Single white male

Rating: 6/10 (20 December 2015)

Last year, in Amsterdam a pop-up restaurant for singles opened its doors.I was a huge success, and the tables-for-one were filled every night. I imagine it must have looked a bit like the breakfast room in the hotel where 'The Lobster' is set. Only singles, sitting next to each other, facing the large windows and enjoying the view.
'The Lobster' is a highly imaginative and original film about the way our society handles people without a partner. In the film, they are forced to find a suitable partner or they will be turned into an animal (the lead character's choice is a lobster, hence the title). But in the forests around the hotel live the loners who are just as strict, but the other way around: they refuse to find a partner, and forbid other loners to find one.
The film is satirical, sometimes funny, cruel at times, often disturbing, and overall very weird. But I was less impressed by it than I was by Dogtooth, director Lanthimos's previous acclaimed film. Dogtooth was creepier and more disturbing, although it wasn't so outspoken about modern society and its issues.
'The Lobster' is not an straightforward run-of-the-mill movie. But if you like films that go a bit further than usual, like 'The Voices' or 'Under The Skin', you might enjoy it.