An abrasive review for The Lobster? Seems fitting doesn't it?
In an interview, Yorogs Lanthimos said,
... what we tried to do is just explore themes and situations in a heightened mode in order to reveal more about reality and our everyday lives... what would be... beneficial would be for us to question the way we've constructed our societies and the way we're used to behaving; the expectations that we have of people and how we treat them. So I think it's about: We're brought into this world, we're educated a certain way, we get used to certain things. Yet we should be able to question that... Maybe people should be freer to think about what's right for them... That's what the film does, hopefully - it raises all of those questions... Rebellion is not always the right thing. Following the rules is not always the right thing. You have to think for yourself and identify the things that do not work for you.
So, in my writing, I wanted to first try and understand the constructs of this society as nonsensical as it is, and look at the behaviors and then go into this world and see how I would fare.
No I am not like a swan, nor would I want to be one. Nor have my skin peeled off of me. But, in this world it's an expected choice that people have to make, so I went with it. As dehumanizing as this world is, by exploring human nature in an extreme scenario, I find a great deal of humanity... in me. It's got me thinking and feeling in a very focused way and I believe that's the whole point of this experimental film.