The Lobster

Dir: Yorgos Lanthimos

2015

*****

I have enjoyed Yorgos Lanthimos' previous films, 2009's Dogtooth certainly put the director on the map and 2012's Alps proved that he had an individual talent and wasn't just a one trick pony. I commented at the time that I thought he would probably direct a masterpiece within his next few films and I was right, The Lobster is indeed a masterpiece. The Lobster is set in a dystopian future of an alternative reality whereby it is illegal not to be coupled. If you find yourself single for whatever reason you are sent to 'The Hotel' for 45 days to try and find a suitable partner. Extra days can be awarded by shooting dead and capturing single loners who live in the woods. If you haven't found a partner within the 45 days you are transformed into an animal of your choice and are released into the wild. Colin Farrell plays David, a man recently left by his wife. David enters the Hotel with his brother who has been turned into a Dog after failing to find a suitable partner. David has chosen to be a Lobster, should his time at the Hotel be unsuccessful because Lobsters live long lives and remain fertile into old age, plus he also likes the sea. David meets a whole host of different characters in the hotel such as Limping Man (Ben Whishaw), Lisping Man (John C. Reilly), Biscuit Woman (Ashley Jensen) and Nosebleed Woman (Jessica Barden) who are all shown various reasons why people should be in a couple by the Hotel manager (played by the brilliantly straight-faced Olivia Colman). David tries but fails to couple up with one particular guest and decides to run into the woods an escape when things go wrong. In the woods he finds a society who believe in being single but this society has equally bizarre rules in regard to relationships. It is a brilliantly surreal, often brutal but extremely funny metaphor for all sorts of things. Primarily, I think it is a satirical look at how our society seems obsessed with dating in what is fast becoming an increasingly superficial system of contemporary courtship but then traditional courtships, from many a different culture, can be argued as being just as strange and peculiar, if not more so. The story is cleverly subjective, you can attach many aspects of societies behaviour, rules and beliefs to the film's symbolism, it really is all about challenging what you think is right, what you've been taught is right and then thinking for yourself - not always an easy thing to achieve as the film's final scene suggests. David's room in the Hotel is Room 101, a reference and a tribute by the director, suggesting that one should not fear Room 101, we are already in Room 101 and really, we can walk out whenever we want to. It is beautifully filmed with nearly every shot being as rich as a classic oil painting. The performances are second to none with a great mix of intense drama and straight-faced comedy from an eclectic cast of dependable favourites. I loved the script, I'm thinking that maybe translation prevented me from appreciating how funny Lanthimos' previous films really are. It's not often a film makes you think and makes you laugh as much, as well as disgust and make you wince. Its 1984 meets Monty Python in the body of a great romance, the best use of satire I've seen for a very long time and pretty much faultless in every aspect of film-making and storytelling. A new favourite and one of the very best of 2015.