The Lobster
THE LOBSTER (15)
D: Yorgos Lanthimos
Picturehouse/Film 4 (Ed Guiney, Cecil Dempsey, Yorgos
Lanthimos & Lee Magiday)
UK/Ireland/Greece/France 2015
118 mins
Fantasy/Romance/Science Fiction
W: Yorgos Lanthimos & Efthymis
Filippou
DP: Thimios Bakatakis
Ed: Yorgos Mavropsaridis
Mus: Johnnie Burn
Colin Farrell (David), Rachel Weisz (Short-Sighted Woman),
Jessica Barden (Nosebleed Woman), Olivia Colman (Hotel Manager), Ashley Jensen (Biscuit Woman), John C. Reilly (Lisping Man), Lea Seydoux (Loner Leader), Ben Whishaw (Limping Man)
The Lobster is an unorthodox love story set in a dystopian
future where it is deemed illegal to be single. Those without a companion must check into a hotel where they are given 45 days to find a suitable partner and those who fail are turned into an
animal of their own choosing.
Colin Farrell is a new guest at the hotel following the
breakdown of his marriage and finds it difficult to follow the ridiculously stringent rules, eventually escaping from the grounds and hiding in the woods, where he becomes involved with a group
of rebels, one of which he falls in love with.
The deadpan humour and unemotional delivery make this one of
the funniest films of 2015, but the bizarre, often ambiguous story won't endear itself to everyone. The satire in the film's early scenes also pokes fun at dating rituals and etiquette, but the
story does lose its way in the final third.
A
wonderfully weird piece of independent filmmaking.
6/10
