The Lobster gets a lot from its rigid social rules and deliberately flat exchanges. The satire is distinctive, although the emotional distance and repetition made it easier for me to admire than fully connect with.
Spoiler-free review.
The Lobster makes a conversation uncomfortable by treating an absurd rule as perfectly ordinary. Yorgos Lanthimos is very consistent about that approach. The characters rarely offer the sort of reaction that would reassure the viewer. It gives the film a distinctive comic rhythm, with a lot depending on how matter-of-factly a demand is expressed.
Colin Farrell plays David with a hesitant, unglamorous energy that makes the pressure to fit in easy to understand. The film is interesting when it shows the small compromises people make to seem acceptable. Its unusual world still feels familiar in its concern with judgement and belonging.
The dialogue deliberately avoids an easy warmth. A personal admission can sound like an item being checked against a requirement. I found that funny in stretches, particularly when a rule exposed how little room there was for a complicated feeling. The social arrangements are more disturbing when their logic is followed carefully.
The method can become repetitive, and the coolness sometimes kept me at a distance from people I wanted to understand better. Not every provocation felt equally revealing. Still, the film has a clear voice and carries its premise with conviction. Its best moments make a very artificial society feel uncomfortably familiar.
2015 · English. Film details
The Lobster gets a lot from its rigid social rules and deliberately flat exchanges. The satire is distinctive, although the emotional distance and repetition made it easier for me to admire than fully connect with.
— Desly