The Lobster

"An unconventional love story..."

2015 1h 59m EN

👍

7.0

SOLID

🍅

87%

FRESH

💯

METACRITIC

⭐

7.1

IMDB

★7.0TMDB · 7,124🍅87%Rotten Tomatoes●82Metacritic★7.1IMDB · 330,883

ComedyDramaRomance

Synopsis

Spoiler shield

In a dystopian near future, single people, according to the laws of The City, are taken to The Hotel, where they are obliged to find a romantic partner in forty-five days or are transformed into animals and sent off into The Woods.

“An unconventional love story...”

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Cast

Colin Farrell
David
Rachel Weisz
Short Sighted Woman
Olivia Colman
Hotel Manager
Léa Seydoux
Loner Leader
Michael Smiley
Loner Swimmer
Ariane Labed
The Maid
John C. Reilly
Lisping Man
Ben Whishaw
Limping Man

Credits

Behind the camera

Director: Yorgos Lanthimos
Writers: Efthimis Filippou, Yorgos Lanthimos
Languages: English, French, Greek
Countries: France, Greece, Ireland, Netherlands, United Kingdom

Want more? Switch to Cinephile mode in the header for DP, composer, budget, box office, production companies, keywords, and release history.

Did you know?

Fun facts 🍿

1 / 8

MONEY

Did you know

Shot for just $4.0M — micro-budget by Hollywood standards.

MoodPlayr · trivia#01

2 / 8

MONEY

Did you know

Made its money back 3.9× over at the box office.

MoodPlayr · trivia#02

3 / 8

ERA

Did you know

Released 11 years ago.

MoodPlayr · trivia#03

4 / 8

WORLD

Did you know

Dialogue crosses 3 languages: English, French, Greek.

MoodPlayr · trivia#04

5 / 8

WORLD

Did you know

International production across 5 countries: France, Greece, Ireland, Netherlands, United Kingdom.

MoodPlayr · trivia#05

6 / 8

DIRECTOR

Did you know

Directed by Yorgos Lanthimos, shot by Thimios Bakatakis. Note their partnership — DPs and directors often return to each other across a career.

MoodPlayr · trivia#06

7 / 8

DIRECTOR

Did you know

Editor Yorgos Mavropsaridis shaped the rhythm. On an edit-heavy film, the editor does more to control your pulse than the director.

MoodPlayr · trivia#07

8 / 8

CAST

Did you know

Colin Farrell and Rachel Weisz and Olivia Colman carry the top of the cast.

MoodPlayr · trivia#08

Cinephile deep dive

The take

Yorgos Lanthimos directs. Thimios Bakatakis behind the camera. Yorgos Mavropsaridis cuts. Made its budget back several times over at the box office. Produced in France, Greece, Ireland, Netherlands, United Kingdom. Dialogue in English, French, Greek.

Trivia

Things worth knowing

1Shot for just $4.0M — micro-budget by Hollywood standards.
2Made its money back 3.9× over at the box office.
3Released 11 years ago.
4Dialogue crosses 3 languages: English, French, Greek.
5International production across 5 countries: France, Greece, Ireland, Netherlands, United Kingdom.
6Directed by Yorgos Lanthimos, shot by Thimios Bakatakis. Note their partnership — DPs and directors often return to each other across a career.
7Editor Yorgos Mavropsaridis shaped the rhythm. On an edit-heavy film, the editor does more to control your pulse than the director.
8Colin Farrell and Rachel Weisz and Olivia Colman carry the top of the cast.
9Marketing tagline: "An unconventional love story...".
10IMDB entry: tt3464902 — still the authoritative cross-reference for credits and trivia.
11Classified under 17 themes, including "hotel", "suicide attempt", "boat", "dystopia".
12Released under 15 different titles around the world.

The technical file

Cinematography: Thimios Bakatakis
Editing: Yorgos Mavropsaridis
Production design: Jacqueline Abrahams
Costume design: Sarah Blenkinsop
Makeup / hair: Sharon Doyle
VFX supervisor: Olivier Cauwet
Sound: Johnnie Burn
Stunt coordinator: Giedrius Nagys
Runtime: 119 min · 1h 59m
Aspect ratio (typical): 1.37:1 (Academy)
Status: Released
Budget: $4,000,000
Box office: $15,700,000
Return: 393% of budget
Original language: EN
Certification (US): R
IMDB: The Lobster (2015)
Rotten Tomatoes: 87% 🍅 Fresh
Metacritic: 82/100
IMDB rating: 7.1/10 · 330,883 votes
MPAA: R

Awards

Nominated for 1 Oscar. 33 wins & 84 nominations total

European Film Award for Best Costume Designer
European Film Award for Best Screenwriter
Jury Prize

Individual records documented via Wikidata; the summary above may count more.

Also by

Yorgos Lanthimos

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Trailers & featurettes

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Community reviews

What people are saying

Reno2016-03-24
★ 7/10
Another peculiar dystopian tale set in the future. From the director of the Oscars nominated movie 'Dogtooth'. If you are familiar with his signature movie, you will find it so good. This is not the best movie I had seen that set in the future, but like any other it was another dystopian tale. A black comedy-romance with a decent storyline, performances and overall a nice entertainer. The pace was very depressing, but I kept hooked to it for its frequent unpredictable scenes. The first act took place in a hotel which is the introduction to the odd world and the situation where the plot opens. When it moved to the 2nd half, especially after Rachel Weisz come into the frame, the entire scenario changed to atypical romance mode and kept that way till the last with a simple twist in the finale. Colin Ferrell's character was something like the one from the movie 'Her'. But not the same movie, or the theme, except the combination of the genres. It was a good movie, I enjoyed it, but not as much as others say they did. IMPO, it is a one time watch movie for its peculiarness. 7/10
talisencrw2016-08-22
★ 9/10
This was an odd experience, as I just recently ended a self-imposed 12-year moratorium on relationships, due to a couple of bad ones I had within a short period of time in the early 2000's. It was very intriguing to see a type of dystopia exist in which 'singledom' was so vilified to the point of actually being against the law. I would never have previously thought that such a state of events was possible, but recent trends in 'political correctedness' on the one hand and both religious and political radicalism on the other means that, sadly, nothing is impossible anymore. I thought it was a remarkable idea for a film, and both the soundtrack and cinematography were outstanding. The bizarre script and bold direction brought forth some of the best acting I have yet seen from Colin Ferrell, Rachel Weisz and John C. Reilly, as well. I'm definitely looking forward to seeing other films by this brazenly original writer/director. Long may his almost-Bunuelian take on things go forth.
mattwilde1232017-03-09
★ 8/10
This was Yorgos Lanthimos' English language debut. It was really funny. All of the actors had to perform their lines straight-faced and with no emotion which is very strange at first. The screenplay and direction of the film was very intelligent and perfectly highlights the themes of the film. This film was very quirky and unique and so I really enjoyed it. ★★★★