The Lobster (2016)
79%RT Audience Score: 65%
Awards & Nominations: Nominated for 1 Oscar
34 wins & 83 nominations total
As strange as it is thrillingly ambitious, The Lobster is definitely an acquired taste — but for viewers with the fortitude to crack through Yorgos Lanthimos’ offbeat sensibilities, it should prove a savory cinematic treat
If you’re looking for a movie that’s as weird as it is hilarious, then The Lobster is the perfect pick for you. Colin Farrell is a delight to watch as he navigates a world where being single is illegal and you’re turned into an animal if you can’t find a mate. It’s a satire that hits close to home, but with a surreal twist that keeps you on your toes. Plus, who doesn’t love a good paunchy Colin Farrell?
Production Company(ies)
Shochiku
Distributor
A24
Release Type
Theatrical, Theatrical (Limited)
Filming Location(s)
County Kerry, Ireland
MPAA / Certificate
Rated R for sexual content including dialogue, and some violence
Year of Release
2015
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Color:Color
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Sound mix:D-Cinema 48kHz 5.1
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Aspect ratio:1.85 : 1
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Runtime:1h 58m
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Language(s):English, French, Greek
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Country of origin:United States, United Kingdom, France, Greece, Ireland, The Netherlands
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Release date:Release Date (Theaters): Jun 3, 2016 Wide
Release Date (Streaming): Jul 19, 2016
Genre(s)
Fantasy/Drama
Keyword(s)
Worldwide gross: $15,509,546
Worldwide gross (inflation-adjusted): $19,360,075
Worldwide gross ranking (inflation-adjusted): 1,728
Worldwide tickets sold (est.): 2,111,241
US/Canada gross: $9,077,245
US/Canada gross (inflation-adjusted): $11,330,838
US/Canada gross ranking (inflation-adjusted): 1,580
US/Canada opening weekend: $190,252
US/Canada opening weekend (inflation-adjusted): $237,486
US/Canada opening weekend ranking (inflation-adjusted): 1,605
Budget and Earnings Details
Production budget (est.): 4000000
Production budget (inflation-adjusted): $4,993,073
Production budget ranking: 1,910
Marketing and distribution budget (inflation-adjusted est.): $2,688,770
Box office net earnings to date (inflation-adjusted est.): $11,678,232
ROI to date (est.): 152%
ROI ranking: 764
Art Parkinson – Kubo (Voice)
Ralph Fiennes – Moon King, Raiden (Voice)
George Takei – Hosato (Voice)
Cary-Hiroyuki Tagawa – Hashi (Voice)
Brenda Vaccaro – Kameyo (Voice)
Director(s)
Yorgos Lanthimos
Writer(s)
Yorgos Lanthimos, Efthimis Filippou
Producer(s)
Ed Guiney, Lee Magiday, Ceci Dempsey, Yorgos Lanthimos
Film Festivals
Sundance, Cannes, Toronto
Awards & Nominations
Nominated for 1 Oscar
34 wins & 83 nominations total
Academy Awards
Oscar Nominees
All Critics (266) | Top Critics (60) | Fresh (231) | Rotten (35)
Like all good satire, it takes what’s already obvious about the world around us and just transforms it into something new.
October 18, 2018
Jordan Hoffman
Esquire Magazine
TOP CRITIC
Part of the joy of Lanthimos’s film is seeing in it any degree of subtext you like.
December 27, 2016 | Rating: 5/5
Danny Leigh
Financial Times
TOP CRITIC
This is the type of film I’m going to watch multiple times, obsessing over every choice Lanthimos and his talented team of cinematic craftsmen made in order to see it come to life.
August 9, 2016 | Rating: 3.5/4
Sara Michelle Fetters
MovieFreak.com
TOP CRITIC
There is so much more, but part of the (perverse) pleasure of The Lobster is how it keeps you off guard, never lets you feel settled.
June 13, 2016 | Rating: 3.5/4
Max Weiss
Baltimore Magazine
TOP CRITIC
The Lobster argues that the kind of pressure society places on us to find a soulmate can lead to reckless choices. But the movie gives the alternative – people who are happy being single – the same radical treatment.
June 1, 2016 | Rating: 3.5/4
Rene Rodriguez
Miami Herald
TOP CRITIC
Lanthimos doesn’t deliver all the way, but he sticks his landing mightily and whets appetites for whatever he decides to do next.
May 27, 2016 | Rating: B
Adam Graham
Detroit News
TOP CRITIC
Watching Lanthimos’ characters suffer existentially and sometimes physically under his application of strange rules and decorum recalls the very best of Luis Buñuel, except far more accessible on an emotional level.
April 11, 2022 | Rating: 4/4
Brian Eggert
Deep Focus Review
The defining sensation is that of watching your favorite football team run up the score on an inferior opponent and then letting the game slip away during the second half, requiring a field goal in the closing seconds to escape with the victory.
August 18, 2021 | Rating: 2.5/4
Matt Brunson
Film Frenzy
Unique and refreshingly original both in concept and style.
June 25, 2021 | Rating: 4 / 5
Nicolás Delgadillo
Discussing Film
Colin Farrell is paunchy and hilarious in a surreal, unpredictable comedy…
April 22, 2021 | Rating: 3/5
Olly Richards
NME
Characters in the film still abide by the social conventions, but their desire to be with someone and not be lonely is stronger than anything. It’s the most romantic movie I’ve seen in a while.
February 14, 2021
Dustin Chang
Floating World
Lanthimos has become one of Greece’s most internationally prominent directors. It is revealing that he has no comment to make about the ongoing crisis in Greece except in regard to the financial difficulties it has caused filmmakers like himself.
February 11, 2021
David Walsh
World Socialist Web Site…
Plot
A love story set in a dystopian near future where single people are arrested and transferred to a creepy hotel. There they are obliged to find a matching mate in 45 days. If they fail, they are transformed into an animal and released into the woods.
Trivia
Goofs / Tidbits
NA
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