Vivarium

pretty much solidifes lorcan finnegan as one of the more fascinating voices in horror allongside the surfer.

i think what most films about parenthood miss is the fact rather then it being filled with dissapointment, anger or screaming....it can feel empty.
vivarium places that empty feeling and uses liminality to fill its horror.
the same places, over and over again. when a child needs to grow up, they need to have a place to stay and sure thats good for the childs development but the longer the years go by, the more your inviroment becomes normal and largely the same and hollow as nothing is able to be explored anymore. but the film also sees a young couple pushed into being parents, a kid is not necesarrily a must but there is a slight societal pressure to raise one since its a normality.

but i also like how it tells us that maybe being parents isn't for everyone and that children are for a lot of people, relationship ending thing.

(watch my films
the grievance of the day: https://boxd.it/eD8Suj
summer walk: https://boxd.it/ewenRP )

Vivarium2019

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I don't know what made me decide to revisit <I>Vivarium</i>, but after watching <I>Backrooms</i> and other films that present an unknown (and growing) world full of unspeakable mysteries, maybe that's the perfect reason.

Both Imogen Poots and Jesse Eisenberg shine here, even though the situation they find themselves in are depressing and devastating. In fact, it's more along the lines of dehumanization, where both are forced to survive by fulfilling a specific task of parenting a suddenly-presented baby, which grows quickly from a baby to a young adult. They abide by the rules, which asks they raise the child, with one tending to parental duties while the other refuses to partake, instead continuously digging into the ground seeking a potential form of escape, with devastating results. However, watching them both (attempt to) tend to this "person" ultimately results in their eventual decline (and death), finally showcasing the true intent of this "community" they've allowed themselves to discover.

The film's setting is something out of a Tim Burton film (much like <I>Edward Scissorhands</i>), showing a landscape of never-ending rows of similar homes and stable cloud formations throughout. Eventually, we learn about past inhabitants in this world, and how they succumbed to the this world they were forced into.

If you're looking for a creepy film that offers a gut-punch at the end, this is for you.

Vivarium2019

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