X
- 2020
- R
- Saban Films
- 1 h 37 m
- 2020
- R
- Saban Films
- 1 h 37 m
Summary Tom and Gemma (Jesse Eisenberg and Imogen Poots) are looking for the perfect home. When a strange real-estate agent takes them to Yonder, a mysterious suburban neighborhood of identical houses, Tom and Gemma can’t leave quick enough. But when they try to exit the labyrinth-like housing development, each road takes them back to where they...
Directed By: Lorcan Finnegan
Written By: Garret Shanley
- 2020
- R
- Saban Films
- 1 h 37 m
- 2020
- R
- Saban Films
- 1 h 37 m
Vivarium
64
5.2
Where to Watch
Summary Tom and Gemma (Jesse Eisenberg and Imogen Poots) are looking for the perfect home. When a strange real-estate agent takes them to Yonder, a mysterious suburban neighborhood of identical houses, Tom and Gemma can’t leave quick enough. But when they try to exit the labyrinth-like housing development, each road takes them back to where they...
Directed By: Lorcan Finnegan
Written By: Garret Shanley
Where to Watch
Top Cast
Metascore
Generally Favorable
Based on 23 Critic Reviews
64
61% Positive
14 Reviews
14 Reviews
35% Mixed
8 Reviews
8 Reviews
4% Negative
1 Review
1 Review
Metascore
Generally Favorable
Based on 23 Critic Reviews
64
61% Positive
14 Reviews
14 Reviews
35% Mixed
8 Reviews
8 Reviews
4% Negative
1 Review
1 Review
While I already miss the experience of seeing these films in a theatre, Vivarium does evoke TV precedents, most notably Twilight Zone in the cleanness of its premise and the parsing out of dark details on a need-to-know basis.
Vivarium is a wonderfully strange and gripping thriller that examines the stresses of homeownership and starting a family, perhaps all-too-soon.
User Score
Mixed or Average
Based on 97 User Ratings
5.2
36% Positive
35 Ratings
35 Ratings
37% Mixed
36 Ratings
36 Ratings
27% Negative
26 Ratings
26 Ratings
User Score
Mixed or Average
Based on 97 User Ratings
5.2
36% Positive
35 Ratings
35 Ratings
37% Mixed
36 Ratings
36 Ratings
27% Negative
26 Ratings
26 Ratings
A trip through the liminal.
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You’re reminded of the all-time “Twilight Zone” chillers that left you pondering and unsettled in your living room, questioning how well you knew the people sitting next to you. Given the current state of things, you’ll have to experience Vivarium in much the same way.
The movie sometimes overstates its ideas, but Poots keeps Vivarium from being just a coy, chilly intellectual exercise. She adds flesh and soul to what might be the film’s most disturbing notion: In some ways, we all become encased in the lives we have stumbled into.
If you can look past the gallingly obvious and derivative metaphor, Vivarium has its moments of effective "Twilight Zone" creepiness.
Finnegan offers a vision of domesticity as a soul-sucking grind, done for the benefit of malevolent overlords. His film chills the mind more than the spine.
Vivarium isn’t a fun watch, and not just because it’s generally claustrophobic and insistently bleak.
This film has an artificial feel to it (the setting), which reminded me a little of The Truman Show, only the characters are nearly entirely alone - isolated in a very clinical feeling way. It has a spooky, unsettling feel to it. I felt there were some unanswered questions - where did they get there groceries from, if their truly trapped in the same street with only houses as far as the eye can see, for example?.
If your not ok with loud, long, prolonged shrieks then this film isn't for you. Also, it becomes distinctly more unsettling and surreal towards the end, with a lot of emphasis on light and colour - one plot element reminded me of 'Being John Malkovich'. It also made me think of 'The Stepford Wives'. By the very end, I felt it was a bit of a 'mind eff' type film. I'm not sure I'd say its particularly good but its certainly not a pointless film - its quirky and definitely not perfect - perhaps somewhat memorable, though not entirely in the best of ways maybe, I'm going for this rating as I thought the cast did well and the visual effects aren't bad. If your into claustrophobic, somewhat spooky mystery type films, then this is likely worth your time but it won't suit everyone.
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Hey Streamers! This week we got straight up depressed and watched the first thing in our watchlist. Vivarium, you're up to bat. We weren't too picky, and we'd heard the movie was "interesting". The synopsis of Vivarium goes as follows: a young couple looking for the perfect home find themselves trapped in a mysterious labyrinth-like neighborhood of identical houses. I know that was absolutely horrifying for you millennials out there and I think that's the point. Let's get to it.
First, this movie reminds me of a little diddy I used to love. A cult classic, if you will:
"I have a blue house with a blue window
Blue is the color of all that I wear
Blue are the streets and all the trees are too
I have a girlfriend and she is so blue
... Blue are the feelings that live inside me
I'm blue da ba dee da ba daa
Da ba dee da ba daa, da ba dee da ba daa, da ba dee da ba daa
Da ba dee da ba daa" ("Blue (Da Ba Dee)" by Eiffel 65... If I were green I would die, If i were green i would die.
Why do I say that you ask? Well as the poster and description suggest, the maze of homes and interior of homes is just a green bundled mess. Eiffel 65 would've been disgusted and shocked by this green anomaly. The setting of the film is basic yet simultaneously complex. How will our protagonists get out? Are they alone? Why was this house so cheap? I know you house hunters out there will ask the same question after watching. Either way, the setting of the film sets that freaky atmosphere.
Second, we have the cast. Some of us love Jesse Eisenberg and others are not so high on him. This role is in no way one of his better one and, in fact, I think the movie really missed out on using him better. He's got more range in acting ability than the director, Lorcan Finnegan, allowed him to portray in this movie. Should've let him go full Social Network or Luthor. As for Imogen Poots, she was "just alright for me dog". She definitely hit the range of emotions here but her character was the "poots". I don't know if that was on purpose or not. The real star of the movie was my man, Martin. No, not Lawrence. The character Martin, while weird and strange is the only thing worth watching in the film. How will Martin act now? And why are these fools even following him to an open house? But I digress.
Finally, the movie isn't really about the characters or the setting as much as the meaning of everything together. Where the film lacks in storyline creativity, it makes up with in storyline and movie detail analysis. My wife, Trip and I sat here on the phone for an hour talking about what certain images meant or were trying to represent in society. From what we gather, the director and story writers think millennials lives **** and are trapped in the monotony of the aspirations previous generations' American Dream. And there is something strange about cuckoo birds too (pay attention). We would enjoy reading your comments about your thoughts after you've watched.
Trip: Ahem! If I may interject for a quick couple notes? While watching Vivarium, I definitely thought of this film as the existential nightmare for millennials. My biggest problem with the movie is that it is so obvious in what it is doing that I felt like screaming "just get to the point" throughout its 90 minutes. Consequently, I found the film kind of repetitive and so "boring" is an apt description for something that otherwise has a potentially interesting premise. I will allow that there are some complicated themes to unpack after it's all done. Also, I think Imogen Poots was fine. She did what she was called to do and is the audience surrogate here, especially when the film examines parenthood in this day and age. Jesse Eisenberg, on the other hand, now makes me feel icky, and I think that's because he's very much associated with that smarmy, creep he's played in the past, Mark Zuckerberg. He's not doing that here, but the presence is still off-putting.
Long story short, Vivarium is a strangely boring and ironically chuckle-worthy film. The cast is small and only delivers a couple notable moments. The film is worth a handful of popcorn for our creepy friend Martin and the post film symbolism analysis. If you get bored and have Amazon Prime, check out Vivarium to go house hunting for your forever home.
Trip: Yep, it's a decent conversation piece. Check it out and send your comments about what it all means!
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(Mauro Lanari)
On the end credits there is "Complicated Game" (XTC, 1979) in place of "Every Day Is Exactly The Same" (NIN, 2005). Although both songs are excellent, their cinematic rendering could not be more different: a loop of quiescent nihilism in the first case, a cry of desperate existentialism in the second.
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Production Company
Fantastic Films,
Frakas Productions,
Fís Éireann / Screen Ireland,
PingPongFilm,
Lovely Productions,
XYZ Films,
Madrona Drive,
Eurimages,
Det Danske Filminstitut,
Copenhagen Film Fund,
Wallimage,
Voo & Be tv,
Film4,
MEDIA Programme of the European Union
Release Date Mar 27, 2020
Duration 1 h 37 m
Rating R
Tagline You're Home. Forever
Website
https://vivarium.jp/
Awards
Irish Film and Television Awards
• 5 Nominations
Cannes Film Festival
• 1 Win & 2 Nominations
Sitges - Catalonian International Film Festival
• 1 Win & 2 Nominations
