The Lobster

For other uses, see Lobster (disambiguation).

The Lobster
Theatrical release poster[1]
Directed byYorgos Lanthimos
Written by
Produced by
  • Ceci Dempsey
  • Ed Guiney
  • Yorgos Lanthimos
  • Lee Magiday
Starring
CinematographyThimios Bakatakis
Edited byYorgos Mavropsaridis
Production
companies
Distributed by
  • Feelgood Entertainment (Greece)
  • Haut et Court (France)
  • Element Pictures (Ireland)
  • De Filmfreak (Netherlands)
  • Picturehouse Entertainment (United Kingdom)
Release dates
  • 15 May 2015 (2015-05-15) (Cannes)
  • 16 October 2015 (2015-10-16) (Ireland and United Kingdom)
  • 22 October 2015 (2015-10-22) (Greece and Netherlands)
  • 28 October 2015 (2015-10-28) (France)
Running time
118 minutes[2]
Countries
  • Ireland
  • United Kingdom
  • Greece
  • France
  • Netherlands
Languages
  • English
  • French
Budget$4 million[3]
Box office$18 million[4]

The Lobster is a 2015 absurdist black comedy drama film directed and co-produced by Yorgos Lanthimos, from a screenplay by Lanthimos and Efthimis Filippou.[5][6][7] It stars Colin Farrell, Rachel Weisz, Jessica Barden, Olivia Colman, Ashley Jensen, Ariane Labed, Angeliki Papoulia, John C. Reilly, Léa Seydoux, Michael Smiley, and Ben Whishaw. The film follows a newly single bachelor who moves into a hotel with other singles, who are all obliged to find a romantic partner in 45 days, lest they be transformed into animals.[8]

The film was announced in October 2013, with Jason Clarke originally cast in the lead role. After Clarke left production, Farrell replaced him by February 2014, with Weisz also joining the cast after Elizabeth Olsen dropped out. The rest of the cast was rounded out by March as principal photography began, which concluded in May. Filming largely took place in Dublin and County Kerry. The film is a co-production by Ireland, the United Kingdom, Greece, France, and the Netherlands.

The Lobster premiered at the 2015 Cannes Film Festival on May 15, where it competed for the Palme d'Or and won the Jury Prize. It was theatrically released in the United Kingdom on October 16, 2015, grossing $18 million on a $4 million budget.[9] The film received positive reviews from critics, with praise for its screenplay, humor, originality, and thematic content, and was nominated for Best Original Screenplay at the 89th Academy Awards and for Outstanding British Film at the 69th British Academy Film Awards.

  1. ^ Curry, Adrian (8 November 2019). "The Best Posters of the 2010s". MUBI. Archived from the original on 1 November 2020. Retrieved 14 November 2019.
  2. ^ "THE LOBSTER (15)". British Board of Film Classification. 17 March 2015. Archived from the original on 2 April 2015. Retrieved 17 March 2015.
  3. ^ Pritchard, Tiffany (21 December 2014). "Les Arcs celebrates diverse crop of Ireland films". Screen Daily. Screen International. Archived from the original on 19 April 2018. Retrieved 15 May 2015.
  4. ^ "The Lobster (2016)". The Numbers. Nash Information Services. Archived from the original on 30 July 2016. Retrieved 24 August 2016.
  5. ^ Vishnevetsky, Ignatiy (17 May 2015). "Yorgos Lanthimos' absurdist dystopia is the best of Cannes so far". The A.V. Club. The Onion. Archived from the original on 30 October 2016. Retrieved 16 December 2016.
  6. ^ Hutchison, Sean (29 September 2015). "Making Sense of the Dystopian Absurdity of 'The Lobster'". Inverse. Archived from the original on 23 January 2017. Retrieved 16 December 2016.
  7. ^ Bonos, Lisa (19 May 2016). "An interview with the director of 'The Lobster,' a dark comedy about the search for love". The Washington Post. ISSN 0190-8286. Archived from the original on 27 December 2016. Retrieved 27 December 2016.
  8. ^ "The Lobster" (PDF). Cannes Film Festival. Archived from the original (PDF) on 23 December 2015. Retrieved 15 May 2015.
  9. ^ Kay, Jeremy (28 July 2015). "Toronto to open with 'Demolition'; world premieres for 'Trumbo', 'The Program'". Screen Daily. Screen International. Archived from the original on 1 August 2015. Retrieved 28 July 2015.