The Lobster (2015)

Genre

Comedy | Drama | Romance | Sci-Fi

Director

Yorgos Lanthimos

Country

Ireland | UK | Greece | France | Netherlands

Cast

Colin Farrell, Rachel Weisz, Jessica Barden, Olivia Colman, Ashley Jensen, Ariane Labed, Aggeliki Papoulia, John C. Reilly, Léa Seydoux, Michael Smiley, Ben Whishaw, Roger Ashton-Griffiths, Ewen MacIntosh

Storyline

In a dystopian near future, single people are arrested and transferred to The Hotel, where they are obliged to find a partner in 45 days. If they fail, they are transformed into an animal and released into the woods.

Opinion

Around this time last year, knowing nothing about Yorgos Lanthimos's cinema, I was attracted to one of my favourite actors, Colin Farrell. Unfortunately, the film wasn't screened in my city which basically meant I had to wait. Months later, I got the DVD, but kept on postponing the watch because I just wasn't in the mood for a dystopian film. Long story short, I've finally watched and I regret not doing it before because "The Lobster" may be weird, and absurd but it is also incredibly beautiful, engaging, emotive and thought provoking. A brilliant dark comedy.

Watching the film without knowing the plot - which is something I do most of the time -, was an experience. And what experience! What I found before me was an interesting, thrilling story that is very strange and very original at the same time whose unusual progress kept me engaged and wondering what would have happened next.

But there's more to the story. The film indeed raises important and thought provoking questions about love. In particular the film attacks society's constant push for us to find love, and eventually build a family. The pressure society puts on us is so strong - and I know that because being single myself I am constantly asked when I'll find a man -, often we end up with someone we don't even love. And the film focuses on that, making us wonder, is there any real love? Or is it just something we tell ourselves to justify the fact that we are just doing what society tells us to do.

And that's the first part. In the second part, Lanthimos shows us the other side of society, another totalitarian system in stark contrast to the one mentioned before where relationships not only are discouraged, but are forbidden. So we have two distant yet very similar societies as in both failing to meet their standards are harshly punished.

In the middle, stuck between these two worlds, there's David, a man that doesn't fit in any of those two standards and that will eventually be able to find real love.

And now I have to congratulate the director for the wonderful job he has done. First of all, I believe that, in the hands of a different director, the film would have been just the typical, clichéd "she's different, I have to know her" Hollywood flick. Instead, "The Lobster" is smart, sad and heartwarming. Secondly, his direction - and writing of course - is extraordinary and the slow motion sequences are breathtaking.

And now let's move onto the film's comedy. Being a dark comedy, I was expecting to laugh to inappropriate and weird things, and that's exactly what happened. What the characters do and say is hilariously unpredictable, and I loved it.

Finally the cast. First up, Colin Farrell who does a tremendous job as David. Fully committing to the character and finally stepping out of his typical bad boy character, I believe he gives his best performance ever, probably because he also plays his best role ever. The supporting cast is no less. From Rachel Weisz - who also narrates this -, to Léa Seydoux, to Ben Whishaw - which I loved seeing in this -, they all do a fantastic job.