a treat

Rating: 9/10 (5 January 2017)

This is a dark satire, set not so much in the future but in a kind of parallel present, in which being single is outlawed. Without a partner, you're either pray for hunters, or you have a chance to hook up with someone in a kind of institutional hotel. If you fail, you get taken to a transformation room, where you're turned into an animal.
The film maintains a deadpan tone throughout, in vibrant contrast to the horrible deeds perpetrated by and upon the characters. The cast, led by Colin Farrell, Rachel Weisz, Lea Seydoux and Olivia Colman, enact scene after outrageous scene with straight faces. Goodness knows how they did it.
It's merciless, often very funny, and as far as English-language movies are concerned there's really nothing like it that I'm aware of. A treat.