Master absurdist Yorgos Lanthimos steps away from his usual family dynamics and spearheads modern romance in this dystopian comedy.
For his
first English-language picture - starring
Colin Farrell and
Rachel Weisz - the iconoclastic Greek filmmaker
Yorgos Lanthimos created an absurdist sci-fi comedic drama that darkly satirizes contemporary romantic relationships and their status in society. Lanthimos envisions a future in which romantic partnerships are a civic requirement enforced by law, and romantic partners must share a similar distinctive physical trait (e.g., a limp, shortsightedness, frequent nosebleeds).
Any and all single adults are rounded up and taken to a hotel in the countryside where they have 45 days to find a partner; failure to achieve this results in the individual being deemed unfit for society, transformed into an animal of their own choosing, and subsequently released into the wild. Hotel guests are also sent on recurring hunting trips to tranquilize and capture escaped singles; each catch earns the hunter an extra day at the hotel.
Out in the woods, the escaped singles live in their own migratory community. In this community, there is no requirement for partnerships, and, in fact, any and all non-platonic relationships are strictly forbidden and severely punished - typically by having the infringing body part(s) cut off or mutilated. Any sexual build-up is encouraged to be released by vigorously dancing to techno music silently and alone with headphones on.
I’d say, “you can’t make this shit up, folks,” but Lanthimos did, so actually you can, and not only can you make it up, but you can turn it into a movie, earn resounding critical praise, and gross approximately $18 million worldwide. Also pretty cool that Lanthimos found what appears to be a legit enchanted forest to film in.
Comments
Post a Comment