thomas4cinema

You are entering a world where it is illegal to be single, and if fate strikes you, takes away your partner, for example, your path of falling in love again and finding a new partner leads you to a matchmaking hotel. If you fail to find your match, you will be turned into an animal of your choosing… a lobster, in the case of our “hero”. Heard enough? If this intro makes you keen on checking out “The Lobster”, it probably is because you loved “Dogtooth”, Yorgos Lanthimos’ breakout movie, and you are hoping for more eccentric entertainment and reflection on the dismal state of our world. You will find it here. Not as concise and stinging as in Dogtooth, but recognizably weird enough to enjoy the plot and the abundance of odd characters. The population of the hotel are range from the guy banging his head frequently on the wall to ensure that he is a good match to the lady with perennial nosebleeds, the room service lady whose job description includes stimulating the guests into sexual desire, a toaster that is applied to those choosing to masturbate rather than to find a partner, a dog who used to be a hotel guest but failed to find a lady in the given time, a misogynist lady who beats said dog to death to find out whether her match really is as morally indifferent as she requires… and the list goes on. Escaping from the hotel is not better, as the “Loners”, living out in the woods, have rules that are as ridiculous and cruel as those made up by the establishment. What do we learn from the film? That it would have been more tight had it stayed within the confinements of the hotel, as it loses a bit of its direction after spreading out into the real world of family connections and Loners. And that despite its flaws I am looking forward to Lanthimos’ next film, and would find anything “normal” utterly disappointing.

Colin Farrell plays the lead role, by the way, which I only found about upon reading the credits. It is to the credit of the film that it does not matter whether there are recognizable stars in it (Rachel Weisz too, and the very recognizable and utterly lovely John C. Reilly). Great cast playing their parts in the spirit of this creepy/goofy/gory science fiction satire.

http://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/the_lobster/