Wow. Director Yorgos Lanthimos presents a singular vision with The Lobster, a pitch-pitch-pitch black satire about the pressure for singles to couple up.
The viewer is dropped into a world in which singles have 45 days to find a suitable partner. If they fail, they are transformed into an animal of their choice. The title comes from protagonist David's preferred animal. Lobsters "live for over one hundred years, are blue-blooded like aristocrats, and they stay fertile all their lives" David explains in regards to his choice. Plus, he "likes the sea very much".
Colin Farrell, with a shaggy haircut, an adorably flabby belly, and a pair of unflattering glasses, plays David, whose wife has left him for another man. He is required to check into a hotel, where all his personal belongings are confiscated. He will have 45 days to find a mate. He can earn extra days during "hunts", where he and the other guests use tranquilizer darts to hunt down "loners"--people who have decided to reject this system and live out in the woods.
I liked that we don't get an explanation for why these rules exist in this alternate version of the world. It just is. There are strange rules and customs in the hotel, such as locking a new guest's right hand behind his or her back with handcuffs for one day in order to remind them how easier things are "with two instead of one". Also, masturbation is forbidden among the singles, yet hotel staff are required to sexually arouse the guests everyday without relief--to encourage them in their desire and efforts to find a mate, presumably. It's very dystopic and bizarre, and I loved it!
David makes friends with a man with a limp (Ben Whishaw) and a man with a lisp (John C. Reilly). These characters don't have names, they are listed in the credits by their "distinguishing characteristic". There is a lot of encouragement for singles to find other singles with similar characteristics to pair up with--which leads Whishaw's character to fake nosebleeds in order to successfully court a young woman who also suffers from nosebleeds.
The first half of the film sets up the strange rules of this world and comments (often unsubtly, but always hilariously) on how singles are denigrated in many societies. The singles in the hotel are monitored and treated like naughty children who don't know what's best for them. Couplehood is the only escape--other than, of course, being transformed into a dog or a camel or a peacock.
Spoilers-ish--
The second half of the movie focuses on the lives of the loners living out in the woods. When David runs away from the hotel, the loners find him and explain THEIR rules. Yes, living as a loner doesn't mean getting to do whatever you want. Love, sex, and even friendship are discouraged. If two people flirt with one another (or, God forbid, have sex) they are brutally punished. Everyone is expected to dig their own grave and discouraged from helping one another.
This extends the complex metaphor of The Lobster: just like in our world, singleness comes with its own set of stereotypes, obligations, and expectations. David points out that being a loner is great because "we can listen to music whenever we want. We can masturbate whenever we want. We can go on walks whenever we want" which sounds a lot like what I hear about the stereotypical benefits of being single in our world--freedom to do what we want (or who we want) whenever we want it. But we supposedly pay for this freedom with loneliness.
/End Spoilers
I won't go into details about how the film concludes, but I will say that it's all at once hopeful, horrifying, and darkly funny. In fact the whole film can be described with those adjectives. While some people may be put off by the deadpan acting (The Lobster is like a Wes Anderson funhouse mirror: all the mannerisms and blunt ways of speaking are there, but with a lot more cynicism and violence), fans of quirky, arty films will definitely enjoy The Lobster. If you liked Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind and Her, this film will be your bailiwick. One warning though: if you don't like movies where animals are killed, DO NOT see this movie.
The Lobster is a truly unique and unusual film. Although the acting is deadpan, real genuine emotion pours out of the leads, particularly from Colin Farrell's sad eyes. I suspect that if you see this movie, you'll have a lot of feelings about it too. And you might want to hug your singleton friends a little closer.
Grade: A+
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