Giorgos Lanthimos’s ('Dogtooth') twisted black comedy, 'The Lobster', envisions a dystopian society that cannot tolerate unattached adults.
When a relationship breaks down, the rejected party must report to a country-hotel facility, where they have 45 days to find a suitable partner. Should they fail to do so, they will be transformed into an animal of their choice and released into the wild. Careworn, paunchy David (Farrell) shows up at the hotel. With seemingly little prospect of finding a match, he makes his escape and joins the outcast Loner community. It’s led by an ideologue (Seydoux) and is every bit as problematic as the authorities he has fled. The burgeoning connection he feels with another exile (Weisz) puts the pair in dire jeopardy.
Cleverly skewering society’s elevation of the couple, Lanthimos’s debut English-language film segues from darkly comic satire to unconventional love story.
15
118 minutes
2015
Drama, Comedy
Ireland
English, French
English
Element Pictures