unlocking a macbook pro

Yes, it would appear so. You can try the following:

Reinstall El Capitan or Later Without Erasing Drive

Please be sure you back up, if possible.

1. Restart the computer. Immediately, at or before the chime, hold down the Command and R keys until the Apple logo and progress bar appear. Wait until the Utility Menu appears.
2. Select Disk Utility and click on the Continue button.
3. Select the indented (usually, Macintosh HD) volume entry from the side list.
4. Click on the First Aid button in Disk Utility's toolbar. Wait until the Done button activates, then click on it.
5. Quit Disk Utility and return to the Utility Menu.
6. Select Install OS X and click on the Continue button.

If you have no success with this, then try:

Install El Capitan or Later from Scratch

If possible, back up your files.

1. Restart the computer. Immediately, at or before the chime, hold down the Command and R keys until the Apple logo and progress bar appear. Wait until the Utility Menu appears.
2. Select Disk Utility from the Utility Menu and click on the Continue button.
3. When Disk Utility loads select the target drive (out-dented entry w/type and size info) from the Device list.
4. Click on the Erase button in Disk Utility's toolbar. A panel will drop down.
5. Set the partition scheme to GUID.
6. Set the Format type to APFS (SSDs only) or Mac OS Extended (Journaled.)
7. Click on the Apply button, then wait for the Done button to activate and click on it.
8. Quit Disk Utility and return to the Utility Menu.
9. Select Install OS X and click on the Continue button.

You can create a new user account but that might not solve the problem. Here's what you do:

How to Create a New Admin User Account, if You Have None

Write down these instructions or print them. You will not be able to refer to anything else while in single-user mode.

Reboot the computer. At or before the chime, press and hold down the COMMAND-S keys to start into Single-user Mode. You will boot to a black screen with scrolling white text, release the keys and wait until it finishes. Enter the following lines at the command prompt pressing RETURN after each:

    mount -uw /

               ^     ^  Note spaces

    rm /var/db/.applesetupdone 

        ^    Note space

    reboot

After you reboot the computer you will be taken to the Setup Assistant. When you get to the point where you are asked to set up your new user account, create a new admin account. Be sure to name this user account something different than any other account that already exists on the system. When you finish the Setup Assistant, it will automatically log you into the new account.

You need do nothing more. Log into the Admin account only when you need to, such as installing or upgrading software. Log into the Standard account for your normal computer uses. If you prefer using just one account, the admin account, then you will need to make some changes as discussed below.

You can transfer your files from the old account to the new one. See Transferring files from one User Account to another. Once you have moved all your files into your new account, you can delete the old account using Accounts or Users & Groups preferences.

You tried booting into single-user mode using the Command-S keys but instead of getting to single-user mode, you are booting into the Utility Menu. Is that correct?

That means you do not have a functioning OS.

If your Mac starts up to a question mark

A folder with a flashing question mark means that your startup disk is no longer available or doesn't contain a working Mac operating system.

1. Press and hold the power button on your Mac for up to 10 seconds, until your Mac turns off.
2. Turn on your Mac and immediately press and hold Command (⌘) and R to start up from macOS Recovery.
3. While in macOS Recovery, use Disk Utility to repair your startup disk.
4. If Disk Utility found no errors or repaired all errors, take either of these actions:

• • Reinstall macOS
  • Restore from a Time Machine backup

If you still need help, please contact Apple Support.