The Lobster, directed by Yorgos Lanthimos, is set in a somewhat dystopian universe where single people are turned into animals if they do not find a partner at the hotel in 45 days.
The story begins with our main character, David, arriving at the hotel. Upon arrival, the staff asked him what animal he would want to be turned into if he was unsuccessful in finding a mate. He is dead set on being a Lobster.
One of the stand-out scenes, in the beginning, is when David asks if there is a bisexual option, and the hotel manager says no this slowly introduces the cut-and-dry nature of this universe that similarly mirrors ours.
As we progress David meets John a man with a limp and Robert a man with a lisp both of them express their desire to be in a relationship not necessarily for the desire to find 'love' but to not end up as one of the loners.
The hotel also has a few rules.
No masturbation
Sexual stimulation by the maid - is mandatory every morning
Residents can extend their time by killing single people who are named 'The loners'
Residents are forced to watch and listen to presentations about people who are partnered up
Couples get a month's trial on a boat if they start to have problems they are given a child. The hotel manager reasons this by saying that children usually fix things - we will touch on this later.
I'll be honest it took me a while to get into this movie, but then it all started to make sense.
the commentary was about dating culture. At first, I interpreted this as online dating (and I will share some of my experiences in relation to the film) but as the film developed I realised it was about dating in general and how society views relationships. I will now be going into greater depth with the film so there will be spoilers.
John gains the attention of a woman who gets frequent nosebleeds. However, he fakes getting nosebleeds by hurting himself to prove that they are a true 'match.' The woman doesn't know about John faking nosebleeds, of course.
It shows the extent of how far people will go to get into a relationship, this parallels the world as we know it. Not everyone is desperate to get into a relationship. But this movie represents the shallow and superficial reasons why people say that they're a 'match'. There is a common belief that having the same music taste, favourite food, same friends and in John's case same 'condition' is enough to forge a fulfilling romantic relationship. When in actuality having similar interests is only part of what makes a successful partnership and you can have these traits more in a platonic connection than romantic. Having chemistry, understanding and morals that are aligned is more valuable, especially in a romantic relationship. Liking - even loving the same TV show isn't enough to build a longstanding happy relationship, connections based solely on convenience hardly last at least not happily.
I experienced this when entering the world of online dating.
One of my Hinge prompts, which was my go-to to get matches was my book. Yes - the book I am still writing. I didn't mind it to begin with as I love my book but I also hated having to have the same conversation 7+ times leading me to create a notes page on my phone that I could copy and paste into the chat. I ended up getting likes/matches from other writers which on paper sounds good but honestly, it just wasn't.
The guys that I spoke to who also did writing became obsessed, overly attached to the fact that we both loved writing. In my head, I thought "I mean we both like writing and The Witcher so I mean I should give it a go" but the truth is online dating and the shallow perspective on relationships can pressure you into thinking that these little check boxes are enough.
Back to the movie... (spoilers ahead)
David our lead feels the pressure rising as his friend John is paired up with the nose-bleeding woman. He then forces himself to appeal to the heartless woman. This begins when another woman flings herself out a hotel window to her death since her time is running out to find a partner. This highlights the importance that people put on the label of calling someone their 'girlfriend, boyfriend or partner' and the significance that it has on people's lives. David makes jokes about the woman's death to the heartless woman, making comments about how annoying it is to hear the dying woman screaming.
The heartless woman, although intrigued, put David through another trial, in the hot tub she pretended to choke to death to see if David would help her. He didn't, hiding his concern not long after they began their month trial as partners. The reason why the heartless woman did this was because she wanted to see if they were a proper match and if David was truly as heartless as her. She then says “We are a perfect match”
A scene I found telling was the sex scene between David and the heartless woman, there was a stiffness to the movements. It was performed like a checkbox being ticked, a way of completing the 'things that couple should do list'.Throughout the short scene David when expressing pleasure the heartless woman asks him why he is moaning.
I thought back to the scene where the maid performs the 'stimulation exercise' but doesn't let David orgasm or touch himself. The reason for this is the hotel promotes the societal standard and ideal that pleasure and sex are limited to couples. And that people in a partnership will give you the space to not be restricted. However, while having sex with the heartless woman he is still restricted as he is performing to someone else's ideal and not being true to himself.
Of course, the truth came out eventually.
The heartless woman murders David's dog, who is actually his brother who was turned into a dog due to not being successful in finding a partner. David at first pretends he doesn't care but then is unable to hold in his sobs, the heartless woman drags David to the hotel manager as their relationship is a lie. Luckily for David, he is saved by the maid who is an insider for the 'lone people', she transforms the heartless woman into an animal that was not named.
Into the woods. (the lone people)
David is now in the woods, at first the audience is led to believe that this is a space for him to finally be free. But the lone people operate on strict rules too. They aren't allowed to show emotion and romance is forbidden. This part of the film reflects the black-and-white extremes. If you're single you have to be loud and proud about it, romance is scoffed at, and celebrations like Valentine's Day are seen as terrible.
There is no middle ground.
David does end up meeting someone, a woman titled 'the short-sighted' woman, the two appear to have a genuine connection and even created their own code to communicate with each other.
However, they are still tied to this dystopian societal standard, and their connection is strong and 'right' because they are both short-sighted.
The leader of the loners realises the connection between them, real chemistry I guess can only be ignored or hidden for so long, the leader of course did not like this. To make matters worse the leader finds the short-sighted woman's diary sharing her plans to run away with David.
There were a few reasons for this
Jealousy: At David and the short-sighted lady for finding love and companionship, unlike the leader. We can relate this to the world as we know it: people are jealous of genuine connections and see it as a slight on themselves.
Breaking the rules: Humans naturally gravitate towards systems and structures, breaking these spoken and unspoken rules can send people haywire
Control: The leader of the lone people was just as heartless as the manager of the hotel and just as strict on rules.
The leader of the lone people takes the short-sighted lady to be blinded, cutting the 'only tie' between her and David. As the short-sighted lady stumbles she asks the leader "Why didn't she blind him?" which brings into question her connection with David. In my opinion, the lone leader is heartless, she was a big hater and major co*k blocker, we see her heartlessness when she uses the maid as a human shield when the now blinded short-sighted woman attempts to stab her. David and the short-sighted woman both go through a superficial list of things that they might have in common but they find nothing.
The final act
The lone people launch their raid on the hotel, they tie up the hotel manager and hand her husband a gun, this is a true test of their relationship. Her husband (naturally) failed the test and pulled the trigger. This for me highlights that having the title of being in a relationship does not equal love and equal admiration. The husband fires the gun - only to find out that it wasn't loaded, the hotel manager is left to deal with the reality that yes she may not be single but she is left with someone who doesn't truly care for her.
David goes to the boat to pay John a visit, John now has a child with the nose bleeding woman; which indicates that their relationship is not going well.
Who would've thought that having nose bleeds wasn't enough to be a 'perfect match'?
I did find it interesting that the film adopted the idea that people have children as a way to 'fix' a broken or mismatched relationship. The reality is that although the act of making (*wink wink*) a child is intimate and sharing that new life albeit profound. Is not enough to fix a relationship that is not right between two individuals.
David and the Lone leader fight but David wins, leaving her in her own grave for dogs to eat her alive (ouch). David and the short-sighted woman escape, they go to a diner, she suggests and they both agree that to be together they both have to be blind. This itself is very absurd, how will these two individuals get by if they are both blind with no guide dog or anyone to help them? Why does the short-sighted woman need their relationship to be affirmed by David blinding himself?
I interpreted this as when people are getting into a relationship the other party either feels pressured to adopt the other person's traits or hobbies. Of course, it can be sweet when someone puts effort into enjoying the same things as you do but this sweet gesture can turn dark. It Isn't sweet if someone feels pressured into putting on a performance and in David's case going blind for the person he 'loves'. For example, I love writing poetry it doesn't mean that I expect my partner to start writing sonnets, as that wouldn't automatically mean that our relationship is deep or profound. The same could be said about movie watching which can be done with anyone, anyone at all. When these seemingly shared activities are challenged it can reveal the shaky foundation of said relationship.
David then goes to the bathroom and struggles to muster up the courage to dig out his own eyes, we never know whether or not he does it or not but the film ends with the short-sighted woman waiting for David to come back without his eyes.
Overview
Overall this is an interesting movie, it's dark and satirical and definitely isn't everyone's cup of tea. I wasn't going to finish watching the movie but then the message started to stand out to me and the light bulb lit up in my head. Some people had differing opinions on this film, the film being a bit slow and absurd being one of them and I completely get that or maybe just maybe it hit too close to home.
People also had debates about the ending, did David really gouge out his eyes?
Some viewers said that they believed he ran away and left, while others said that he did go blind, which plays on the idea that love really is blind. Personally, I do have a feeling David did go blind but I am not fully cemented in that ending simply because of how stupid it is. David appears desperate at points in the movie, like when he feigns cruelty and endures somewhat unenjoyable emotionless sex to be in a relationship with the heartless woman. So it wouldn't be as surprising to me if he did cut out his own eyes, however like some viewers I find it hard to believe. I do wish that the film wasn't so ambiguous at points, I wish we knew what animal the heartless woman turned into but I also prefer not knowing whether David went blind or not.
The film brings into question whether love can truly blossom in a society that is so shallow and superficial.
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Written by Charis.Clarissa
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