Bizarre But in a Great Way

Rating: 9/10 (7 June 2016)

On June 5, 2016 at 9:55pm MST I sat down to watch what just might have been the most damning indictment of society, sexuality, loneliness and mortality I have ever seen. The Lobster, while being utterly off-kilter, weird and occasionally sweet has a humor as black as a Cuban espresso and a message as fatalistic as a Franz Kafka story. Director Yorgos Lanthimos may have made a name for himself with the equally deadpan Dogtooth (2009) but it is The Lobster that elevates him beyond the mantel of youthful provocateur. This guy is a one-man Molotov cocktail, meticulously creating his own little absurd world before tearing it apart.
The Lobster takes place in a near-future dystopian society where being single is completely illegal. If death or divorce does occur, people are brought to "The Hotel" where they are to meet someone new within 45 days. If they fail to make a match, they're turned into an animal of their own choosing and as the Hotel's (Colman) concierge puts it "find another chance for love." David (Farrell), a recent divorcée is brought to the Hotel with his brother (a Border Collie) in tow. Mustached, bespectacled, slightly overweight and awkward even by deadpan dystopia standards, David tries his best to find his one and only.
Much like the buttery shellfish this film takes it's name from, The Lobster is certainly an acquired taste. Characters awkwardly shuffle across the screen speaking in impassive, wooden phrases hinting at their desperation, their insecurities and their disconnectedness. Even when not paying mind to the Hotel's strict code of conduct, the social mores of Lanthimo's world requires partnerships start with a physical commonality. David makes friends with the Lisping Man (Reilly) and the Limping Man (Whishaw), both of whom hope to find partners with their defining features. When the Limping Man fails, he switches gears and purposely starts nosebleeds to get the attention of Jessica Barden...known as you guessed it: the Nosebleed Woman. Those unable to find a partner can extend their stay by going on the hunt and tranquilizing hordes of militant singles who hide in the forest. The Heartless Woman (Papoulia) is infamous for this, extending her stay by about a year based on captures alone.
This is the kind of exaggerated, bleak, freakishly and fiendishly clever world building you can expect to find in this film. A film that aptly skewers modern society's views on relationships and equates elaborate social norms as nothing more than bestial courtships, many of which are based on lies and lunacy. Once we leave the Hotel and enter the forest, the movie slowly shifts like an ice shelf into a blossoming romance mixed with a visual anarchism that excites comparisons to the second half of Godard's Weekend (1967). The resemblance is made even more conspicuous in a scene where singles enter the city to gather provisions in a slow-motion dance of consumerist glee; abruptly followed by a return to savagery.
This takes place in the second part of the film which unfortunately fails to match the absurd high-points of the first half-hour. The film replaces these flourishes of the bizarre with sentimentality that certainly feel sincere; though a little wanting by comparison. Still, flashes of incongruous brilliance still linger within the frame, even providing one or two divine comic set-piece that couldn't have happened without shifts in scenery. As for the ending...oof, how about that ending!
In it's own understated way, The Lobster is one of the best art- house imports offered in the last decade. While decidedly not for everyone, those already exhausted by this year's lackluster summer movie schedule might want to try this bold little experiment on. Though word to the weary, The Lobster may not be a movie for couples. If you decide to go with a loved one on date night, keep the steak knives out of arm's reach.