The Lobster
2015 · Directed by Yorgos Lanthimos
Original language: English
- comedy
- drama
- romance
The story
In a dystopian near future, single people, according to the laws of The City, are taken to The Hotel, where they are obliged to find a romantic partner in forty-five days or are transformed into animals and sent off into The Woods.
What it’s like
Flat, deadpan frames in washed-out, almost clinical daylight: static, symmetrical compositions where characters stand stiffly in beige hotel corridors, grey-green woodland and bleached coastal scrub, with the camera holding back as though observing a specimen. Colour is muted and institutional, the palette of carpet, linen and overcast sky, and the sound design is sparse, with hard cuts of dry dialogue, clipped flat delivery, abrupt silences and occasional ominous string or ambient hum. The vibe is cold, absurd and quietly unsettling, the sort of dry, dark comedy that suits a late night alone or a moody weekend when you want something strange rather than cosy. Pacing is slow and deliberately awkward, with comedy arising from rigid rules and blank-faced formality, and the emotional register stays detached even when the material turns harsh. Its people are trapped in a system that demands love on a deadline, so the arcs follow characters performing affection they don't feel and slowly finding something real beneath the artifice. Violence is sudden and mostly off-screen or matter-of-fact, with some brief, startling cruelty and a few stark, bodily moments; it is unsettling rather than gory, and there is sexual content that is awkward and mostly non-explicit. For people who want deadpan absurdist satire with a chill, not warmth or easy comfort.
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