“The Whale” Punish us from Start to Finish

Darren Aronofsky’s “The Whale” It is a dark new drama that has been billed for months as the returning of Brendan Fraser.

It’s also a quasi-comeback for Aronofsky, whose prior film, “mother!” Despite being a thought-provoking and admirable experiment, it inspired people to cry uncle in 2017.

His latest is even more charming. It is the fact that he is now the anti-commercial wizard, who broke out with “Pi” (1998). Jolted the World with His “Requiem for a Dream” (2000), and achieved mainstream success with his sensational “Black Swan” He won’t take it easy on the popcorn crowd.

Aronofsky’s films are prickly as Polanski’s and his latest, like the best of 2022, will inspire love-it-or-hate-it reactions.

Fraser plays Charlie, a college professor with an obesity who teaches online classes and lives alone. He is also grieving the loss of his lover. His estranged daughter’s appearances (well played by Sadie Sink) “Stranger Things”Charlie is forced to confront his past and make decisions about his future.

Charlie may relish the chance to confront those he’s hurt in the past. At other times, it looks like he’s eating himself to death.

Anyone who has paid attention to Fraser’s career will note that he never went away.

Fraser recently stole Danny Boyle’s “Trust,” about the 1973 Getty kidnapping (the 10-part FX mini-series was overshadowed by Ridley Scott’s “All the Money in the World”). Here, only Fraser’s expressive eyes reminded me he was playing Charlie.

The actor is not recognisable, but his performance is exceptional. While Aronofsky works hard to give this style and distinction, Fraser’s performance is really the best and only reason to see “The