Today’s quick review: The Lobster. In a bleak future, single people are given 45 days to find a new partner or else they are transformed into animals. After his wife leaves him, David (Colin Farrell) is sent to a hotel for singles, where he undergoes the rigors of the matchmaking process. His attempts at finding a compatible partner are unsuccessful until he leaves the hotel and finally meets a woman he has something in common with (Rachel Weisz).
The Lobster is a dystopian sci-fi movie with elements of horror, dark comedy, and romance. The movie is set in a world where, for unexplained reasons, being part of a couple is mandatory and being single is effectively a death sentence. This bizarre premise sets the stage for an inversion of a typical romance. Rather than let their emotions guide them, David and the other occupants of the hotel use superficial characteristics to pick their partners.
The Lobster makes for a strange and unsettling watch. The characters are not like regular people, exhibiting a limited range of emotions and resorting to violence whenever it benefits them. Their conversations are dry and factual, their personalities are close to uniform, and their struggles seem to exist on a different moral axis than real life. The result is a tense, distorted experience that offers plenty of questions and few answers.
The value in The Lobster comes from a few specific sources. One is its odd world and dry presentation style. Viewers who are drawn to the unusual and inexplicable will find that it’s an interesting movie to puzzle over, as will anyone who is fascinated by social situations that tip over into horror. The other major appeal is the movie’s commentary on romance and courtship, mainly in the form of satire that takes them to ludicrous extremes.
Unfortunately, The Lobster is not very accessible. The same qualities that make it stand out also deny it anything resembling a traditional emotional arc. The flashes of violence and other mature content will turn off some viewers, while the movie’s slow, almost painful setup will repel others. The right viewer will find The Lobster to be a thought-provoking watch, but many will find it flatly unappealing.
For an even more unsettling thriller that uses a surreal setup to explore the darker parts of humanity, try Enemy. For an uncomfortable thriller that has more overt comedy and a more shocking payoff, check out Parasite. For a science fiction movie about a cold future, try Gattaca, Equals, The Giver, or Equilibrium. For more dark, violent social commentary, try High-Rise. For movies with similar quirks and more charm, try the work of Wes Anderson.
7.2 out of 10 on IMDB. I give it a 6.0 to 6.5 for dry execution of an odd premise; your score will vary.