The Whale
A24 | Release Date: December 9, 2022 CRITIC SCORE DISTRIBUTION
60
METASCORE
Mixed or average reviews based on 57 Critic Reviews
Positive:
26
Mixed:
23
Negative:
8
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Critic Reviews

Critic scorePublicationBy date
38
Boston GlobeOdie HendersonDec 20, 2022
The Whale is being hailed as the comeback vehicle for Fraser. The actor has been through a lot, and he deserves roles that showcase his numerous talents. But he fails to bring humanity to this character who lives in a state of constant apology. The role feels like a cynical grab for an Oscar, which he’ll probably win as the Academy loves masochistic malarkey. Read full review
38
RogerEbert.comChristy LemireDec 9, 2022
The Whale is an abhorrent film, but it also features excellent performances. Read full review
38
Slant MagazineMark HansonSep 14, 2022
With The Whale, Darren Aronofsky brings a hollow sense of dignity to his schematic brand of cinematic misery porn. Read full review
37
Washington PostAnn HornadayDec 20, 2022
Darren Aronofsky’s adaptation of Samuel D. Hunter’s play is a murky-looking, claustrophobic exercise in emotionalism at its most trite and ostentatiously maudlin. Read full review
33
ColliderBrian FormoSep 5, 2022
It is inorganic, gimmicky, manipulative, and its lessons are simplistic. Read full review
30
Wall Street JournalKyle SmithDec 9, 2022
Mr. Fraser looks so spectacularly awful as Charlie in the film, directed by Darren Aronofsky, that this chamber piece amounts to a variation of torture porn for highbrows, with a fat suit rather than a meat cleaver as the bringer of cinematic shock. Read full review
30
Vanity FairRichard LawsonSep 4, 2022
What might have been a somber and carefully considered study of a lonely man grappling with his past becomes a posturing labor. Read full review
20
The Irish TimesDonald ClarkeFeb 2, 2023
The director of shockers such as Requiem for a Dream and Mother! has had his mainstream moments, but he has never before been quite so at home to tawdry soap opera. Read full review
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