Review: THE LOBSTER is a Quirky, Surreal Satire

The premise of THE LOBSTER, the new film from Yorgos Lanthimos, is mesmerizing: In a society where relationships are valued over all else, the unpartnered have forty-five days to find a new mate or they will be transformed into an animal of their choice.

If that sounds extreme, well, it is. So when David, played by Colin Farrell, finds himself dumped and newly single, he is moved to a hotel, itself a mockery of a singles' cruise crossed with an awkward junior high social, where he has forty-five days to connect with someone or become, you guessed it, a lobster.

The lobster is his choice, and his reasoning is strikingly good, but that's neither here nor there. David and the other residents desperately hope to match with someone based on their "defining characteristics," which leads to some of the saddest Lowered Expectations ever. If that doesn't work, the guests can buy more time by not returning empty-handed from the hunts - special times when the guests go out into the woods to hunt "the loners," a group of singles that have completely rejected romantic relationships.

As David, Farrell is unlike anything you would expect, seemingly timid, but ultimately smart and strategic. He is supported by quite the cast of characters, beginning with his fellow guests at the hotel. John C. Reilly, Ashley Jensen, and Ben Whishaw each have a memorable turn as they lisp, limp, and eat biscuits during their stay. The hotel staff, especially Olivia Colman and Ariane Labed, have meaningful moments. And, as the leaders of the woodland loners, Lea Seydoux brings an impressively calculated hostility to the role. Finally, there is Rachel Weisz, as sympathetic a character as you can expect to find in this kind of world.

It is an extreme, ridiculous, and surreal world that Lanthimos and co-writer Efthymis Filippou have created. Quirky is a word often overused, but it's hard to think of a better word to describe THE LOBSTER. The film is bleak, a dark satire of some of society's worst logic fails about relationships and gender roles, like the idea that having a husband would somehow prevent a woman from being raped (or choking for that matter) or that children somehow provide stability to a failing relationship.

The comedy is black, and sometimes violent. In a way, THE LOBSTER is like the twisted, bastard brainchild of a Wes Anderson and a David Cronenberg. The film is at times uncomfortable, and cringe-worthy. And the shadow of body horror hangs over it, the anticipation of brutal violence and injury teased at different moments. Lanthimos is keenly able to maintain a palpable sense of tension, anticipation, and discomfort throughout, though I will note that the film is probably too long.

An unidentified (until later in the film) female narrates portions of the story, her matter-of-fact voice providing detail or sometimes reiterating something we've just seen or heard. The narration, and subject matter, gives the film an interesting, bookish feel that I haven't gotten from a film in quite a while.

THE LOBSTER, starring Colin Farrell, Rachel Weisz, John C. Reilly, Lea Seydoux and Ben Whishaw, is rated R for sexual content including dialogue, and some violence.

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