Animal Farm: The Lobster Review
"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 beasts and sent off into The Woods."
Directed by: Yorgos Lanthimos
Written by: Yorgos Lanthimos
Efthymis Filippou
Starring: Colin Farrell
Rachel Weisz
John C. Reilly
Lea Seydoux
Ben Whishaw
Whatever you're expecting going into "The Lobster" is wrong. I just want to get that firmly out of the way. Yorgos Lanthimos' ("Dogtooth") biggest film to date is a daring, bold and unrelentingly bleak look into a future so removed from anything resembling sense. Most trailers advertise this as yet another quirky, indie comedy where everything is placed just so with actors uttering kitschy lines of dialogue. However, as soon as the film starts you're greeted with a jarring image of death. The film doesn't hold back from there. There are long, uncomfortable takes of two people talking while someone dies, screaming in agony in the background. There's brutal, unnerving animal death. White knuckle scenes of self mutilation. Through this though, this film IS a comedy, flat out, albeit one of the most surreal and bleakest comedies that I've seen since my first time watching Luis Bunuel's bizarre, classism masterpiece "The Discreet Charm of the Bourgeoisie." Lanthimos undoubtedly draws heavily from that film's themes and directorial decisions, specifically long takes of people in dress clothes walking down long stretches of barren roads. However, the best way I can describe the Lobster is "Wes Anderson blended with Luis Bunuel filtered through a DEEP depression." What makes this film so strong though, is that you can definitely see everything I just described but it's 100% its own film. You've never seen anything quite like "the Lobster."
A basic rundown of the plot reads as bizarre but tame, on the surface. David (Colin Farrell) checks into a hotel designed to set single people up with other single people because in this near future, being single is illegal. David has 45 days to match with someone otherwise he's turned into an animal of his choosing which will be released into the "Forest". He's brought his brother, now a dog, along with him and begins his stay. So far, this could read as a pretty weird rom-com where David meets a cute, quirky girl and they live happily every after in this odd, quasi-dystopian society. Lanthimos isn't interested in that. Here, there aren't cute, quirky girls (or boys). There are people who are wholly defined by a single trait and that trait is what they're required to find in a partner to be considered a match. David is far-sighted, Limping Man (Ben Whishaw) well, he limps. Lisping Man (John C. Reilly), you guessed it, lisps. There's a woman who's heartless, meaning she carries zero emotions, which leads to an entertaining conclusion to act one. Lanthimos drives across the lack of meaningful personality by giving his characters no name. In fact, David is the only character with a name in the entire film and even then he doesn't have much of a personality. You'd almost wish he'd have been called "Far-Sighted Man" if only for consistency.
Now, just because each character is solely defined by their traits doesn't mean that they aren't compelling. Each actor gives their best to invest you in this bizarre world. Colin Farrell is fantastic here. His David stares blankly into the distance, speaks in stilted sentences and is generally a wet blanket. Most of the characters here share those similarities but Farrell plays David with so much sadness behind his eyes. You never see the wife's face who leaves him in the beginning of the film highlighting that they probably hadn't had much in common. The film is a comment on relationships and our constant struggle to connect and David is the perfect representation of who and what we could become. He seems to want to make that deep connection because you can see and feel the sadness emanating from him but he can't get past the societal desire to find a similar trait in someone. This society doesn't preach the acceptance of someone different, as soon as one party finds out the other doesn't have any common traits the conversation is largely over. David seems to recognize this and his odyssey through the hotel is so sad to watch. He's a seemingly hopeless romantic that's given up on the notion of finding "true love" again and will traipse over any necessary means to find a companion again. It's his (maybe?) redemption and hurdle over this obstacle that really makes him one of the more compelling characters in cinema this year.
Midway through, David is transitioned out of the hotel due to a set of hilarious, yet brutally dark circumstances and into the forest. The forest is littered with the animals that used to be somebody running about as if nothing is wrong. This is where the film is at its surrealist best. You'll see a pony or a peacock or a camel casually walking by during conversations. The constant reminder of what should have and possibly could still happen to David is ever present. Also in this forest are escaped refugees from the hotel called the "Loners." These people live by a strict code of no flirting, no sexual relationships, they dance to only electronic music through individual headphones and they dig their own graves in case they die. I loved the latter point. If the hotel represents the overwhelming desire to conform and be one with someone, then the forest is the complete opposite. It's the stark realization that you can end up alone and maybe that's not such a bad thing. The Loner Leader says "No one's going to dig your grave for you" which for me was the most poignant line of dialogue in the film. No matter what happens to you, happiness, love, despair, we all die alone. Despite that, David finds the Short-Sighted Woman (The fantastic Rachel Weisz) in the forest and his life is immediately thrust into purpose and desire. I don't want to give a whole lot away about Act 2 because it's a transition that isn't readily apparent in the trailers. However, David and Short-Sighted Girl's romance is heartbreakingly beautiful for a multitude of reasons. You see David grow into the person he's capable of being, the person we saw peeking out from the sadness behind his glasses. Weisz is astoundingly wonderful here. In lesser hands, this character could've played as the "manic pixie dreamgirl" trope but Weisz has such an assuredness to her, each line lands with a purpose. She and David have beautiful chemistry together, 2 lost souls drifting into each other and finding out that love is still possible in this strange, bleak world.
Elsewhere, this cast is rounded out by some of most talented people in the business. John C. Reilly is an absolute delight as usual. Playing such a broad character as "Lisping Man" would become a caricature in someone else's hands but Reilly has an innate ability where he's unable to not be funny. He's one of those people that immediately gives you a chuckle just because he's sitting in the frame. He's a uniquely talented actor because he generally has the same approach to most characters, the sad sack schlub, but you never have trouble believing his characters to be true. Lea` Seydoux is another standout as the Loner Leader. She has no time for bullshit and is unflinchingly swift in her punishments to Loners who step out of line. She looks young and there's a backstory to her that appears to be able to fill a whole other movie. Seydoux plays her with so much depth that you don't need the backstory to understand where she's coming from. She represents the solitary sadness that comes from being alone. She's so bitter and as such, she refuses to allow her tribe to fall for one another. Something clearly has happened in her past and as such, no one under her rule can ever be happy if she can't.
The opening act of this film is the absolute strongest aspect of it. It moves at such a unique pace, it lurches in some moments but moves so briskly in others. Lanthimos really does a fantastic job of creating tension within the hotel. It's such an odd setting filled with odd people doing odd things and while all of this is funny, it has a horror aspect. This is what Lanthimos exploits incredibly well. There are beautiful shots of the members of the hotel running through the woods with tranquilizers in slow motion with haunting orchestral music blaring over it. Right. The hunting scenes. This is the most disturbing part of the film, if only for the subtext of what's going to happen to the hunted. The guests of the hotel are to leave every night and hunt down Loners in the forest and tranquilize them. The hotel counts how many Loners they've bagged and awards them one extra night's stay for each Loner. You can probably guess what happens to the Loners. The entire first act has the beginnings of what could be the best film of the year. It's equal parts gut wrenchingly tense and awkward and uncomfortably hilarious. The cinematography and music add to Lanthimos' stellar direction to create the most unique atmosphere of year. It feels like a Wes Anderson movie with the color drained out. It's so lush and pristine but everything is so stark, so hopeless. You feel the weight of this world's sadness just smothering you. You laugh at the awkward hilarity of it all but you're always being reminded of the horror that's lurking around the corner. Violent violin strings screech without a moment's notice. People speak in stunted cadences and dance like fools. Rabbits are given as gifts to be eaten. This is avant-garde cinema in it's purest, surrealist form.
If the first act is the set up to what would've been the best film of the year, the second act is what hurts it for me. It's not enough for me to discredit this film but it lurches almost to a halt in points. By hour two, you're really feeling the time wash over you. Where the first act's stifling sense of being uncomfortable was alleviated by laughs and shocks, act 2 stumbles in keeping the pace going. Now, I don't think Lanthimos is incompetent in any sense of the word so I'm sure the winding down of the pace was intentional but it didn't work for me. I'm never one to complain over a film being too slow. It feels like such a shallow argument when one can't find anything else wrong with it and you know what? That's pretty much what I'm doing here. I have to own that despite how expertly this was made on every conceivable level, I was squirming in my chair in the middle. And not because of how uncomfortable the film was. You can't call this a bad film because of that though. I suspect the pacing shift in the middle of the film is completely intentional but it was just a bit too jarring for my tastes and I'd have given my first 10/10 on this blog had this film been 90 minutes instead of 120.
Thank god for the ending. The first act is such a strong middle finger to the idea that we HAVE to be in relationships. That we NEED companionship. There's so much commentary going on here and you really need to see this over and over again to unpack it all. Lanthimos has created a world in which companionship, with or without love, is the only thing that matters. That you're a filthy loser, homeless in the woods who'll dig their own grave without it. You're arrested if you're found wandering the city without your partner or relationship certificate. It's such a stark and bleak reminder of what our world values that you're stunned by how well Lanthimos' pulls off Farrell and Weisz's falling for each other. You forget that Lanthimos has been telling us for over an hour that we're completely fucked and that companionship is a joke. This is a bitter, bitter film and when it gives you a glimmer of hope you're taken so far aback that it's almost unbearable. These two have waded through so much literal and figurative garbage and still found each other. The end though is what puts this movie over the top. I'm not even going to attempt to spoil it or explain it or give any theories, you just need to see this wonderful work of art. Just don't go two days in a row like I did or you'll be reeling from the depressing nature of it all. A24, my favorite film studio, has done it again, folks. They've put out the 3 best films of the year ("The Witch" and "Green Room" being the others) and I see no signs of them slowing down. I highly recommend this again and again and again. Watch it, be sad and go back and unpack it some more. You won't regret it.
Rachel Weisz
John C. Reilly
Lea Seydoux
Ben Whishaw
Whatever you're expecting going into "The Lobster" is wrong. I just want to get that firmly out of the way. Yorgos Lanthimos' ("Dogtooth") biggest film to date is a daring, bold and unrelentingly bleak look into a future so removed from anything resembling sense. Most trailers advertise this as yet another quirky, indie comedy where everything is placed just so with actors uttering kitschy lines of dialogue. However, as soon as the film starts you're greeted with a jarring image of death. The film doesn't hold back from there. There are long, uncomfortable takes of two people talking while someone dies, screaming in agony in the background. There's brutal, unnerving animal death. White knuckle scenes of self mutilation. Through this though, this film IS a comedy, flat out, albeit one of the most surreal and bleakest comedies that I've seen since my first time watching Luis Bunuel's bizarre, classism masterpiece "The Discreet Charm of the Bourgeoisie." Lanthimos undoubtedly draws heavily from that film's themes and directorial decisions, specifically long takes of people in dress clothes walking down long stretches of barren roads. However, the best way I can describe the Lobster is "Wes Anderson blended with Luis Bunuel filtered through a DEEP depression." What makes this film so strong though, is that you can definitely see everything I just described but it's 100% its own film. You've never seen anything quite like "the Lobster."
A basic rundown of the plot reads as bizarre but tame, on the surface. David (Colin Farrell) checks into a hotel designed to set single people up with other single people because in this near future, being single is illegal. David has 45 days to match with someone otherwise he's turned into an animal of his choosing which will be released into the "Forest". He's brought his brother, now a dog, along with him and begins his stay. So far, this could read as a pretty weird rom-com where David meets a cute, quirky girl and they live happily every after in this odd, quasi-dystopian society. Lanthimos isn't interested in that. Here, there aren't cute, quirky girls (or boys). There are people who are wholly defined by a single trait and that trait is what they're required to find in a partner to be considered a match. David is far-sighted, Limping Man (Ben Whishaw) well, he limps. Lisping Man (John C. Reilly), you guessed it, lisps. There's a woman who's heartless, meaning she carries zero emotions, which leads to an entertaining conclusion to act one. Lanthimos drives across the lack of meaningful personality by giving his characters no name. In fact, David is the only character with a name in the entire film and even then he doesn't have much of a personality. You'd almost wish he'd have been called "Far-Sighted Man" if only for consistency.
Now, just because each character is solely defined by their traits doesn't mean that they aren't compelling. Each actor gives their best to invest you in this bizarre world. Colin Farrell is fantastic here. His David stares blankly into the distance, speaks in stilted sentences and is generally a wet blanket. Most of the characters here share those similarities but Farrell plays David with so much sadness behind his eyes. You never see the wife's face who leaves him in the beginning of the film highlighting that they probably hadn't had much in common. The film is a comment on relationships and our constant struggle to connect and David is the perfect representation of who and what we could become. He seems to want to make that deep connection because you can see and feel the sadness emanating from him but he can't get past the societal desire to find a similar trait in someone. This society doesn't preach the acceptance of someone different, as soon as one party finds out the other doesn't have any common traits the conversation is largely over. David seems to recognize this and his odyssey through the hotel is so sad to watch. He's a seemingly hopeless romantic that's given up on the notion of finding "true love" again and will traipse over any necessary means to find a companion again. It's his (maybe?) redemption and hurdle over this obstacle that really makes him one of the more compelling characters in cinema this year.
Midway through, David is transitioned out of the hotel due to a set of hilarious, yet brutally dark circumstances and into the forest. The forest is littered with the animals that used to be somebody running about as if nothing is wrong. This is where the film is at its surrealist best. You'll see a pony or a peacock or a camel casually walking by during conversations. The constant reminder of what should have and possibly could still happen to David is ever present. Also in this forest are escaped refugees from the hotel called the "Loners." These people live by a strict code of no flirting, no sexual relationships, they dance to only electronic music through individual headphones and they dig their own graves in case they die. I loved the latter point. If the hotel represents the overwhelming desire to conform and be one with someone, then the forest is the complete opposite. It's the stark realization that you can end up alone and maybe that's not such a bad thing. The Loner Leader says "No one's going to dig your grave for you" which for me was the most poignant line of dialogue in the film. No matter what happens to you, happiness, love, despair, we all die alone. Despite that, David finds the Short-Sighted Woman (The fantastic Rachel Weisz) in the forest and his life is immediately thrust into purpose and desire. I don't want to give a whole lot away about Act 2 because it's a transition that isn't readily apparent in the trailers. However, David and Short-Sighted Girl's romance is heartbreakingly beautiful for a multitude of reasons. You see David grow into the person he's capable of being, the person we saw peeking out from the sadness behind his glasses. Weisz is astoundingly wonderful here. In lesser hands, this character could've played as the "manic pixie dreamgirl" trope but Weisz has such an assuredness to her, each line lands with a purpose. She and David have beautiful chemistry together, 2 lost souls drifting into each other and finding out that love is still possible in this strange, bleak world.
Elsewhere, this cast is rounded out by some of most talented people in the business. John C. Reilly is an absolute delight as usual. Playing such a broad character as "Lisping Man" would become a caricature in someone else's hands but Reilly has an innate ability where he's unable to not be funny. He's one of those people that immediately gives you a chuckle just because he's sitting in the frame. He's a uniquely talented actor because he generally has the same approach to most characters, the sad sack schlub, but you never have trouble believing his characters to be true. Lea` Seydoux is another standout as the Loner Leader. She has no time for bullshit and is unflinchingly swift in her punishments to Loners who step out of line. She looks young and there's a backstory to her that appears to be able to fill a whole other movie. Seydoux plays her with so much depth that you don't need the backstory to understand where she's coming from. She represents the solitary sadness that comes from being alone. She's so bitter and as such, she refuses to allow her tribe to fall for one another. Something clearly has happened in her past and as such, no one under her rule can ever be happy if she can't.
The opening act of this film is the absolute strongest aspect of it. It moves at such a unique pace, it lurches in some moments but moves so briskly in others. Lanthimos really does a fantastic job of creating tension within the hotel. It's such an odd setting filled with odd people doing odd things and while all of this is funny, it has a horror aspect. This is what Lanthimos exploits incredibly well. There are beautiful shots of the members of the hotel running through the woods with tranquilizers in slow motion with haunting orchestral music blaring over it. Right. The hunting scenes. This is the most disturbing part of the film, if only for the subtext of what's going to happen to the hunted. The guests of the hotel are to leave every night and hunt down Loners in the forest and tranquilize them. The hotel counts how many Loners they've bagged and awards them one extra night's stay for each Loner. You can probably guess what happens to the Loners. The entire first act has the beginnings of what could be the best film of the year. It's equal parts gut wrenchingly tense and awkward and uncomfortably hilarious. The cinematography and music add to Lanthimos' stellar direction to create the most unique atmosphere of year. It feels like a Wes Anderson movie with the color drained out. It's so lush and pristine but everything is so stark, so hopeless. You feel the weight of this world's sadness just smothering you. You laugh at the awkward hilarity of it all but you're always being reminded of the horror that's lurking around the corner. Violent violin strings screech without a moment's notice. People speak in stunted cadences and dance like fools. Rabbits are given as gifts to be eaten. This is avant-garde cinema in it's purest, surrealist form.
If the first act is the set up to what would've been the best film of the year, the second act is what hurts it for me. It's not enough for me to discredit this film but it lurches almost to a halt in points. By hour two, you're really feeling the time wash over you. Where the first act's stifling sense of being uncomfortable was alleviated by laughs and shocks, act 2 stumbles in keeping the pace going. Now, I don't think Lanthimos is incompetent in any sense of the word so I'm sure the winding down of the pace was intentional but it didn't work for me. I'm never one to complain over a film being too slow. It feels like such a shallow argument when one can't find anything else wrong with it and you know what? That's pretty much what I'm doing here. I have to own that despite how expertly this was made on every conceivable level, I was squirming in my chair in the middle. And not because of how uncomfortable the film was. You can't call this a bad film because of that though. I suspect the pacing shift in the middle of the film is completely intentional but it was just a bit too jarring for my tastes and I'd have given my first 10/10 on this blog had this film been 90 minutes instead of 120.
Thank god for the ending. The first act is such a strong middle finger to the idea that we HAVE to be in relationships. That we NEED companionship. There's so much commentary going on here and you really need to see this over and over again to unpack it all. Lanthimos has created a world in which companionship, with or without love, is the only thing that matters. That you're a filthy loser, homeless in the woods who'll dig their own grave without it. You're arrested if you're found wandering the city without your partner or relationship certificate. It's such a stark and bleak reminder of what our world values that you're stunned by how well Lanthimos' pulls off Farrell and Weisz's falling for each other. You forget that Lanthimos has been telling us for over an hour that we're completely fucked and that companionship is a joke. This is a bitter, bitter film and when it gives you a glimmer of hope you're taken so far aback that it's almost unbearable. These two have waded through so much literal and figurative garbage and still found each other. The end though is what puts this movie over the top. I'm not even going to attempt to spoil it or explain it or give any theories, you just need to see this wonderful work of art. Just don't go two days in a row like I did or you'll be reeling from the depressing nature of it all. A24, my favorite film studio, has done it again, folks. They've put out the 3 best films of the year ("The Witch" and "Green Room" being the others) and I see no signs of them slowing down. I highly recommend this again and again and again. Watch it, be sad and go back and unpack it some more. You won't regret it.
8/10
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