The Lobster

Rating: 6/10 (22 February 2017)

I had heard about this film on a film review programme, then again when Awards Season came along, I was obviously intrigued by the title, it had a good cast list, and the nominations got my interest, I was looking forward to it. Basically in an absurd near dystopian future, according to the laws of The City, single people will be arrested and transferred to The Hotel, a creepy place similar to an expensive spa. There people have 45 days to find a suitable partner, or they will be turned into an animal of their choosing, there they follow strict rules: masturbation is banned, sexual stimulation by the hotel maid is mandatory, and guests attend dances and watch propaganda explaining the advantages of partnership. David (Golden Globe nominated Colin Farrell) discovers his wife (Rosanna Hoult) has left him for another man, now single he is arrested and taken to The Hotel, his brother who became single has already been turned into a dog, the most common animal choice for people, David chooses to become a lobster, because of their cycle of life and his love for the sea. At the hotel, David makes acquaintances with a Limping Man (Ben Whishaw) and a Lisping Man (John C. Reilly), while many of the female residents try to persuade him to become their partner, including a Biscuit Woman (Ashley Jensen) and Nosebleed Woman (Jessica Barden). To have a compatible relationship, partners are required to have a distinguishing traits in common, and to extend their deadlines, residents can hunt and tranquillise single people hiding in the forest, a captured "loner" earns them a day. Many residents however are trying to end their stay at the hotel by faking traits, for example John constantly smashes his nose to to have nosebleeds like that of the female resident, the Hotel Manager (Olivia Colman) moves them to the couples section and gives them a month- long trial partnership, David decides to attempt a relationship with a notoriously Heartless Woman (Angeliki Papoulia), who has tranquillised more loners than anyone else. While in the couples' suite, David pretends to enjoy her cruel behaviour, including gaining her interest pretending to enjoy the biscuit- loving woman severely injuring herself jumping from a window, but he is broken-hearted when she finds she has kicked her brother (in dog form) to death, she decides they are not a match. The heartless woman drags him to the hotel manager to face punishment, to be turned into an animal no-one likes, but he is able to escape with the help of the sympathetic Maid (Ariane Labed), while his partner is tranquillised and transformed into an unspecified animal. Escaping the hotel, David finds the loners and their Leader (Skyfall's Léa Seydoux) in the woods, they themselves follow rules that contrast those of the hotel, masturbation is permitted, but romance is forbidden, with mouth mutilation as punishment, the maid is in fact a mole for the loners, aiding them to sabotage the hotel. Now joined with the loners, they launch a mini-raid on the hotel, during which David reveals to the nosebleed woman that John has been faking, the other loners hold the hotel manager and her husband at gunpoint, the husband is tricked into shooting his wife to save himself, but the gun is not loaded, the couple are left to face each other. David, who is shortsighted, finds a strong connection with loner member the Short Sighted Woman (Rachel Weisz), they begin a secret relationship, developing gestural code to communicate, but eventually their affections are discovered by the leader in the shortsighted woman's journal, as well as their plan to escape. The leader takes the shortsighted woman to the city, to have an operation to cure her shortsightedness, but this is in fact a punishment, she is blinded instead, in anger the woman accidentally kills the maid, thinking she is killing the leader. She tells David about her blindness, this means they no longer have anything in common, despite his efforts to find something, he says they will figure it out, and they will continue their plan to escape. David overpowers the leader, tying her up and leaving her to be eaten by dogs, he and the blind woman escape the city, stopping at a restaurant, David seeks to reestablish commonality, he prepares to blind himself in the bathroom with a steak knife, while the blind woman waits for him at the table. Also starring Michael Smiley as Loner Swimmer, Roger Ashton-Griffiths as Doctor and The Office's Ewen MacIntosh as Trainer Waiter - Shooting Range. The cast all give great performances, the story is wonderfully bizarre, a world where being a relationship is a matter of a life or death, many other fearsomely strange things are at foot as well, including characters speaking completely honestly about everything, including sex and desire, it is beautifully shot, and the script is fantastically sharp, funny and satirical, as a movie it is an acquired taste, but it is a most watchable and interesting dystopian science-fiction black comedy drama. It was nominated the Oscar for Best Original Screenplay, and it was nominated the BAFTA for Best British Film. Good!