by, Cameron Lui

I have never in my life seen an ending that made multiple audience members sprint for the exits. The Yorgos Lanthimos directed “The Lobster,” stops at nothing to make the audience feel as uncomfortable as possible. 

The quick and unexpected violence left the audience in shock and made many consider leaving the theaters. However, the violence had so many blatant metaphors for modern day love that the extremity of them were almost acceptable. My favorite has to be how they end the movie with the most intense lesson on the belief that “true love is blind.” If anyone gets to that point, don’t be the one that sprints out of the theater or closes their eyes. I dare you to play movie chicken up until the credits. 

Then, there is the direct and monotone dialog that is reminiscent of the world in “The Invention of Lying.” The surreal way in which they talk allow them to make big statements such as, “If you are unhappy and arguing after 2 weeks we will assign you a child, we think that might help,” or “here at the single camps we do everything solo, even during dance nights, we only dance by ourselves, thats why we only listen to electronic music.” The dialog was so smart and had so much motivation behind each line that it made Colin Ferrell look like an entirely different actor. 

The performances were all flawless, the writing was brilliant and the excruciating pain of watching the film all make for one of the most unique movie-going experiences of my life. I definitely recommend the film, but be prepared to come out disturbed.