10 Great Indie Films From The Past 5 Years You May Have Missed

You can’t get much more indie-sounding than “absurdist dystopian romantic-comedy-drama.” And those aren’t just words thrown together to make the film synopsis sound interesting; “The Lobster” really does deliver on all fronts. The film is set in a bleak future where single people are sent away to a remote seaside hotel where they must find a partner with a matching identifying personality trait, or face being transformed into an animal of their choice. Our leading character’s choice, should it come to it? The humble lobster.

The rules of the hotel are strict. Daily arousing lap dances from the hotel maid are mandatory. However, masturbation is not tolerated. This, presumably, helps motivate the male guests to find a partner. Each guest is issued with a number of tranquiliser darts when they begin their stay. Nightly hunting trips take place where they must capture escapees of the hotel. Each time they catch one, they receive an extra day in the hotel to find a mate. Daily presentations are given on the dangers of being single. A pair of hotel employees act out the attack of a single woman, before demonstrating the advantages of being partnered. This time she avoids her attacker thanks to the presence of her male counterpart.

Eventually David, played by an uncharacteristically chubby Colin Farrell, decides to flee the constraints of the hotel and joins “the loners”, the escapees who live in the woods and have their own very strict rules on not forming partnerships. Here he meets Rachel Weisz, with whom he forms a secret romantic relationship.

As well as the bizarre rules society has imposed on itself, one of the most notable aspects of the film is the naturalistic, matter-of-fact delivery of dialogue. All characters and even the narrator are seemingly emotionless. While this can get a little tedious at times, it’s an effective technique employed by the director to convey his message on the state of relationships. It also makes for some touching drama when the characters underlying emotions do subtly reveal themselves, as well as providing the bedding for regular unexpected comedic moments.

The Lobster is an ambitious film, made up of a lot of risky elements that have been brilliantly executed in order to produce a fascinating piece of cinema.