Twenty minutes in you might get the feeling that at its peak “Vivarium” is about to be something akin to a decent episode of “The Twilight Zone”. And by the twenty-first minute you’ll realize that you were right. It’s simply a decent episode of “The Twilight Zone”.
Synopsis: A young couple (Imogen Poots and Jesse Eisenberg) looking to buy their first home, find themselves being guided through a new housing development by an oddly mannered real estate agent. Inside this community all the houses look identical, the grass, dirt and clouds don’t seem to be real, there’s nobody else living in any of the other homes and (oh yeah) this young couple can’t seem to find their way out, no matter how hard they try. And then there’s the appearance of a child in a cardboard box. And from there, things just get weird.
Sure, this could have been a short film, but with a runtime of a little over ninety minutes, director Lorcan Finnegan really keeps the entertainment value high; first, by using an underlying level of dark humor and second, by presenting his nightmarish dreamlike take on the Lynchian suburb. Actually, much like “Eraserhead” (David Lynch’s surrealist nightmare concerning his anxiety over the birth of his child) “Vivarium” seems like Finnegan’s and screenwriter Garrett Shanley’s anxiety driven fever dream concerning buying a home in the suburbs and starting a family.
Final Thought: The ending. The ending may leave some feeling hollow, especially for those expecting a grand “tie up all the loose ends” finale. But for those who enjoy a sci-fi/horror which asks you to suspend belief, sit back and watch a quick little social experiment, this may be your jam. “Vivarium’ is an interesting concept to say the least, with a final ten minutes that acts as the satisfyingly nihilistic cherry on top.
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