Review: Vivarium

Last Updated on July 30, 2021

PLOT: Eager to purchase a house, a young couple (Imogen Poots & Jesse Eisenberg) visit a mysterious housing development called “Yonder”, only to find that they’re unable to leave their new home. Complicating things, the two are also forced to look after a rapidly growing child who won’t give them a moment’s peace.

REVIEW: VIVARIUM is an intriguing, lo-fi sci-fi-horror tale that should prove to be a unique if unsettling watch given the current state of the world, where being unable to leave your home is the new reality for the time being. Writer Garret Shanley and director Lorcan Finnegan could never have predicted the climate the film would eventually be released into, but it can’t be denied that the wake of COVID-19 has given this a ghoulish edge it wouldn’t have had otherwise now that all of our nerves are a little fried.

Suffice to say, this may hit too close to home for some viewers, but at any rate, it’s a smart, cerebral piece of sci-fi. It’s also a welcome reunion for THE ART OF SELF-DEFENSE stars Jesse Eisenberg and Imogen Poots, with her center stage this time. The two are a young, working-class couple – she’s a teacher and he’s a landscaper – with dreams of one day starting a family and owning a home but only somewhere down the line, with this visit to “Yonder” little more than a lark. As soon as they see the endless streets occupied by identical green houses, they’re ready to leave, but no matter how long they drive, they seem stuck on an endless loop that keeps bringing them back to the home they’ve been assigned, “number 9.”

They seem to be alone in this purgatory-like existence, with bland, tasteless food randomly showing up in care packages (a dig at mail meal kits?), but once a care package arrives with a baby, along with a note saying “raise him and go free” the purpose behind their confinement is obvious. The child, who ages about seven years in ninety days, is a terrifying little Damian clone who constantly spies on them and speaks with an adult’s voice unnervingly dubbed in. Eisenberg’s character wants to kill it right away, while Poots feels somewhat maternal towards it, and this plays out uniquely.

Poots and Eisenberg are great, with the latter noticeably playing against type in a tougher, blue-collar role. It’s Poots’s movie though, just as THE ART OF SELF DEFENSE was his, and it’s a really strong part for her that’s not easy to pigeonhole. The movie also has a strong look, with the production design “Yonder” pretty arresting, with the fake skyline being my favorite touch.

My only complaint it that VIVARIUM maybe goes on a shade too long at just over ninety minutes, as the premise feels maybe slightly too thin to sustain a feature. Some may say this feels a lot like a “Black Mirror” episode, but it’s a lot more like an old episode of “The Outer Limits” or “The Twilight Zone.” Still, it only drags a bit and still manages to be a pretty compelling, if suddenly quite relatable, sci-fi horror tale.

Review: Vivarium

GOOD

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