Graphic by Anna Angell
Set in a dystopian world where being single is illegal, “The Lobster” explores a world where individuals who do not find a partner within 45 days are transformed into an animal of their choice. Single people are escorted to a hotel to find a match. Each day, they hunt for loners, a group of rebels living in the woods, with tranquilizers for extra time in the hotel. Meanwhile, couples matched through a shared trait undergo programs before being released into the world, where their lives revolve around their relationships.
As an absurdist black comedy, a genre that emphasizes the meaninglessness of human existence by presenting tragic events as humor, the movie uses its abnormal concept as a satire of modern relationships.
Narrated by a woman who is later revealed as a loner, the story follows David as he arrives at a hotel after divorcing his wife. He is accompanied by his brother, Bob, who was turned into a dog after failing to find a partner.
A new friend, John, fakes nosebleeds to seem compatible with a girl who frequently experiences them. Using the same method of faking a trait, David portrays an uncaring personality to impress a heartless woman. To prove he is heartless, he doesn’t help the heartless woman when she pretends to choke and kicks a young girl.
One morning, the heartless woman kills David’s brother Bob, and seeing his tearful reaction, she realizes their relationship is built on a lie: the trait they had in common was entirely faked.
She leaves to tell the hotel manager about David’s lie, which would cause him to be turned into an animal “nobody wants to be,” and they end up chasing each other through the hotel. With the help of a maid, he tranquilizes her and drags her to the transformation room. Her new animal form is never revealed.
David escapes to join the loners in the woods, where romance is strictly forbidden. There, he meets the narrator, and they find a connection in being short-sighted. When the leader of the loners notices, she forces the narrator to undergo a blinding surgery.
They create a plan to escape to the city where David would blind himself to maintain their connection. The film leaves viewers uncertain about his choice, showing him holding a steak knife to his eye before showing the narrator sitting alone in the diner after some time has passed.
One aspect that stood out to me was how one-dimensional each character was. The lack of depth is represented through a lack of names: only David, his friends and Bob were given names. Many important characters, such as the narrator and the heartless woman, are not given names. The movie actively avoids naming any characters by describing their traits or using their assigned room numbers to “name” them.
All dialogue is delivered in a monotone manner. Conversations are stiff and uncomfortable. The absence of names and emotions represents the lack of personality and complexity in these characters.
Donnathan Straton, a member of the Wildcat Film Appreciation Society, connected this idea of emptiness to the film’s theme.
“I think all the awkwardness represents how everyone has been mentally castrated by this world,” Straton said.
The Wildcat Film Appreciation Society discussed the concept of rebels versus society, and the idea that instead of the hotel capturing loners themselves, they use the loners as an incentive for the hotel.
Ethan Hayden, another member at WFAS, explained why the hotel chose to set up a hunting system rather than simply catching all the loners.
“They kind of feed off of each other,” Hayden said. “For the hotel to continue to have this outgroup, they keep them around to preserve that enemy to work against.”
The two groups oppose each other in extremity, and the world is very rigid. To be single, one must either conform by turning into an animal or risk their life, ostracizing oneself from society. There is no option to live comfortably as a single person.
Ultimately, I would give this movie 5 out of 5 stars. The concept is bizarre but offers endless opportunities for symbolism and metaphors behind its strange humor. WFAS spent over an hour discussing its meanings, and there was so much more to talk about. A lot of thought was clearly put into this film, as just about everything has a deeper meaning.