“Greek weird wave” was basically founded and launched in 2009 with Yorgos Lanthimos’ “Dogtooth,” a dark and twisted, but funny drama about a mother and father that keep their deeply sheltered adult children from the world by rearing within the confines of their palatial home and never letting them enter or see the outside world. The picture won the Un Certain Regard prize at Cannes and launched the Greek filmmaker on the international stage and he hasn’t looked back since. While his third feature-length film “Alps” wasn’t quite as warmly received (it debuted at Venice rather than Cannes) it was still another wonderfully weird and disciplined effort.
For his fourth film, Lanthimos has possibly gone ever stranger with a sci-fi-ish comedic romance movie with movie stars called, “The Lobster.” Here’s our rave review plus the official synopsis:
A love story set in the near future where single people, according to the rules of The City, are arrested and transferred to The Hotel. There they are obliged to find a matching mate in 45 days. If they fail, they are transformed into an animal of their choosing and released into The Woods. A desperate Man escapes from The Hotel to The Woods where The Loners live and fall in love, although it is against their rules.
The comedy stars Colin Farrell, Rachel Weisz, Ben Whishaw, Olivia Colman, Léa Seydoux and John C. Reilly plus solid character actors like Michael Smiley ("Kill List"), Jessica Barden ("Far from the Madding Crowd"), Ashley Jensen, Angeliki Papoulia (one of the stars of "Dogtooth" and "Alps") and Ariane Labed (“Alps”).
As for what the filmmaker will get up to next, he’s got options. He tells Screen Daily there are a couple of projects he’s got developing. "[Screenwriter] Efthymis [Flilippou] is writing a new English-language film, a psychological thriller with a supernatural element. We also have a period film about British monarch Queen Anne, written by Tony McNamara," he said.
But for now, Lanthimos will bask in the acclaim "The Lobster" is receiving. Check out two clips from the movie below.