The Lobster (2015): Cinematic Ambiguity at its Finest
Yorgos Lanthimos’ 2015 film The Lobster is one of the strangest and intrusively presumptuous films I have ever watched. Upon my first encounter with this film in 2019, I loved the film for its absurdity and botched reality. Yet during my rewatch, I realized that this film’s true triumph is in its escapism, satire rooted in truth, themes of love and fear, and the way that the director, actors, and cinematographer toy with the audience’s ability to carefully analyze the film. The incredible ambiguity of the movie forces a different type of analysis - a reconstruction of the expectations to suit its own world.
I am a huge fan of experimental films. I constantly find myself using movies as an escape from my reality. The more different the world of the film is from my own, the better. I like revisiting films because my perspective of the world has always shifted, forcing me to look at the movie in a new light. The world of The Lobster feels alien, but I would argue that the actual messages the film sends through the deadpan acting and dialogue are rooted deeply in our reality. Both our world and the world of The Lobster are full of people looking for mates, and we are looking for them based purely on subjective likes and dislikes in one's personality and physical appearance. The influences in The Lobster are both societal and deadly because of the fear of being killed, while in our society the pressures are just societal. This film is an escape because of the hotel’s absurd rules, hysterical characters, and life or death situations. But to say that the entire film is planted in a fantasy is inappropriate considering how prevalent dating apps, social media, and cosmetic surgery is in our society.
One of the most important themes I picked up on was the idea of love and fear, and the fear of love. The characters are caricatures by depiction, each of them dealing with their fears that come with being alone. In Lanthimos' world, characters are faced with the gripping reality of figuring out what they truly want. Do they want a loving relationship or do they just want to remain in their human form?
The overall ambiguity of this film is my favorite part, most Hollywood features don’t push the boundaries like this one does which is a refreshing change of pace. While this is a movie about love, relationships, and human nature, I don’t think that the film actually says anything about those topics. It addresses them head-on, but the film gives no opinion or commentary, and I think that’s the point. The film is about two people who don’t fit their society’s expectations about what a relationship looks like, them wanting to be together, but not knowing where to go from there. The film ends on a stiff note with a nearby resolution that is not concluded, it’s up to the audience to decide where these two go next.
