Ways that Make ‘The Lobster’ (2015) an Adequate Pick for Movie Date

(Definitely a spoiler) ✨

In every encounter with romantic relationships as a narrative theme, the main question I have is why forming a relationship is such a big issue for society. Why does this long list of films particularly choose romance as their main topic? Why must cinema industries pressure and punish the single this way? Why should your parents ask you whether you have found a person or not? One of the reasons I can think of is that relationship is a gate towards marriage and family making, which also happens to be the smallest societal unit. Family shapes what kind of individuals would circulate within society. So as not to create deviant individuals, society sometimes dictates social dynamic as micro as relationship forming.

(That--or just because humans are more prone to loneliness, and dating, in general, is just a fun activity, whichever you prefer I guess)

In any case, once a person reaches a certain age, questions of marriage plan or getting settled suddenly become frequently faced. The group tries to maintain this control even if it is often neglecting the subjective experience of an individual in the process. 

My pick for your movie date today is The Lobster (2015), directed by Yorgos Lanthimos. The Lobster is one of the most intriguing movies released within these past 5 years. It is deadpan humor that is smart at the same time. The cinematic quality is very similar to Wes Anderson: color, tone, and object placing are perfectly ordered and symmetrical. (and boy do I love Wes Anderson's movies)

O Ye of Paired, Laugh at The Pitiful Singles for They're Just Animals

The film sets in a world where being single or having a partner is the primary determinant of humanistic or animalistic traits. What other kind of movie is more satisfying for couples than the kind that allows you to laugh at the singles, right? The singles are practically denied the privilege of being human. If they cannot find a perfect match within 45 days of staying in a specific hotel, they will be turned into animals of their choosing. This film uses a satirical look through exaggeration on this aspect of humanity, relationship, to depict the absurdity of such societal restraints and requirements on human bonds. The film develops the story in a world that superficially looks realistic and close enough to the actual world the audience lives in. This realistic setting works in a way that makes the exaggeration stand out.

One attribute that is overly intensified is how the world is completely devoid of gray areas. In the beginning scene, the main character is being interviewed about his sexual preference with choices of either being a homosexual or a heterosexual. He cannot choose to be between the two, so bisexuality is out of the question. When he was later asked to choose his shoe size, there was no half number. It was either one or two with nothing in between. Everything is boxed into either A or B: the couple or the single, the homosexual or the heterosexual, the animal or the human. This black or white notion seeps into how all character acts within the world, with flat expressions and matter-of-fact monotonous dialogue tone. 

You are My Perfect Match, Down to The Wretched Blood Vessel in Your Nose

Another excessively heightened part is the conformity, particularly through the costumes. The hotel guests, the city folks, the new family in the yacht, and the resistance group members all wear the same clothing according to their affiliations, almost like wearing uniforms. The repetitive background music and the subdued saturation further amplify this sense of false order. 

Despite such an imaginative premise, this degree of realism serves a purpose to center the dialogue of the story straight to the extreme depiction of the perfect match idea. In other words, the origin of the 45 days rule is not the issue here. This dire consequence drives the hotel guests to the extreme length in acquiring the perfect match. A perfect match requires the pair to possess similarity, so they conjure the quality where there is none to avoid the fated demise of being turned into animals. One guest feigned a physical attribute by purposely hurt his nose because his love interest is a girl with a nosebleed condition. However, all his harmful efforts do not necessarily result in the start of a lively meaningful bond. This is illustrated through their dull and expressionless tone of them saying how happy they are to have found a match. This similarity also does not guarantee a meaningful connection. Towards the end of the film, the hotel manager and her pair were ambushed by the single resistance. Her pair was so quick to choose his life over hers despite the fact of how similar their personality and how long they had been together.

Connect or Conform?

At the end of the day, ‘The Lobster’ (2015) pictures how the rigid general restriction drains the emotion that is supposedly present in a relationship. It reduces human bond into a mere symbiosis partnership that fails to generate a deeper connection. Furthermore, in building a bond under such scrutiny, it threatens to obscure individuality for the sake of a weak union. This film is worth checking particularly for its unique ironical delivery and take on the issue of relationship. After watching this on your movie date, you can now reflect and rethink the real reason behind your decision on dating and being in a relationship: do you date to actually connect or just to conform?

Read also: "Don't You Forget About Me (2019): More Than a Romance Flick (Spoilers)"