'The Whale' review: Brendan Fraser's soulful, Oscar-ready performance will blow you away

Darren Aronofsky’s remarkable “The Whale” makes waves in two ways: for Brendan Fraser’s astounding and incredibly compassionate portrayal of an obese man seeking redemption, and as an empathy test in a supremely cynical social media landscape.

Heartbreaking and enrapturing, the psychological drama (★★★★ out of four; rated R; in select theaters now, nationwide Wednesday) is the intimate character study of a reclusive, 600-pound teacher with congestive heart failure who's yearning to make things right with his teenage daughter. “The Whale” is not only a showcase for Fraser; it also includes powerful performances from Sadie Sink and Hong Chau as it makes us ponder religion, mortality, kindness and the lens through which we see the world, all mostly from the confines of a second-floor apartment in Idaho.

For a while, Charlie (Fraser) has been hiding from people, be it the pizza guy who delivers his pepperoni-laden pies or the online creative-writing class he teaches. (Charlie tells his students his laptop webcam is broken during the video chats in which he also instructs them to be honest in their work.)

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Because of his girth, he sticks mainly to his couch, which is where a young missionary named Thomas (Ty Simpkins) finds Charlie at the opening of the movie: Thomas happens to be knocking on his door when Charlie is having chest pains while watching gay porn, and he begs Thomas to read an essay about Herman Melville’s “Moby-Dick,” a paper that both calms Charlie and plays a key role in the narrative.

Thomas quickly meets Liz (Chau), Charlie’s nurse – and the sister of his late partner – who implores him to go to the hospital because of his scary vital signs yet brings him meatball subs with extra cheese. And soon after, another important character enters: Charlie’s estranged daughter, Ellie (Sink), on the cusp of not graduating high school, shows up with nothing good to say to her dad after he left her and mom Mary (Samantha Morton) when Ellie was 8. Charlie knows the clock's ticking on his ailing ticker and is desperate to get to know his kid again, so he makes her a deal to hand over his life savings if he can help polish her school essays.

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Samuel D. Hunter has adapted his own 2012 play to the screen, and the staged aspect is a plus. The story sticks closely to Charlie’s living room, though he does move around the place – slowly and painfully – as his condition worsens and his character (and those around him) are developed. And while Aronofsky often has a penchant for dark fantasy (see: “mother!” and “Black Swan”), “The Whale” remains grounded, though not without some unsettling aspects: One binge-eating scene in particular, when Charlie is at an emotional low, is a harrowing (and deeply effective) horror show of pizza slices, mayo and potato chips.

The film challenges us in important ways – when you see Charlie, do you see the man or just the body? – and the primary reason it works is Fraser. He’s a great actor here at the phenomenal top of his game (where's that best-actor Oscar nomination already?) and on his watch, the role is neither sad nor pitiable. Fraser gives Charlie gravitas and strength as well as a certain effervescence, unencumbered by the weighty prosthetic suit and makeup, as seen in one scene where the character exudes a playful giddiness when taking a new wheelchair for a spin.

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Chau brings an infectious suffer-no-fools attitude to Liz, and Sink, so stellar in the latest season of “Stranger Things,” is amazing as Ellie. While she’s initially manipulative and insulting to Charlie – her mother even calls her “evil” – Sink impressively crafts her arc to slowly peel away that angry, angsty facade and give us a glimpse of the hurt girl underneath.

“The Whale” is an exquisitely soulful tale that avoids forgettable sentimentality. In one of the movie’s key scenes, Charlie says “People are amazing,” which could seem dubious, especially if you’ve spent five minutes on the Internet. Yet Fraser’s bighearted triumph makes you believe it might actually be true.

This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: 'The Whale' review: Brendan Fraser powers an exquisite character study