Every once in a while you come across a movie that connects with you. It may not make sense or be conventionally “good,” but it stays with you. “The Lobster” is such a film. It is about a futuristic society where people are given 45 days to find a mate, or they will be turned into the animal of their choice. It takes place in a hotel that is a dystopian nightmare of desperate single people and cheerless sex. Colin Farrell plays the main character, who will turn into a lobster if he can’t find a mate, and Rachel Weisz plays the woman he becomes involved with. The whole goal of the society in this film is to have men obey women’s every command, and for couples to get along at all costs. Women are also spiritually demeaned by their role as Master. And are also subject to being turned to an animal if they do not find a suitable mate, just like the men.
How do I even classify this film? It could be a comedy, a science fiction film, or an allegory for our current dating society. For example, characters are paired together as “perfect for each other” because they both have nosebleeds. One character hits his nose against the side of the pool to make it bleed, in order to have something in common with a female character whose nose also bleeds. Kind of how people act fake to get married to rich people ( for survival). So basically people are getting hitched with not that much in common, and that’s unfortunate. And society sets up institutions regarding kids, school , church , etc that reaffirm this unnatural state.
What makes people compatible anyway? I think “The Lobster” is about how you can’t force love or attraction, and it is about how conformity and political correctness damage our chances of being ourselves. And this film says you are better off by yourself, not having to worry about compatibility. But the problem is you will get stigmatized and scarred as a masturbating loser if you don’t cow-tow to feminist control. Like in this film, when you get caught masturbating they burn your hand in a toaster.
People are very cruel to each other in general in this film. They shoot you with a tranquilizer dart of you don’t follow every command. So it has a dystopian 1984 like element to it. And the plot does develop further, as there are rebels and spies involved (who live in the forest). Colin Farrell gave a most excellent performance here, his dead-pan humor was of the highest order. This is very likely to become a cult classic, as it managed to gross $15 million worldwide on a budget of $5 million. If you enjoyed Nicholas Cage’s Wicker Man ( which was highly entertaining anti feminist cinema) – then you will REALLY enjoy the Lobster. This film sounds wacko but it’s not. Its actually closer to reality than one would like to admit. –CoolAC & Steve