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The Whale

Summary: A reclusive, morbidly obese English teacher attempts to reconnect with his estranged teenage daughter.
Runtime: 1 h 57 min
MPAA: R

Production: A24, Protozoa Pictures
Distributor: A24
Country: United States
Language: English
Movie budget: $ 10,000,000
Domestic: $ 17,463,630
International: $ 40,152,005

Box office:

Budget:$10MDomestic:$17.5MInternational:$40.2MWorldwide:$57.6M

Box office International:

Source: The Numbers

14%
60/10074/100
45%20%
White80%Indian10%Asian10%
0.95

LGBTQ content included:

gay, gay character

BechdeltestTalk about a man

Commonsensemedia

Message3/5
Role model2/5
Diverse2/5
Violence2/5
Sex4/5
Language4/5
Consumerism2/5

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Parental Guide

Parental Guide: +add

This film gets a 0.95/5 family friendly score

MPAA CertificationNo MPAA rating found yet. Add Family Friendly Rating?

IMDb Rating

https://www.imdb.com/title/tt13833688/parentalguide

last updated: 2024-10-26Update data

Commonsensemedia Rating

https://www.commonsensemedia.org/movie-reviews/the-whale-0

last updated: 2024-10-26Update data

Message
3/5

Thoughtful dialogue and discussions around love, literature, truth, and faith. Movie is also about dangers of pre-judging people. Promotes compassion.

Role model
2/5

Charlie is a smart, positive-thinking man who does everything he can to support his daughter, but he also has some major weaknesses. He lies to his students and keeps a big secret from his best friend, one that ends up hurting her. And he's forever apologizing for things, revealing a lack of confidence. In one sequence, after hearing bad news, he binge-eats and vomits. Liz, a nurse and Charlie's best friend, is selfless in her devotion to him, though she's often frustrated by him and sometimes even teases him. Some characters say cruel things about someone being overweight.

Diverse
2/5

Movie approaches Charlie's experiences with obesity from a sympathetic place. He's also gay and mourning the loss of his true love. But the movie frames fatness -- and queerness -- as something shocking that needs to be "humanized" in the first place. Another major character is a strong, complex Asian woman (Vietnamese actor Hong Chau). Charlie's daughter, Ellie, is very smart, although she's also quite difficult and likes to make trouble; her mother is also a smart, three-dimensional woman. A South Asian supporting character shows kindness to Charlie. The only other character is Thomas, a White male missionary. Cruel language about a person being fat is heard.

Violence
2/5

Dialogue describing a horrible death (a bloated body washes up on shore, etc.). Main character frequently in pain. Main character chokes on food. Binge-eating and vomiting. Violent dialogue about death, stabbing, rape, etc.

Sex
4/5

A character masturbates, with his hand underneath sweatpants. A pornographic video plays on a laptop, with one person kissing and thrusting behind another. (No graphic nudity shown.) Charlie is shown shirtless in the shower. Strong sex-related dialogue.

Language
4/5

Language includes "f--k," "bulls--t," "s--t," "a--hole," "f--got," "retarded," "goddamn," "bitch," "hell," "idiot," "shut up," "stupid," "penis," "oh my God." "Jesus" and "oh Christ" as exclamations.

Consumerism
2/5

Various snack foods and sodas on display: Pepsi, 3 Musketeers chocolate bar, Dr. Pepper, etc. Mentions of Walmart.

Drinking
0/5

Teen vaping and smoking pot. A main character smokes cigarettes regularly. Dialogue about teen smoking too much pot. Character drugged with Ambien. Dialogue about someone who drinks frequently. Dialogue about college students drinking alcohol.

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