From the moment a twitchy countryside drive through the drab vistas of an unspecified location ends with a woman executing a donkey with a pistol, you know you’re about to be exposed to something wholly distinctive.
Sometime in the future, maybe, single people are cast from society and given 45 days’ stay in a hotel. Here they must find a suitable partner, and if they don’t then they’re transformed into an animal of their choosing to live out the remainder of their days. It is because of these rules that you won’t find the image of a camel strolling through woodland too much of a stretch, considering what the fertile Greek minds of Yorgos Lanthimos and Efthymis Filippou have thrown at you for two hours.
David (Colin Farrell) has arrived at the hotel with his brother, who himself failed to find a partner, so is now a dog. He is a schlubby man born of the term “dead-pan”, much like the rest of the characters, frittering his days away, unable to find a connection with nose-bleed lady (Jessica Barden), Biscuit Woman (Ashley Jensen), or Heartless Woman (Angeliki Papoulia). His failed attempts with the latter find him cast asunder into the woodland with the rest of the loners. It’s here that he meets Short Sighted Woman (Rachel Weisz) and forms an oddball relationship which goes against the “Logan’s Run” rulemaking set out by his newfound community. And that’s just the half of it.
Like something born from the mind of Charlie Kaufman by way of “The Mighty Boosh”, “The Lobster” is so delightfully unique and charming that a furrowed brow will quickly vanish. It establishes its rules from the off, however bonkers, and then asks the audience to go along for the ride. And for the most part you will.
