j* movie reviews 2020

Vivarium (2020)

Tight, claustrophobic trip through suburban dreaming come nightmare.

This film is great! It's one of those super-small casts that plays a super tight story and does it well. Of particular note here is the set setup, without the clear-cut details of which it might not have played out as smoothly. This film is part Cube, part Dark City, a dash of The Truman Show and all everyday horror.

The gist is this, our young couple Gemma (Imogen Poots) and Tom (Jesse Eisenberg) are interested in buying a house. They're taken by a weirdo realestate agent to a fresh development called Yonder. It's creepily repetitive and every suburban box house is identical. And then they're stuck there. Like proper stuck. Abandoned by the agent, they can no longer escape the development. A couple, all alone in a suburban development. Weird, I know.

And then as if this is not weird enough, suddenly a baby turns up in a box on their doorstep. That's right, a baby. And a promise that they can be freed if they raise it. Now this idea has already been established with a glorious in-film bird parallel, so we're already a bit edgy. And well we should be. Have you ever considered raising a child in a strange world without any of your normal cultural resources? If all you had to teach it is what remains in your mind? They're not really that fond of the kid, and the kid causes a lot of problems as it grows, like super-fast. Like a dog.

Obviously there are heaps of parental horror issues here. Jealousy, rage, disenchantment and slowly losing your minds. And this kid gets weirder as it grows, and soon starts learning from other sources that are impossible to really discern, but they try.

It is an excellent and at types hyper-real, at times hyper-surreal story. Visually it is sensational - every space is clearly crafted for visual impact with clean lines and a kind of eerie perfection. I want to find the images from the tv channel the kid binges - so unnervingly fractally biological. Then just when you kind of think you understand the strange but solid world, it gets a bit weirder. At times you're not sure who you're rooting for, the dad, the mum ("I am not your fucking mother!!") or the screaming child.

It's a film with a lot of questions, and some will no doubt find the lack of answers a little frustrating. I found it liberating, in that I'm still thinking about it and about a thousand "well maybe this..." And visually it is so delightful I am well sold.

J* gives it 5 stars.