Estonian premiere

The Whale

Local title
Vaal
Title in Russian
Кит
Original title
The Whale
Director
Darren Aronofsky
Country
USA
Year
2022
Programme
Screen International Critics' Choice
Genre
drama
Subject
interpersonal relationships, love, child-parent relationships

It’s an account of a man committing suicide in slow motion. And, at the same time, it’s a portrait of an eternal optimist who still cherishes hope for humanity. “Do you ever get the feeling that people are incapable of not caring?” asks Charlie (a remarkable Brendan Fraser). But since the chronically obese online English teacher is a shut-in who rarely leaves his sofa, let alone his apartment, his actual first-hand experiences of “people” is limited. Charlie, it becomes clear, is a mess of contradictions.

Fraser is an actor who brings with him considerable audience goodwill and who arguably delivers a career-best performance. And fans of the more spiritual end of Aronofsky’s career spectrum will be gratified to discover that the film is closer in tone to The Fountain than it is to Mother!

Wendy Ide, Screen Daily

Director
Darren Aronofsky
Screenwriter
Samuel D. Hunter
Cast
Brendan Fraser, Sadie Sink, Hong Chau, Ty Simpkins, Samantha Morton
Producer
Darren Aronofsky, Jeremy Dawson, Ari Handel
DoP
Matthew Libatique
Editor
Andrew Weisblum
Composer
Rob Simonsen
Distributor
Estonian Theatrical Distribution
World sales
A24
Runtime
Language
English
Subtitles
Estonian, Russian
Other festivals
Toronto, London, Venice

Screenings

2nd Hall Apollo Kino Solaris
Screening011101 / Vaal
SubtitlesEstonian, Russian
Screening duration
2nd Hall Apollo Kino Solaris
Screening041103 / Vaal
SubtitlesEstonian, Russian
Screening duration
2nd Hall Apollo Kino Solaris
Screening091104 / Vaal
SubtitlesEstonian, Russian
Screening duration
Trailer