The Whale: A Moving LGBTQ+ Film About Grief, Family, and Self-Acceptance
The Whale, starring Brendan Fraser, explores grief, self-acceptance, and parenthood as a gay man tries to reconnect with his estranged daughter in the final…
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The year 2022, which has just passed, was another year in which many films explored LGBTQ+ stories from a wide range of angles and perspectives. One of the standout films we want to highlight today is "The Whale," an LGBTQ+ film starring Brendan Fraser. It tells the story of a middle-aged, severely obese man weighing around 600 pounds who wants to eat himself to death after losing his partner in the final chapter of his life.
At its heart, the story follows his discovery that he is not what society considers a typical man. After marrying, building a family, and having a daughter, one day his male partner passes away, and he longs to rebuild his relationship with the only daughter he has left. At first glance the plot may seem easy to predict, but there are many layers woven through it, including learning to accept himself and the people around him.
The original work is adapted from a stage play written by Samuel D. Hunter, and the film is directed by the highly skilled Darren Aronofsky, known for "Mother!" and "Black Swan." The Whale is Aronofsky's follow-up to Mother!, a film that drew overwhelming critical reactions.
Sexual Orientation and LGBTQ+ Lives
In truth, it is never too late to discover the direction in which our own happiness lies. Even though this is a film, the writer of this review has seen in real life that many people only come to understand their own desires after passing through a particular chapter of life. That chapter might be marriage, which is seen as one of the milestones of a shared "life as a couple," in line with the value placed on the stability of building a family.
It is hard for a man who holds the role of "father" to fully accept that one day he may no longer have the same sexual orientation as before. Many times, our lives cannot be free of rules and duties, and not every society we live in is able to understand the ways we change over time. The burdens we each carry are not equal. Sometimes many people choose to say nothing until their very last day, if they believe that is the kinder choice for others.
In this sense, having a sexual orientation that shifts over time is not wrong. Some things simply need time to take root, and we have to move past the old feelings that keep trying to tell us we are the ones in the wrong. Even so, there is still one more thing we are all responsible for: our "duty." In this film, for example, Charlie (the father) is not wrong to discover that he is attracted to men, but abandoning his daughter must be counted as a failure in his duty as a father, because he genuinely did not carry out that role.
We must not forget that children do not choose whether or not they are born. The ones who make that first choice are the parents, who decide together. That means a child's birth is our responsibility, to care for them, to give them love, and to provide the nurturing a person needs to grow into a healthy part of society.
On the other hand, children also need to remember that many parents are human beings just like them. That means parents, too, have the right to make mistakes like any other person. Forgiving one another is therefore an essential part of the family, and of every kind of love we are able to give to one another.
And so, the writer believes that we can be a father while having a boyfriend who is another man, or we can be a mother whose future partner may be another woman. All that matters is that we fulfill the "duty of a parent" with full pride. Living apart and going separate ways does not create the kind of inner wounds in a child that come from staying together without love, simply because it is seen as an obligation.
The Whale itself portrays all of this beautifully. The film conveys the final, unresolved feelings between a man carrying deep emotional wounds, his daughter, and the caregiver who looks after him, and it does so with real pain. Every character is fully human, with their own needs and their own way of expressing them. It must also be said that Brendan Fraser remains a leading actor of the highest caliber in conveying the emotions and pain of a man with fractures in his relationships with his family. Seeing a performance at this level, it is a shame that this once-rising star was pushed out of the industry because of the sexual assault he himself experienced at the hands of a powerful figure in the business.
An LGBTQ+ Film Warmly Received
The film has been well received, drawing praise from many critics. Cameron Bailey, CEO of the event behind the TIFF Tribute Award for Performance, an honor given to actors with outstanding work, told the website Deadline:
"Brendan Fraser delivered a deeply moving, powerful, and remarkably nuanced performance in The Whale, an LGBTQ+ film. This former Torontonian has been an action star, a cartoon character, and a leading man in romantic films. We are thrilled to welcome him home as the actor behind one of the best performances of the year."
The film also earned more than six hundred thousand dollars at the box office, even though it screened in far fewer theaters than other big-budget releases. Most interesting of all, actors who win the TIFF Tribute Award are often nominated for, or even take home, an Oscar, such as Joaquin Phoenix in 2019 and many other leading performers. The writer, too, hopes this will mark another fresh start for Brendan Fraser, a gifted actor who was once made to disappear from the industry and has now returned to stand tall again in the most graceful way.
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Verified references
Links and relevance to the article’s main topic were reviewed on 13 August 2026. Each source supports only the scope stated in the original document and does not replace personalised medical, legal, or service advice.
- OHCHR: LGBT rights fact sheet Accessed 13 August 2026
