The Lobster

Yorgos Lanthimos's fearsomely strange, sporadically very funny satire on the mores of human mating has David (Colin Farrell) being dumped by his partner and being sent to what looks like an expensive spa. There he is informed that if he cannot find a mate after 45 days he will be transformed into an animal of his choosing. David escapes to the nearby woods where he encounters an equally extremist group, for whom affection is expressly forbidden. Resembling a Hollywood romantic comedy reimagined by surrealist Luis Buñuel (to whose Discreet Charm of The Bourgeoisie and The Exterminating Angel Lanthimos obviously owes a debt), this is beautifully shot, and bravely acted - particularly by an impressively doughy Farrell - and there's a blistering turn from Lanthimos regular Angeliki Papoulia, as a pitiless singleton. But satire's essential bite hinges on the quality of its target. Buñuel took swipes at the twin pillars of middle-class society and the Catholic Church to devastating effect. But Yorgos's point really boils down to "people - can't live with them, can't live without them", leaving the movie resembling its titular crustacean: superficially sharp but easily overcooked and with not quite enough meat to be entirely satisfying.