The Lobster

The Lobster has quietly become one of the more dependable comedies currently available in the US on HBO Max Amazon Channel and YouTube TV. It says what it needs to say in one sitting, no filler. A 7/10 rating says what the writing already makes obvious: this one works. Colin Farrell is the obvious draw, but the whole ensemble earns its laughs. Start it on HBO Max Amazon Channel whenever you need something guaranteed to land.

The Lobster is not trying to be everything to everyone, and that focus is exactly what makes it work. The Lobster does what great comedies rarely manage — it is actually funny, consistently, across the whole run. 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. Between them, Colin Farrell and Rachel Weisz carry the comedy without ever forcing it. It hit screens in 2015. The real test of any comedy is whether it is still funny once you know all the jokes, and The Lobster holds up on rewatch in a way that separates it from one-off curiosities. It knows exactly what it is, and does not try to be anything else.

The Lobster is the kind of thing you put on in the background and end up fully watching. It has built its own audience without needing a direct comparison. Best experienced as a single, sustained watch from start to finish. Colin Farrell's comic timing carries it through its weaker moments. The kind of comedy you recommend to someone who claims they do not watch much.