The Lobster (2015)

IMDb plot summary: In a dystopian near future, according to the laws of The City, single people are taken to The Hotel, where they are obliged to find a romantic partner in 45 days or they're transformed into beasts and sent off into The Woods.

Directed by Yorgos Lanthimos. Stars Colin Farrell, Rachel Weisz, and Jessica Barden.

The Lobster is a Yorgos Lanthimos dark comedy that stars Colin Farrell as a man who signs up to go to a hotel in which he has limited amount of time to find a romantic partner, or else he will be turned into an animal of his choice. As one might guess from the title, he chooses a lobster. As the time ticks by and he has no prospects in sight, he starts trying to figure out what he will actually be willing to do to get a partner and avoid that fate. As with so many Lanthimos films, this plays out in a very unusual way, so I'm not going to spoil it much beyond what I've actually said. I have learned that Yorgos might be my favorite modern director. While this doesn't rise quite to the level of enjoyment that I got out of Poor Things or Kinds of Kindness, I did find it fascinating, and I laughed out loud a lot. It's got a truly wonderful mix of dark comedy alongside its horrific story. I also found the ending and its ambiguity very engaging. It kept me thinking about what the story was trying to say about relationships, and I like that it doesn't give an obvious answer. Not my favorite of this director's films, but it's one that I think will continue to sit with me and I appreciate it.

How it entered my Flickchart:

🎥 The Lobster (2015)

📊 Ranked #1059/4181 on my Flickchart

🎯 Flickscore™: 75

beat The Sasquatch Gang (#2097 → #2098)

lost to The Phantom of the Opera at the Royal Albert Hall (held at #1038)

beat Sweet Smell of Success (#1562 → #1563)

beat After Yang (#1301 → #1302)

beat CBGB (#1168 → #1169)

beat Valerian and the City of a Thousand Planets (#1103 → #1104)

beat Crazy Rich Asians (#1070 → #1071)

lost to The Voices (held at #1054)

beat In the Name of the Father (#1062 → #1063)

lost to The Quick and the Dead (held at #1058)

beat My Life as a Dog (#1060 → #1061)

beat Repo Man (#1059 → #1060)