Ten years ago, The Lobster redefined love and loneliness - Revisiting its unforgettable ending

There are many interesting characters in Yorgos Lanthimos's fifth film as a director, The Lobster. They include people with low self-esteem, cruel individuals, and deceivers- an entire range of singles looking for a partner in a hotel so they can re-enter society.

However, the main character in the story is a loner named David, whose dominant characteristic is shortsightedness. He has 45 days to find a mate in a hotel, or he will be turned into an animal of his choice, which is a lobster. Interestingly, he did find his match, but not in the hotel. Moreover, he might have lost his vision completely by the end.

Everyone at that hotel, except the staff, is there only to find a mate, and the same rules apply to everyone. However, there's a catch: if they can tranquilize and catch singles living in the forest, they can extend their stay.

David's stay isn't extended because he left the hotel to become one of those forest dwellers, which is where he finds his match. But unfortunately, unlike the hotel, the rules are opposite in the forest. People must accept being single. So, think of these places as two societies trying to enforce their rules on anyone living there.

How did David find his love in The Lobster?

David's life in the hotel is nothing less than a nightmare. It's more of a struggle for survival than finding a genuine match. Although this applies to every character we see in The Lobster, people are trying to superficially pair up with others. John, played by Ben Whishaw, is one such person who tries to match with a woman who has a condition where she nosebleeds. To appear like he has the same condition, John often beats himself up.

The same happens with David, who decides to match himself with a heartless woman. However, his efforts fail when she kills his dog, which is actually his brother, Bob, transformed into a dog. He escapes the hotel after this incident in The Lobster and becomes a forest dweller, where he finds his match- a shortsighted woman who is also the narrator of the story, portrayed by Rachel Weisz.

What happens to David and his true match at the end?

We never learn the name of the shortsighted woman in The Lobster, so she remains David's true match. It's a dilemma in the film now. In the hotel, which is meant for finding love, he fails to find love. In the forest, which is supposed to keep people single, he finds love. David and the shortsighted woman continue their relationship regardless.

However, the leader of the forest dwellers finds out, then takes the shortsighted woman to a hospital, promising that her vision will improve. She keeps her promise, and they arrange to blind her. Now, David and the shortsighted woman don't have much in common, but they still try to keep this relationship going in the forest for a while before escaping.

At the end of The Lobster, they are in a restaurant, and the only way they find common ground is that David also blinds himself. He asks the waiter for a steak knife and a fork and tells his match that he’s going to do it with the knife.

He is seen holding a knife in front of a bathroom mirror afterward, and the shortsighted woman is waiting in the restaurant. There are no screams, so we can't say if he stabbed himself in the eye. Or maybe the sounds were muffled and didn't reach us, as he has stuffed tissue in his mouth.

We also hear the ocean waves during the end credits of The Lobster, which we can let the viewer interpret. Either he became a lobster by returning to the hotel, or they are both blind and now enjoy the ocean together.