annoying, somewhat self-aggrandizing observations from the director/narrator, intrusions that needlessly impede the flow of the narrative. Nevertheless, this offering also draws a number of relevant and pertinent parallels between the human condition and that of the lonely whale and its kindreds, metaphorical parables that we had all better heed if we hope to save the whales -- and ourselves.… Expand

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