Based on the concept alone, The Lobster would easily be one of our most-anticipated upcoming films, but knowing that the mind of Yorgos Lanthimos (Dogtooth, Alps) was the one to conjure it up, it’s safe to say we can’t wait for the results. With filming concluding today, producers have now dropped the first image over at Screen Daily.

One can see the trio of male leads, Colin Farrell, John C. Reilly and Ben Whishaw, above as they look to be scoping out a potential partner over dinner. The stakes are high, as they’ll turn into animals if they don’t. As we await news of U.S. distribution, check out the synopsis below for the film also starring Rachel Weisz, Léa Seydoux, Olivia Colman, Ariane Labed, Angeliki Papoulia. Ashley Jensen, Michael Smiley and Jessica Barden.

An unconventional love story set in a dystopian near future where single people, according to the rules of the Town, 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 there he falls in love, although it’s against their rules.

The Lobster is a story about love, without being a conventional love story. It observes the ways and reasons certain people come together to form couples, while others don’t. It is a story about the terrifying effects of solitude, the fear of dying alone, the fear of living alone and, above all, the fear of living with someone. Forcing ourselves to like someone is one kind of suffering; trying to find someone we really like is a different sort of suffering. The Lobster tries to discover synonyms for love in words such as fear, norms, deadlines, matching, synchronicity, naivety, prosperity and lies.

Expect The Lobster to premiere next year.

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