The Lobster (2015) (English Language)

Review

118min

Genre:     Comedy, Romance, Sci-fi

Director:   Yorgos Lanthimos

Cast:        Colin Farrell, Rachel Weisz, Léa Seydoux…and more

Writers:    Yorgos Lanthimos, Efthymis Filippou

In a dystopian alternative reality, where single people are sent to a resort to find a compatible partner within 45 days or they’ll be turned into an animal of their choice and released into the woods, a desperate man breaks the rules and escapes into the wild to live with an illegal society of loners where he unexpectedly finds true love.

Greek writer/director Yorgos Lanthimos manages to successfully transfer his black deadpan humour into his first English language film the result of which is possibly the most bizarre and unique love story ever seen on screen, not to mention a scathing if surreal commentary on society’s norms regarding relationships and romantic attachments.

Colin Farrell stars as “David”, one of many single people sent to a quaint seaside hotel with draconian rules that seem to reflect an Orwellian society, where people are encouraged to match up with those that have similar traits as trivial as short-sightedness or constantly bleeding noses and were being a loner is outlawed.

All the performances in ‘The Lobster’ are accomplished and virtually everyone gets chance to shine thanks mostly to a surreal narrative and matter-of-fact dialogue that deliberately lacks in any subtlety, which means that people talk about masturbation or killing as incredibly frankly as they do about making tea or dancing, there’s really no small talk in this world and the results are hilarious.

However when David escapes one society to join a supposedly freer one, which ironically ends up being oppressive in its own way, the film switches focus to an unlikely burgeoning romance that attempts to be sincere, with limited success. The momentum of ‘The Lobster’ is halted and drags along until some late action and an ultimately bizarre but somehow touching conclusion.

‘The Lobster’, like any good farcical art or satire, manages to hold a mirror up to society and it reflects our almost equally absurd acceptance of social conventions and norms that set our expectations of love, marriage, family and solitude… and yes our treatment of animals as lower beings as well.

The Bottom Line…

We suspect this is a film that will divide opinion but despite a slightly faltering narrative and pacing issues, ‘The Lobster’ is a bizarre and stark dysfunctional romance that works, a uniquely dark and funny surrealist comedy indie that reminds us of the often absurd nature of our own society.

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Similar films you may like (Home Video)

Logan’s Run (1976)

In a seemingly Utopian future humanity lives peacefully in a futuristic computer-controlled city where the only downside is that everyone must die at the age of 30 to maintain society, when a couple flee the city to escape their fate they learn terrible truths about where mankind has gone.

Directed by Michael Anderson and starring Michael York, Jenny Agutter and Richard Jordan among others.

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