Review: Vivarium (2019)
By William Pattison
This time I got a film that would put a smile on Rod
Sterling’s face…
Aspiring to acquire their dream home, Gemma, a primary
school teacher, and her boyfriend, Tom, follow Martin, a creepy real estate
agent, to the idyllic suburban development called Yonder. But there, surrounded
by identical, picture-perfect houses, the young couple is in for a big
surprise--and it is not about the suspiciously affordable price of the
pastel-coloured, eerily vacant house. Is house #9, indeed, the ideal home?
This is an incredibly freaky film. The filmmakers found, or
might have built one of the most disturbingly plain house in a plain housing
project in film history.this place is pleasantville on acid. And even more
creepy is there is not a living soul who lives there…well except for the main
characters and one of the most creepy creepy kids I’ve experienced in film with a screech that puts
the kid from The Barbadook to shame.
Basically this film is a nilistic representation of the
boredom, monotony, and tedium of living in an urban existence, but in a horror and
psychological way. It is literally the circle of human life in modern times
viewed in an otherworldly manner. It is a show burn for the most part, so
don’t expect monsters or any jump scares.
This is a beast of a different type from what most horror fans are used to.
Jesse Eisenberg and
Imogen Poots play Tom and Gemma, the unfortunate couple stuck in the *perfect*
community from hell. Also Senan Jennings plays the creepiest creepy boy I’ve ever seen, and I’ve seen a lot. Also Eanna Hardwick plays the older boy this son of
Satan grows into.
This film is really a work that could have been part of The
Twilight zone. It hits heavily in the psychological and gives you clues to what
is going on but infact never actually tells you. You literally come out of this
film wondering if it was aliens or what the hell was happening. But I can tell
you that the ride is enough and you can figure it out in your own head cannon.
B
For me it was a trip well taken and one I will happily
recommend…
