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Vivarium
2019 99 min Belgium, Denmark, Ireland, United States of America R 16+
★6.3
Science Fiction, Mystery, Horror
Director: Lorcan Finnegan
Trailers
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Description
A young woman and her fiancé are in search of the perfect starter home. After following a mysterious real estate agent to a new housing development, the couple finds themselves trapped in a maze of identical houses and forced to raise an otherworldly child.
Budget:
$4M
Worldwide:
$488,000
Starring
Imogen Poots
Actor
Danielle Ryan
Actor
Molly McCann
Actor
Awards
Cannes Film Festival 2019
— Gan Foundation Distribution Support
Key opinion
Vivarium is a polarizing surrealist horror that utilizes a sterile, looped suburban setting to critique societal pressures of conformity, family life, and consumerism. While many praise its haunting atmosphere and conceptual depth, others find the lack of narrative resolution and repetitive nature frustrating.
| Cinematography | The film's visual style, characterized by artificial colors and sterile, repetitive suburban aesthetics, effectively reinforces the theme of a nightmarish, uncanny reality. | |
| Acting | The performance of the child actor is widely recognized as a standout, successfully creating an unsettling and eerie presence that heightens the horror. | |
| Screenplay | The screenplay prioritizes atmospheric, allegorical experience over traditional narrative, which leaves viewers divided between those who appreciate the philosophical ambiguity and those who find it pointless and lacking in answers. | |
| Acting | Imogen Poots delivers a strong, committed performance, while Jesse Eisenberg’s portrayal is viewed inconsistently, with some finding it convincing and others feeling his style is forced or underutilized. | |
| Pacing | The film's pacing and repetitive, cyclical structure are polarizing; some find them essential for capturing the feeling of trapped, meaningless existence, while others experience them as tedious and exhausting. |