As we’ve seen the Brenaissance resurrecting Brendan Fraser career, one upcoming movie in particular seems to be at the heart of it is all. As festival audiences have praised director Darren Aronofsky’s hotly anticipated adaptation of The Whale, there’s been a lot of talk surrounding that picture. Oscar buzz has been strong for Fraser in particular, and now you can see why, as the movie’s first trailer has revealed pieces of that emotional performance.
Unveiled by studio A24, the first footage for The Whale is still pretty cryptic about the project on the whole. Showing the world of protagonist Charle (Brendan Fraser) in short moments, we see his surroundings and some of the people that he’ll interact with in this adaptation of Samuel D. Hunter’s play
As we finally get that first look at the 600 lb. Charlie, you could practically feel your tear ducts being poked. Of course, it doesn’t help that we see co-stars Hong Chou and Sadie Sink crying in this very trailer, which only primes the waterworks all the more effectively for the critical darling from this year’s festivals. Despite looking to be rather sick, Brendan Fraser still has a message of hope he delivers to an unseen recipient; and he delivers it with the utmost tenderness.
Though The Whale has received ovations and praise that has built a nice head of buzz heading into awards season, there’s also been some backlash. Fraser’s performance in a prosthetic body suit to give him the proper appearance has been criticised by Bros actor Guy Branum, among others. But even in those criticisms, Brendan Fraser’s comeback arc is still seen as something that’s worthy of celebration.
Perhaps that’s why the teaser for The Whale has been a long time coming, and only shows off so much of the movie. The studio may be trying to maintain an air of mystery surrounding the total package, in hopes that the world will reserve judgement until they’ve seen the movie in its entirety.
Going by these short looks, it seems that even in spite of such controversy, the cast of The Whale haven’t taken for granted the type of movie they’re in. Some have said that Best Actor already belongs to Brendan Fraser at the Oscars. While it’s not exactly an extended look into his performance, the trailer to The Whale does seem to back where those sentiments are coming from.
Again, we’ll have to wait to see the full film before really digging into what it means for the rest of the field in this year’s competition. All we do know is, there’s definitely going to be tears in the theater when The Whale opens in theaters.
The Whale is set to debut in theaters on December 9th. Meanwhile, Brendan Fraser fans can get their fix a day earlier, as Doom Patrol Season 4 is set to premiere on December 8th. Make sure your HBO Max subscription is current, just in case you want to enjoy that off the wall fun before or after wrecking yourself with this emotional epic.
