A unique and interesting yet dull film

Rating: 7/10 (23 June 2019)

I feel like no matter how many time I watch this film, I'm never going to
"get it". I can see the commentary on modern relationships and such, but so much of it just doesn't make sense and I'm not sure it's supposed to. The less you now about The Lobster going in, the better the experience will be, so I'll keep it brief and spoiler free. The biggest things that the movie has going for it is the story, which is insane and for every question it half answers, I have three more. The movie is essentially two distinct parts and while I loved learning about how the world worked in the first half, the second half slowed down and stopped addressing my questions. There is too much that they won't explain and instead try and lead you on to another thing. Beyond the very interesting story, there really isn't much else going on. Every character talks in the same emotionless monotone, which sometimes adds to the very dry humor and other times just gets annoying. "Dry" is a good descriptor of the whole movie. The camera shots are dry and static, the dialog is dry, every character has basically the same dry personality, the score is dry classical music, everything is "dry". I liked the story and occasionally found it mildly funny, but every scene left me wanting more. By the half way point, I was disinterested with the characters and much more intrigued by the world they live in and we learn so little about it. The Lobster is one of those movies that can't possibly find financial success, because it's hard to market to a specific audience. It's listed as a comedy, but it's not really funny, especially for a standard audience. The static monotone acting from everyone got on my nerves and I assume a general audience would find it even more grating. It's a very unique story, but the way it's told puts way too much effort into being "quirky" and "wacky".