The Whale Ending & Real Meaning Explained

The Whale ending brought the powerful and intense drama to a conclusion that requires some more analysis. The movie has Brendan Fraser in an Oscar-winning role, as a teacher who battles with an eating disorder that has left him at over 600 pounds and on the verge of death. All he wants in life is to reconcile with his daughter and possibly help her, knowing she has a hard life of her own. However, The Whale‘s ending brings about a bittersweet resolution for the two characters.

The Darren Aronofsky movie ends with the heavy implication that Charlie has died. He tried reconnecting with his daughter Ellie (Sadie Sink), and he did everything he could to make progress throughout the film. However, this was always one-sided, and in the end, he refused to give up on his daughter and tried to give her the one thing she asked for the first time she appeared in the movie. This all led to The Whale ending where Charlie finally seemed to die and pass on to the other side.

Why Charlie Kept The Moby Dick Essay For So Long

The Essay Highlights Qualities In His Daughter That He Wished He Had

Throughout The Whale’s story, Charlie is shown reading from a Moby Dick essay which calms him and brings him solace. The Whale ending explained that the essay was written by Ellie, and he considered it the most honest piece of writing he ever read.

Charlie held that close to his heart because it was honest in a way he or his students never were.

Charlie was constantly frustrated with the students he taught online because they would give him generic responses or write what they thought would please him enough to get a good grade. Ellie’s essay had an opinion and a strong perspective that conveyed how she felt about the novel and Captain Ahab. Charlie held that close to his heart because it was honest in a way he or his students never were.

What Happened With Ellie In The Whale?

Ellie’s Final Scene With Her Father Could Give Her Hope

The Whale was met with a lot of controversy with how Charlie is depicted and the insulting way Ellie interacts with him. The first time she appeared, she told him that he disgusted her, regardless of his appearance, and said if he loved her, he would walk to her without assistance, which she knew he couldn’t do, and he sadly fell, breaking his table. She kept returning because he promised to write an essay for school for her and offered her all his money, which totaled over $120,000 since he never spent money on anything but food and rent.

…there is hope she could finally see in herself what Charlie did all those years

When Charlie’s ex-wife Mary showed up to talk to him about their daughter, Ellie’s dark and cruel side appeared again. Mary (Samantha Morton) and Charlie divorced when Charlie left them for a student named Alan. Mary severed Charlie’s contact with Ellie and wanted to raise her on her own which didn’t work out well. When Mary lashed out at Charlie at the end, she admitted that Ellie had turned into a “monster” and was cruel to her fellow students and others. This was also shown when Ellie drugged her father and took photos of him to share online.

Sadie Sink was nominated for a Critics’ Choice Award for her performance.

Ellie was still working through her problems at The Whale’s end. Ellie refused to reconnect with her dad, even at the end, but she did one thing that might be a glimmer of hope. Knowing he didn’t have a lot of time left, Charlie asked her, before she left for the last time, to read her Moby Dick essay to him again. Ellie read the essay and Charlie rose and attempted to walk like at the beginning.

It was full circle, as he wanted her essay to be the last thing he heard before he died. When he rose to walk, he floated into the white sky, and it seemed he died. With Ellie reading to him as he died, there is hope she could finally see in herself what Charlie did all those years.

How Did Thomas Affect Charlie In The Whale?

Charlie Plays Into The Movie’s Theme Of Forgiveness

Another character in The Whale cast that plays a role in Charlie’s final days is the missionary, Thomas. It’s revealed in The Whale‘s ending he wasn’t really a missionary after having a lapse in his faith, stealing money from his youth group, and running away from home. However, this all crashed down on him when he admitted this to Ellie. What he didn’t know was that she was recording what he said. At the same time, she took pictures of her dad to humiliate him and she sent the recording to Thomas’ parents and former church to humiliate him.

Charlie could see the good in anyone, even when their intentions were evil.

This backfired, as his parents offered to take him back in, and he found forgiveness. This also allowed Charlie to see what he wanted, as he told Mary that Ellie was a good person because she helped Thomas reunite with his parents. Charlie could see the good in anyone, even when their intentions were evil. Even when Ellie lashed out at her dad, humiliated people around her, and lived a self-destructive life, Charlie could only see the eight-year-old girl who wrote an essay about Moby Dick.

Why Charlie Finally Shows His Face To His Students

Charlie Exposed Himself As He Faced His End

As The Whale ending explained, Charlie really wanted to die. He had the money for a hospital stay but refused to spend it and lied to the only person who cared about him. He didn’t care about his life anymore and just wanted to save his daughter. As he told his wife, he just wanted to do one good thing in his life. Charlie saw all the lies – from himself, his daughter, the missionary, and more – just caused more pain.

He was tired of lying, and he decided that he would finally be honest. After lying to his students about his laptop camera being broken, he finally let them see what he looked like, showcasing Brendan Fraser’s transformation in The Whale role. His students were shocked at his appearance and he broke his laptop, severing his final ties with the outside world.

How The Whale Compares To The Play (Biggest Differences)

The Movie Ending Adds A More Hopeful Message

Playwright Samuel D. Hunter also wrote the screenplay for the film adaptation, making The Whale fairly loyal to the original play. However, one of the biggest differences between the movie adaptation and the play is director Darren Aronofsky’s more hopeful ending. This was executed in the visual appearance of the two endings.

As The Whale ended, Charlie went into a white light and the last thing he saw was an image of him, his wife, and their daughter on a beach from the past. It was a sign of hope. The stage play kept showing how bad things were getting until Charlie died, and it all went black and deathly silent. Despite the heartbreaking tone of the movie, it at least ended on a more positive note.

The Real Meaning Of The Whale’s Ending

Charlie’s Purpose Is Linked To Ellie’s Journey

The Whale tackles many subjects, including abandonment, loss, broken families, sexuality, and the need for connection. The film’s most powerful theme is redemption. However, as with The Wrestler’s ending and Black Swan‘s ending, Darren Aronofsky left viewers wondering what happened when the movie ended.

The Whale ending explores Charlie’s desire to help Ellie find happiness before he dies. This is the only way he feels will absolve him of his past mistakes. Thomas also wants to be redeemed by bringing Charlie back to religion and puts forth tremendous effort to do so. The film suggests redemption has to be earned, and Charlie works hard for it, but that it must also come from the desire to make amends, to begin with.

The film suggests redemption has to be earned… but that it must also come from the desire to make amends.

The Whale also touches upon the theme of being oneself, no matter what others think. Charlie feels a lot of shame — be it because of his sexuality or weight — and he hides a lot, fearing judgment despite his own compassion for others. However, the ending implies there is beauty in honesty — with others and oneself — and being unafraid of boldly being true to oneself.

Crucially, The Whale also explores the variety of ways an individual might deal with grief, be that in losing a significant other to death or dealing with the absence of a parent. Everyone handles it differently, and Aronofsky’s film showcases the breadth of experiences.

Brendan Fraser Won An Oscar For The Whale

Fraser’s Win Completed His Hollywood Comeback

Brendan Fraser took the dramatic role in The Whale and delivered a critically acclaimed comeback performance. In Charlie’s interactions with Liz, he shows his undying optimism in the people around him, even as he hates himself. When he talked to his daughter Ellie, he saw the good in her, even as she did everything in her power to hurt those around her. As a reward for this performance, Fraser picked up his first Oscar nomination for Best Actor.

He received the same nomination from the Golden Globes, but he lost out in that ceremony to Austin Butler (Elvis). Despite that loss, Fraser rebounded at the Oscars and took home wins at other ceremonies like the SAG Awards. On top of Fraser, Hong Chau also received a nomination for Best Actress in a Supporting Role and The Whale won the Oscar for Makeup and Hairstyling.

How The Whale Ending Was Received

The Reaction To The Whale’s Ending Highlights The Divisive Response To The Movie

Brenda Fraser’s lead performance in The Whale and the performances of the rest of the cast were praised, but the movie did receive a rather mixed reaction from critics. The Whale earned a 64% on Rotten Tomatoes, making it one of Darren Aronofsky’s most poorly reviewed films to date. However, the movie also holds a 91% audience score as well as a 7.6 IMDb score, showing a strong divide. The reception to The Whale’s ending seems to highlight that divide further.

Many audiences spoke about the emotional experience of the movie and the ending continues that tone

There are some who see the ending as a bittersweet moment of redemption for Charlie after living with so much pain. Many audiences spoke about the emotional experience of the movie and the ending continues that tone with it being a tragic moment of Charlie passing on, but comes at a moment of him achieving that connection to his daughter that he sought for so long.

However, others felt that the ending leaned into melodrama, with the quick shot of Charlie apparently being lifted to heaven feeling over-the-top. With Aronofsky’s The Wrestler delivering a similar ending that subtly hints at its protagonist dying as the screen cuts to black, some viewers felt the filmmaker did not have the same faith in his audience this time around, with no subtlety to be found.

The movie has also been criticized for how it depicts an obese person and the ending has been criticized as feeding into that notion. Beth Younger of Salon wrote about the movie’s depiction of Charlie’s weight, suggesting it is depicted as monstrous and disgusting. She interprets the ending of the movie as suggesting Charlie’s death allows him to escape the burden of his obese body, a feeling other viewers of The Whale have echoed.

What Brendan Fraser Has Said About The Whale Ending

When Charlie Stood For His Daughter, It Was The End

The Whale was a huge comeback role for Brendan Fraser and showed his true talent that many fans had forgotten he possessed. He was also someone who Darren Aronofsky knew was perfect for the role of this broken, damaged man. Fraser knew it would take a lot of work, but he also knew that it was a once-in-a-lifetime role for him. He has acknowledged how much he appreciates the opportunity and how it is something he could never take for granted.

As for The Whale ending, Fraser said there was one very important moment in the film that set up the conclusion. It was the moment where Ellie was tormenting her dad and forced him to stand up without his walker. She knew he couldn’t and knew he would fall, but he wanted so bad to prove himself to her that he tried, and failed. This is the moment that Charlie tried, more than any other, to get through to his daughter (via Entertainment Weekly):

“It’s important because it’s a Herculean effort that he makes to even get to his feet. “For him to finally break through to her, humble himself before her, and let her know that he made a mistake and is sorry for it. While his life has not physically ended in that moment, I think that he knows he doesn’t need to live any longer, which is why he takes off his breather

He’s got her reading the essay, and he does take to his feet like three Olympic dead-lifters, takes his baby steps to his baby, and in that beautiful two-shot, a great white light appears, and they look skyward. Depending on your belief system, spiritually or otherwise, we see that Charlie — with a touch of magic realism — finally does fly.”

This moment that Fraser loves so much is also one that writer Samuel D. Hunter said is Charlie’s “hero journey where he gets the elixir.” When Charlie tells his daughter that her essay that she made a D on was “the best essay I’ve ever read,” it shows he finally saw her – the only person who ever did. This was the ultimate moment in The Whale and Brendan Fraser says that is the story he was trying to tell.