The Lobster by Yorgos Lanthimos (review)

Over the last decade, Greek director Yorgos Lanthimos has helped usher in what some critics have called the 'Greek weird wave' or 'Greek new wave' of cinema, along with other directors and producers including Athina Tsangari, Panos Koutras, Alexandros Avranas and Ektoras Lyzigos. However, Lanthimos himself has denied the existence of any such 'wave' – rather, he has insisted in interviews that the only connecting feature between his work and that of other contemporary Greek directors is a lack of state funding, which has led to very necessary cross-pollination and collaboration between film directors, producers, writers and actors. But whether or not one defines Lanthimos as the 'crest of the Greek weird wave' (as Steve Rose did in a 2011 article for The Guardian), it cannot be denied that his 2015 dystopian sf film The Lobster is, frankly, weird.

The film follows the story of David (Colin Farrell), who has just been left by his wife of 11 years. Following this separation, David is sent to The Hotel, where he is given 45 days to find a suitable mate. The punishment for failure to couple off: being transformed into an animal of his own choosing and released into The Woods surrounding the hotel. Couples that successfully pair off are released to The City together. A third option exists as well: one can flee to The Woods and live among The Loners. This, however, is not truly an escape from the repressive system, as Loners are hunted by the residents of The Hotel. When Singles (from The Hotel) tranquilise and capture Loners (from The Woods), they are granted an extra day on their stay, and thereby more time to complete their search for a mate. What happens to the Loners who are captured is never shown, although given the totalitarian and repressive rules enforced by the Hotel manager, we can assume the worst.

As David approaches his 45th day in The Hotel, he becomes increasingly worried that he will not be able to find a partner and will thus be transformed into the animal he has chosen, a lobster (hence the title of the film). Upon some reflecting, David decides that 'it is more difficult to pretend that you do have feelings when you don't than to pretend you don't have feelings when you do'. Thus, he pretends to be a compatible match for the Heartless Woman (Angeliki Papoulia). To gain her approval, he pretends to be as cruel as she is by refusing to offer her aid when she is choking on an olive (this absurd gesture works, as she was actually faking the choking to observe his response). She begins to suspect David is lying, though, and she tests his heartlessness and cruelty by killing his brother (who has been transformed into a dog) to see if he has an emotional response. David attempts to hide his sorrow and disgust at the Heartless Woman's cruel act, but breaks down in tears. Seeing that he has lied to feign compatibility with her, the Heartless Woman decides to turn David in to the Hotel manager for punishment. But with the help of a maid, David manages to tranquilise the Heartless Woman and escape into The Woods.

When he arrives, the leader of The Loners (Léa Seydoux) accepts him into the group, and informs him of the rules: Loners must take care of themselves and expect no help from each other; Loners must dig their own graves; and Loners are forbidden from romantic and sexual relationships with each other. When David meets the Short Sighted Woman (Rachel Weisz), he realises that he does not want to be alone and he begins courting her by capturing and killing her favourite food – rabbits. But because of the rules for Loners, they must conceal their relationship to avoid punishment ('the red kiss', which involves cutting each partner's mouth with razor blades and forcing them to kiss; another punishment, 'the red intercourse', is spoken of but never explicitly shown – one can...