The Lobster

According to the rules of the City, single people are taken to the Hotel where they are given 45 days to find a partner. Those who fail are turned into an animal of their choice and released into the forest. Masturbation is banned but sexual stimulation by the hotel maid, without orgasm, is mandatory. The guests attend dances and watch propaganda extolling the virtues of partnership. They can extend their stay by hunting escapees, the Loners, with tranquilliser guns in the woods. Each captured Loner affords an extra day to find a partner. After his wife leaves him for another man, David arrives at the Hotel with his brother, who has been turned into a dog. He makes acquaintances with a man with a lisp and a man with a limp. After the Lisping Man is caught masturbating, the Hotel Manager burns his fingers in a toaster. The Limping Man wins the affections of a woman who suffers from nosebleeds by smashing his nose against hard surfaces, feigning his own nosebleed problem. The two move to the couples section to begin their month of trial partnership. During a hunt for a loner, Biscuit Woman flirts with David. After he declines her offer of sexual pleasure, she tells him that if she fails to find a mate, she will kill herself by jumping off the hotel. David decides to seduce the most cold-blooded woman, the Heartless Woman. He first sees her in the outdoor area, and attempts to talk to her, but their conversation is interrupted by the screams of the Biscuit Woman, who has jumped out of her room. Sharing a jacuzzi, the Heartless Woman feigns choking; when he does not respond, she decides they may be a good match and they begin their trial relationship. After she murders David's brother, he claims he does not care; when he begins to cry, she concludes their relationship is built on a lie. As she marches him to the Hotel Manager he escapes and, with the help of the maid, tranquillizes her and transforms her into an animal. David escapes the Hotel and joins the Loners in the woods. The Loners forbid romance, which is punishable with violence. David, who is short-sighted, begins a secret relationship with a short-sighted woman, and they communicate in sign language. They go on covert missions to the city, where their cover requires them to appear as lovers, which they secretly enjoy. The Loners launch a raid on the Hotel. David tells the Nosebleed Woman that her partner has been faking his nosebleeds. The others give the Hotel Manager's husband the chance to shoot his wife to save himself. He pulls the trigger and finds the gun empty. The Loners leave the couple to face each other. The Loner Leader reads the Short Sighted Woman's journal and discovers her and David's plan to escape. She takes her to the city, ostensibly to have an operation to cure her short sightedness, but instead has her blinded. David attacks the Loner Leader, leaving her tied up in a grave for wild dogs to attack, and he and the Short Sighted Woman escape to the City. In a restaurant David looks at the Short Sighted Woman one last time before going to the bathroom and attempting to blind himself.