The Whale ending explained: What happened to Charlie?

The Whale is taken from the namesake 2012 play and is written by Samuel D. Hunter. This Darren Aronofsky-directed film had its world premiere at the 2022 Venice International Film Festival. It was released theatrically on December 9, 2022, by A24.

Here's the official synopsis:

A reclusive, morbidly obese English teacher attempts to reconnect with his estranged teenage daughter.

Starring Brendan Fraser, Sadie Sink and Hong Chau among others, the film was a commercial success earning $57.6 million. Besides this, it also received positive critical response. So let us explore how the film ends and the eventual fate of its lead character Charlie.

What is the plot of The Whale?

A still from The Whale | Image via A24 YouTube

The Whale takes place in 2016 and follows Charlie, who teaches English to students through online classes. Because of his obesity, he is ashamed to showcase himself to the world and lives a recluse life. He even keeps his camera switched off during classes. He has a nurse, Liz, who is also his friend. One of his visitors is Thomas, who works as a missionary. Charlie had left his daughter and wife, Ellie, and Mary eight years ago for one of his students. Now, he plans to reconnect with Ellie.

How does The Whale end?

The ending of The Whale implies that Charlie has passed away. He is shown reading an essay of Moby Dick that his daughter Ellie wrote. His relationship with his estranged daughter remains strained throughout as he tries to interact with her. Charlie also plans to give all his money, which amounts to more than $120,000.

Ellie is a bit rude to him because of the way he treated her and her mother Mary earlier. Charlie had left them years ago for someone else. The couple eventually divorced. Towards the end, Thomas confesses that he is not actually a missionary but ran away from home after stealing money. Ellie then threatens to tell his family about all this. Afterward, Thomas asks for forgiveness and manages to have a reunion with his parents.

Charlie finally shows his face to the students during class before his death. He then breaks the laptop, along with his connection to the outside world. Ellie and Liz reach to meet Charlie as he finally walks without assistance before dying and getting engulfed in a white light. Unlike the play, the film ends on a relatively positive note.

Through Charlie's story, the makers dig deep into themes of loneliness and abandonment. He tries his best to win back his daughter and it is linked with her journey. Because of his condition, Charlie is always ashamed of himself. But towards the end, he finally embraces it and shows his students how he looks. Amid his weight issues, the makers also touch upon his sexuality. This is hinted at his backstory.

In an interview with LA Times, Aronofksy spoke about how he was impacted by the original play. He said,

"As far as “The Whale,” I remember reading the review in the New York Times and being like, “Wow, what a bizarre, crazy story to try to bring to the stage. What a unique character.” So I was fascinated to go see it. And when it started, it was just characters that I, on the surface, could never understand or relate to, but by the end of the play, my heart was broken and I knew these characters like I knew members of my family."

What do you think of the ending of The Whale?