Review by: Erika Ashley
A recently single David, is brought to “The Hotel” in order to find a mate because in the not too distant future, all single adults are required to find a partner and get married by order of the Government. He is given 45 days to couple-up or he will be forced to become an animal of his choosing and released in the wild. During his stay at The Hotel he struggles to find a willing partner and makes a few desperate attempts to find companionship before his final days are up. After a horribly failed attempt at finding love, David runs away to join a group of Loners living between the “The City” and The Hotel. Here finds a group he feels comfortable in but quickly the moods changes once what he was looking for all along stumbles into his life. David is then forced to do everything he can to keep his most prized possession.
Let’s start with the story line for this outrageously fascinating film. In an alternate near future adults are forced into monogamous relationships for the betterment of society, which is wildly outlandish, but still humorous. Mostly because this film is a farce in itself, with outright and obvious wisecracks at how horrible relationships can be sometimes. For example, in order to have a successful relationship at The Hotel both adults must have something in common. One character takes it upon himself to physically harm himself just so that he can have regular nose bleeds like his love interest and they can be paired up and save themselves from becoming lonely, wandering, wildlife for the rest of their existence.
The premise of the film is ridiculous but at the exact same time remarkably believable because of the commitment to acting from each actor. David, played by Collin Farrell, is beyond depressing and lackluster but still determined to find a match. He is a truly developed character from beginning to end and even more interesting is the only character with a real name besides his brother – Bob, which is referred more than once as just his brother. In addition the consistency with each actor is amazing, they are all well developed and even though a few are brought in with little to no introduction you have a full understanding of who they are and what they are all about.
The tone of the film is reminiscent of a Wes Anderson film, with dry intellectual humor and a solemn undertone throughout, but yet this film was woven with witty moments all over. The art direction was clean and minimalist which added to the futuristic aesthetic. Even though there were many scenes in the film that were raw and unflinching with awkward realness, there were still so many more that were dry and almost borderline boring as they drawn out a little longer than they should have.
The overall gist of this film was surprisingly fascinating in that way eavesdropping on the next table’s conversation while out to dinner at a bustling restaurant kind of way. You want to keep listening or watching but you feel awkward or out of place doing so. It certainly had some better more compelling and truly touching moments but was an interesting and extremely unconventional love story. If you are going out on the first date with someone you might be slightly interested in, skip this one for sure. But, if you are strapped in to a solid and long term committed relationship, go to this film on your next scheduled date night and thank the heavens you two are together instead of a lonely walrus and goat aimlessly wandering a forest forever.
The Lobster is rated R for sexual content including dialogue, and some violence and has a 118-minute run-time.
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