The Lobster
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| Directed by | Γιώργος Λάνθιμος [Yorgos Lanthimos] | |
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| Release date | 15 May 2015 | |
| Runtime | 118 minutes | |
| RYM Rating | ||
| Ranked | #26 for 2015, #2,568 overall | |
| Language | English, French | |
| Genres | ||
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Review
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Cast
- Colin Farrell
David - Rachel Weisz
Shortsighted Woman - Αγγελική Παπούλια [Angeliki Papoulia]
Heartless Woman - Léa Seydoux
Loner Leader - John C. Reilly
Lisping Man - Ariane Labed
The Maid - Ben Whishaw
Limping Man - Olivia Colman
Hotel Manager
49 Reviews
After Poor Things and The Killing Of A Sacred Deer I'm quite convinced that Yorgos Lanthimos is a genius and that I must see all of their works. The Lobster seemed the next best place to go, and wow is it a bizarre dystopian treat. In this world, you go to a hotel to find a mate...and you have 45 days or else you are turned into an animal of your choosing (kind of cool in a way). Anyhow talk about pressure! This hotel environment insist that you wear their clothing, and follow very specific rules including no masturbation (but you must allow stimulation from the hotel staff). I particularly like the reasons why people are not allowed to remain single. We in specific are following David (Colin Ferrell) who's life has left him, therefore he must find a mate or else. The supporting cast is great, we have Ashley Jensen, John C. Reilly, Rachel Weisz...all fun. It's definitely a dark comedy often achieved with the narration of this unusual tale. It's definitely interesting as I'd not seen anything quite like this before.
Published
When I think about this movie the first thing that pops into my head is that I watched it on a plane and out of nowhere there's a fairly graphic (but tame) sex scene that left me scrambling to cover my screen. The second thing I think of is how clumsy and unsatisfying I found the ending. Interesting premise that the movie takes seriously (if you don't find love in like 30 days then you get turned into an animal of your choosing) but it's not as funny as I want it to be nor that convincing as a romantic movie. Kinda ends up dying in-between a lot of markers and ends up not saying enough.
Published
I think everyone will come out after watching this film feeling incredibly weird regardless of how much you like it. It's very cold, distant, and weird but done with so much precision and talent that it works and comes together well. I do enjoy the hotel part more than the latter half but both worked well together and it was good that they kept the same atmosphere and tone throughout both parts. Made me appreciate the other Γιώργος Λάνθιμος [Yorgos Lanthimos] I've seen, Κυνόδοντας [Dogtooth], more. Liked the Nick Cave & The Bad Seeds song. I'd chose an eagle or dolphin.
Published
don't expect a joyride, you'll only be wasting your time
Don't go looking for nicely sensible, easily relatable, understandable entertainment in The Lobster. Like Lanthimos's Dogtooth, The Lobster is dark, imaginative, and unusual, as well as stimulating and challenging. It takes place in an alternate reality, somewhere between a dream and a nightmare, in a bleak, dehumanized community of single people who have a limited number of days to find a mate. There are strict rules and even harsher punishments, but if they fail to find a mate before their time expires, they're forced to undergo an animal transformation to live out the rest of their days as the species they choose. If you enjoyed Dogtooth, expect a treat with the Lobster, but not without feeling some unease. Lanthimos's films tend to be quietly arresting. His unique perspective, visionary approach, and creative ideas make his films even more compelling. Yet, as much as I enjoyed the picture, I can still find flaws. Colin Farrell, as the lead character, makes a very dull and stiff protagonist. While his role calls for a subdued, depressed portrayal, he constantly appears out of breath and all too aware of the camera. John C. Reilly's distracted performance makes me think that he's trying to remember where he last saw his cell phone. One misgiving I have about Lanthimos is that he often includes one too many shocking and/or violent scenes for the sake of wanting to be edgy or controversial. And while some reviewers and critics claim that the Lobster is "wickedly funny" or "hilarious", these comments are completely misleading. Don't expect to explode into laughter. Instead, you might find yourself smiling or uttering a few chuckles. Maybe. Ultimately, the Lobster delivers that strange viewing experience that leaves one wanting just a bit more.Published
Weird little film with a really great and weird premise: Singles go to some kind of resort where they have 45 days to find a partner. If they manage, they get a probation time to see if they get along; if necessary, they get children to get over their differences. If all goes well, the happy couple can go back to the city. People who don't manage to find a partner get transformed into an animal of their choice. Some try to evade into the nearby forest, where a group of underground singles live, and they are hunted by the guests of the resort: every captured single gets its captor one more day to stay at the resort.
Yes it's totally weird and worth watching for this premise alone, especially if you're a frustrated middle-aged single asshole like me who apparently keeps trampling over all other people's feelings (the most current accusation is having asked my then-wannabe and now ex-girlfriend to watch a movie with my son, WTF). And the beginning of the movie is really great, at least if you like Wes Anderson, it's stylish, surreal, weird, funny and horrible, all at the same time.
The second half mainly plays in the forest. I will only spoil that all is not well among the group of partnership deniers, the film sure earns its dystopian label (and for once, it IS a dystopian movie without any sci-fi elements). Unfortunately, the movie starts to drag a bit from then on. I'm not sure why, maybe because it becomes essentially a romance, but I also found the film visually much less interesting: Just a bunch of figures camping in the woods in ugly and somewhat ridiculous survival clothing.
Once more, Colin Farrell gives a really convincing performance of an essentially nice, but not overly bright guy (he's really good at that), and the lovely Léa Seydoux is not just lovely, but truly scary. The ending is open, which I don't mind, but here it feels a bit cheap, although it's well done. Technically there's nothing to quibble about.
Not quite sure how to rate this one. The beginning is great (close to five), the remainder is okayish (a weak-ish three), so I guess I'll go with four, which in my book is "Would gladly watch again", and I'm not sure. But as the first 45 minutes really are absolutely delightful, and the remainder never gets truly boring or offending, and finally I am a friend of the weird and unique, I think I'll go with four. (Half stars are reserved for shorts, y'see.)
Yes it's totally weird and worth watching for this premise alone, especially if you're a frustrated middle-aged single asshole like me who apparently keeps trampling over all other people's feelings (the most current accusation is having asked my then-wannabe and now ex-girlfriend to watch a movie with my son, WTF). And the beginning of the movie is really great, at least if you like Wes Anderson, it's stylish, surreal, weird, funny and horrible, all at the same time.
The second half mainly plays in the forest. I will only spoil that all is not well among the group of partnership deniers, the film sure earns its dystopian label (and for once, it IS a dystopian movie without any sci-fi elements). Unfortunately, the movie starts to drag a bit from then on. I'm not sure why, maybe because it becomes essentially a romance, but I also found the film visually much less interesting: Just a bunch of figures camping in the woods in ugly and somewhat ridiculous survival clothing.
Once more, Colin Farrell gives a really convincing performance of an essentially nice, but not overly bright guy (he's really good at that), and the lovely Léa Seydoux is not just lovely, but truly scary. The ending is open, which I don't mind, but here it feels a bit cheap, although it's well done. Technically there's nothing to quibble about.
Not quite sure how to rate this one. The beginning is great (close to five), the remainder is okayish (a weak-ish three), so I guess I'll go with four, which in my book is "Would gladly watch again", and I'm not sure. But as the first 45 minutes really are absolutely delightful, and the remainder never gets truly boring or offending, and finally I am a friend of the weird and unique, I think I'll go with four. (Half stars are reserved for shorts, y'see.)
Published
The first of Yorgos’ films where a thesis is clear, rather than just him going ‘lol what if _____? thatd be weird lol *pulls legs off ant*’
It’s also the first Yorgos film where he’s developed an aesthetic sensibility; the hotel is gorgeous, and the woods manage to still have defining locales for the characters, we’re never in doubt as to where characters are in relation to other characters.
The thing is, it’s satire on compulsory heterosexuality never really lifts from the ground; in fact, after we leave the hotel it sort of falls on its face, and conclusions are really hard to draw. Genuinely, I think Yorgos’ scripts would benefit from him being gay! There are tiny fragments of queer sensibilities here that would be great to see in dry Euro arthouse cinema, but nothing’s allowed to bloom amongst the pitch-black humour that, while sometimes hilarious and often my taste (this is literally the only film where I appreciate Ben Whishaw’s presence), The Lobster ends with such a miserable and cynical tone that I can’t help but be somewhat bitter against it; when Neo is blinded in The Matrix Resolutions he sees further than anyone. When Rachel Weisz is blinded in The Lobster, her chances of happiness and escape diminish. Do we need this attitude today?
It’s also the first Yorgos film where he’s developed an aesthetic sensibility; the hotel is gorgeous, and the woods manage to still have defining locales for the characters, we’re never in doubt as to where characters are in relation to other characters.
The thing is, it’s satire on compulsory heterosexuality never really lifts from the ground; in fact, after we leave the hotel it sort of falls on its face, and conclusions are really hard to draw. Genuinely, I think Yorgos’ scripts would benefit from him being gay! There are tiny fragments of queer sensibilities here that would be great to see in dry Euro arthouse cinema, but nothing’s allowed to bloom amongst the pitch-black humour that, while sometimes hilarious and often my taste (this is literally the only film where I appreciate Ben Whishaw’s presence), The Lobster ends with such a miserable and cynical tone that I can’t help but be somewhat bitter against it; when Neo is blinded in The Matrix Resolutions he sees further than anyone. When Rachel Weisz is blinded in The Lobster, her chances of happiness and escape diminish. Do we need this attitude today?
Published
The first half of this movie writes one hell of a check. Newly single David (A magnificently deadpan Collin Ferrel) checks into a hotel where single people have a month to find a lover before they turn into animals. A dog, once his brother, accompanies him. It's a neat concept, and for a while there, Lanthimos delivers. It's carried by a weird spiky energy; David makes friends, after a fashion, he learns the hotel's brutal rules, he participates in their rituals, and the question of whether he'll "make it," in the film's parlance, looms over the weird proceedings. Angeliki Papoulia and the always-great John C. Reilly add plenty of laugh-out-loud laugh-out-loud moments as well.
Ah, but then we hit the hour mark, and the whole experience winds up unsatisfying. For reasons I won't get into (spoilers and all), the film's narrative center shifts. It becomes a weird lurch through set pieces, and many of them are quite good, but they don't really pay off; the film's tight focus evaporates, and it instead runs us through a series of narrative feints and dodges, half-baked conceits that don't quite play. There's some fun irony here (spoiler: click to read) and some decent worldbuilding, but it fails to really come together; it plays like a group of Lanthimos and his collaborator Efthymis Filippoi spitballing what the hell they're going to do next, now that they've gotten this far. If they committed to a direction, I missed it; it seems instead like they tried to jam a little of everything in there, and it seems overstuffed, especially when contrasted with the lean Dogtooth. Which was a terrific study of cruelty and control. This could've been there, but the damn movie gets lost in the woods. What a shame.
Ah, but then we hit the hour mark, and the whole experience winds up unsatisfying. For reasons I won't get into (spoilers and all), the film's narrative center shifts. It becomes a weird lurch through set pieces, and many of them are quite good, but they don't really pay off; the film's tight focus evaporates, and it instead runs us through a series of narrative feints and dodges, half-baked conceits that don't quite play. There's some fun irony here (spoiler: click to read) and some decent worldbuilding, but it fails to really come together; it plays like a group of Lanthimos and his collaborator Efthymis Filippoi spitballing what the hell they're going to do next, now that they've gotten this far. If they committed to a direction, I missed it; it seems instead like they tried to jam a little of everything in there, and it seems overstuffed, especially when contrasted with the lean Dogtooth. Which was a terrific study of cruelty and control. This could've been there, but the damn movie gets lost in the woods. What a shame.
Published
This is probably the weirdest non-weird movie I've seen. Its a movie about people who turn into an animal if they don't find true love in a certain time period and they go to a resort to find potential partners to match with to avoid this. Its more or less a philosophical movie about love and people trying to force themselves to find things in common with someone so they can pretend they are happy. The movie has some interesting elements, but its pretty basic and shallow in its metaphors and messages, and the whole humans returning to the wild theme. I just feel like they could have done more with this movie and concept and it felt often too bare and shallow.
Published
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