The Lobster · written by Yorgos Lanthimos and Efthimis Filippou · 2015

The doctor assures them the routine laser surgery will restore Shortsighted Woman’s vision, but she remains uneasy.

Scene 103 of 123 · ≈ 1 min on screen · Act two

Doctor
Loner Leader

Act oneAct two

Begins 1:14 into a 1:28 film

The story so farBefore scene 103

After his wife leaves him, David has 45 days to find a partner at a hotel or become an animal; he escapes, falls for a shortsighted loner, and must decide whether to surrender his sight so they can stay together.

Scenes 1–15
David moves from his broken home into the hotel, where couplehood is imposed as the norm.
Scenes 16–24
He must find a partner before the 45-day limit turns him into an animal.
Scenes 25–62
He participates in the hunt, attempts a false match, then escapes into the woods.
Scenes 63–84
He adapts to loner customs and cautiously begins a connection with Shortsighted Woman.
Scenes 85–100
They build a secret language and plan to leave the loner community together.
Just before
Scene 100
The Loner Narrator reads a note about two loners planning to escape together; the leader dismisses it as a hotel guest’s writing.
Scene 101
The Loner Leader asks Shortsighted Woman for paper, and the woman panics while searching her notebook.
Scene 102
At a doctor’s office, Shortsighted Woman hesitates about corrective surgery, but the Loner Leader insists the appointment proceed.
Scene 103
This scene

103INT. DOCTOR’S OFFICE - MORNING

The DOCTOR sits behind his desk. Loner Leader and Shortsighted Woman sit in two chairs opposite him. This is a typical doctor’s office: big wooden bookcase, a mix of old- fashioned and modern furniture, some framed prints of famous paintings. The doctor’s hands are shiny and clean, like the hands of most doctors.

DOCTOR

This operation is what we call

“routine surgery”. It has a 90%

success rate, so there’s no need to

worry. There are no scalpels

involved, the entire procedure is

done by laser. There’s no reason

why you shouldn’t see clearly when

you’re swimming in the sea or when

you first wake up in the morning.

Contact lens solution, contact lens

cases, eyeglasses, all that will be

a thing of the past.

LONER LEADER

Thank you very much, doctor.

Shortsighted woman doesn’t speak. She makes quite an effort to appear happy but doesn’t make a very good job of it.