The basic premise of The Lobster is laid out clearly in the first few minutes. In a surreal, Kafkaesque dystopian future, David (Colin Farrell) finds himself alone after his wife leaves him for another man. He is taken to The Hotel, where he has 45 days to find a new romantic partner. If he fails, he will be literally transformed into an animal, the titular lobster being his choice.

This premise might conjure up images of a cheesy 70s science fiction setting, but instead, the world is quite quaint and ordinary, with no evidence whatsoever of technology advanced enough to perform flawless human to animal transformations. The perfectly innocuous Hotel, combined with the flat, deadpan delivery of most of the characters, creates an atmosphere of bizarre creepiness, which only grows as the movie progresses. Continue reading →