Love in a Cold Tank

Posted by Valerie Andrews in Film Review

THE LOBSTER IS A DYSTOPIAN COMEDY where being single is a crime. Jilted by his wife, Dave checks into a government-run hotel where everyone is forced to couple off. Guests have forty-five days to secure a mate or be changed into the animal of their choice. When he fails to find a partner, Dave picks the lobster for its long life and fertility, unaware that the creature sheds its shell and is vulnerable to predators on the ocean floor.

Drawn to stark, surrealist themes, director Yorgos Lanthimos shows how love fares in in a society that demands conformity at all costs. The Lobster has much to say about the kind of literal thinking that reduces real-life problems to slogans, suppresses the imagination, and fosters aggression. While exploring love in a proto-fascist society, this film asks: In a crisis, or major life transition, will we simply regrow the old carapace, made up of familiar prejudices and complexes? Or will we choose a more authentic way of being in the world? Read more in Clawing Your Way to the Bottom: Love in a Fascist Society in Jung Journal