The Lobster (2015) Review!!

Synopsis – In a dystopian near future, single people, according to the laws of The City, are taken to The Hotel, where they are obliged to find a romantic partner in forty-five days or are transformed into beasts and sent off into The Woods.

My Take – If you think you have seen a weird film this year, I am guessing you haven’t seen this one yet. In what is effectively an indie art-house piece, you get a completely insane and almost unfathomable world filled with more and more absurdities everywhere you look. However, it’s such an incredibly unique and eye-catching film that it’s still hugely engrossing and surprisingly entertaining to watch. Director Yorgos Lanthimos‘ new film on the surface is a dark comedy, full of rich images, and staggering performances from its principal cast. Deeper lays one of the most original and heart wrenching stories on modern relationships, likely the best seen in film since Michel Gondry‘s “Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind.“. The hilariously smart script by Lanthimos and co- writer Efthymis Filippou, also manages gets some of the year’s biggest laughs. If you’re still single at the end of the allotted time you are turned into an animal of your choosing. This premise, though outlandish, is in essence an exploration of how in modern society singles are treated with disdain and suspicion, or rather that if you’re single at a certain age there is something amiss. As a satire on dating culture, Lanthimos certainly has a lot of fun exploring his theme. The two create a symphony of truth about our society’s perception of relationships and love. The best part is the film takes its story as seriously as any drama, and you feel that through the deeply disturbing atmosphere that emerges off the screen. However, as the film is just so weird, it eases you into the oddness of it all very impressively through the use of humor, something that more pretentious art-house films fail to do, and are reluctantly a lot harder to really get into. The story follows David (Colin Farrell) in a distopian future, where single people are turned into an animal of their choice if they fail to find love or a right partner in 45 days. As David has recently split for his wife, he sent to a hotel deep in the forest where the match making & the conversion process takes place.

David chooses to be a lobster. As each day counts down, with the buzz of a morning alarm clock signalling breakfast, David gradually makes friends each struggling to cope with the pressures of settling down. David meets women (Ashley Jensen) who would rather kill themselves than transform into an animal. He meets men (Ben Whishaw) who’ll smash their heads on a cabinet to ensure they’re compatible with others. He meets another man (John C. Reilly) who’s punished after proven to be masturbating. It’s only absolutes: are you heterosexual or homosexual? Are you comfortably lonesome or do you seek companionship? The only grey area is outside, as the weather is permanently downcast.The beauty of the film is the intriguing questions it asks of us. David is nothing special and simply wonders what to do next. He wants to be content, he just doesn’t know how. He’ll try dancing. He’ll try shooting an anorak-wearing loner. He’ll even try uniting with the heartless one, until her lack of heart reveals its ugly side. David is the broken man who struggles to fit in. He’s had a gay experience in college but, by the hotels rules, has to define himself as heterosexual. Breaking the film into two distinct halves, his experience in both companion-hotel and outcast-clan (led by Léa Seydoux) is fraught with insecurity and fear. Expectations are false and social-norms, flawed. Lanthimos’ patient direction contrasts nature with the harsh urban city and aging hotel decor. Suited and neatly held in tight clothing, with ill-fitting heels (and uncomfortable trousers), David and ‘short-sighted woman’ (Rachel Weisz), walk on isolated, rural roads. This clash between modernity and our lack of connection with the wild is clear. Tall trees reach to the sky, dominating the frame like bars on a jail cell. Men and women are trapped by assumed rules. In the hotel, performances act out solo and duo scenarios. This appreciation of our dependency on others is laughable. But marriages break down because of a need for independence. Long-term relationships are often forged on lies. People actively choose to deceive themselves. The methods the staff at the hotel use to convince people it’s better to be with someone, although shown with deadpan humor, are very disturbing and unexpectedly effective. For instance, when people arrive at the hotel one of their hands is tied up behind their backs to show them that “everything is easier in pair”. But there’s also a way to extend your stay and remain single. The nearby forest is a hiding place for a group of runaways from the hotel who the residents go out to hunt once in a while. For each successful capture they get their stay extended. It’s a pretty straightforward representation of society’s fight against diversity and those who don’t adhere to rules, but Lanthimos doesn’t stay there. In the second half of the film, when the focus moves from the hotel to the forest, we get even more rigorous rules and brutal demonstration of intolerance for those who don’t follow them. It’s one of director’s ironical twists, but also a disturbing example of illogical and revengeful human nature.

Those who were forced to find a partner formed a community in which it is forbidden to have a partner, or even just flirt. Main character proves to be an constant exception and keeps breaking the rules wherever he is and whatever they are (which brings to question whether there’s any possibility for him to have a happy ending), symbolizing in that way a fight for individuality inside an oppressive system. Unfortunately, this comedy rather goes off the rails in a gratuitously over-long final section. In the same way as you never wanted to see tents again in “Three go mad camping” (aka “Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows part 1“) we spend what seems like forever locked in the woods with the singletons led by Léa Seydoux and David’s new love interest the ‘Short sighted woman”. With about 118 minutes clocking in, the final act (though very watchable) seemed to have stretched beyond comprehension. While this segment is enlivened by the occasional appearance of ‘ex-humans’, it is generally dull and dark enough to drive all of the comic momentum out of the film. But alas the film isn’t just about its script. It also assembles one of the year’s best cast ensembles. Colin Farrell delivers his best performance in the most audacious film role to date. Colin Farrell is extremely restrained and barely shows any emotion for the entire movie, adding more humor to the situations he finds himself in. Rachel Weisz is a sensation, giving her best work since her Oscar-winning role in “The Constant Gardener.” As the “Lisping Man,” its refreshing to see John C. Reilly dig deep into a role like this, one of which we haven’t seen from him in nearly a decade. As the “Limping Man,” Ben Whishaw continues to build an arsenal of titanic-like performances, all of which solidifies him as one of the best kept secrets working today. More roles for him please. As the “Loner Leader,” Léa Seydoux‘s villainous demeanor is a fantastical addition, adding a needed depth and danger to the film and role. Olivia Colman’s Hotel Manager is a bonus treat, as she effortlessly brings chuckles and fear to her mystery woman. On the whole, ‘The Lobster‘ one of the most hilarious & weirdest presentations of a tender love story in recent years. but I must warn you that if you feel you can’t cope with this film for longer than the first twenty minutes, then it’s not for you. This is definitely a cult film for the ages, but won’t be a big hit with general audiences.