Writer: Yorgos Lanthimos, Efthymis Filippou (Screenplay)
Starring: Colin Farrell, Rachel Weisz, Jessica Barden, John C Reilly, Lea Seydoux, Ben Whishaw
Plot: In a dystopian near future, single people, according to the laws of The City, are taken to The Hotel, where they are obliged to find a romantic partner in forty-five days or are transformed into beasts and sent off into The Woods.
There may be spoilers the rest of the review
Verdict: Strangely Delightful
Story: The Lobster starts as David’s (Farrell) wife leave him meaning he must attending a hotel to find a new partner. David is welcome to stay for 45 days and if he doesn’t find himself a partner he will be transformed into a beast and sent to the woods, David does keep his brother who is now a dog as company for now ad David’s choice of animal is a lobster.
When David breaks the rules inside the hotel, he finds himself on the run with the other ‘loners’ roaming the forest that he once had to hunt down, here he meets the Short-Sighted Woman (Weisz) and the leader of the loners (Seydoux). This shows David the difference between the worlds as they see just how different the ideas between the two worlds can be.
Thoughts on The Lobster
Characters – David is recently sent to the hotel to find himself a new partner within the 45 days, he struggles to meet someone and ends up breaking the rules and becoming one of the loners hiding in the woods. He sums up what it is like to be grieving and alone in the world. Short-Sighted Woman is telling us the story and is one of the loners in the woods. We have strange group of characters that all interact with David
Performance – Colin Farrell is brilliant in this role which goes against anything we believe him to be able to do, you are kept on edge to learn what he will do next. Rachel Weisz makes for a great supporting performance showing us all the skills we know she is capable off. The rest of the cast all give great supporting performance throughout the film too.
Story – Describing this story does become very difficult, the words unique, strange and different would be the best ones to use. We have a world where you must be matched up or be doomed to being transformed into an animal or live in loneliness in the woods. This is a strange view on love but it does work perfectly for the world created.
Comedy/Romance – The comedy is filled with dark comedy that will make you laugh at times with some being about just how crazy the idea is with the romance side of the film being a different world view on romance.
Settings – The hotel gives us one unique setting for everything happening, with the woods showing the loneliness the characters will face if they don’t match up.
Scene of the Movie – Hide and Seek practice.
The Moment That Annoyed Me – While unique in everything I did find that I would have like to have seen more about the transformation process.
Final Thoughts – Easily one of the most unique movies you will ever see, difficult to describe but wonderful to watch.
Overall: Strange, weird and wonderful.
Rating