Suburban Horror Meets Body Snatchers
Vorstadthorror trifft Körperfresser
Five years after its release, I finally got around to taking a closer look at Vivarium (2019). The movie combines well-known elements of horror: Suburban horror as seen in Poltergeist (1982), alien creatures in human flesh suits like in Invasion of the Body Snatchers (1978) and plenty of self-reflective satire similar to The Truman Show (1998). But all in all Vivarium lacks finesse. I will remember the movie instead for its wacky and brightly colored set design.
Gemma (Imogen Poots) and Tom (Jessie Eisenberg) are a young couple looking for their first home together. But as a teacher and gardener, they have limited financial resources at their disposal. When estate agent Martin offers them the chance to look at a house in the suburban development called Yonder, they take him up on the offer. They both already suspect that the idealized life in a planned community does not match their dreams. While they are still looking at the staid, all-too-perfect house in the equally perfect, deserted community with identical-looking houses, Martin suddenly disappears. Abandoned by their real estate agent and put off by the soulless Yonder, Gemma and Tom want to leave the estate quickly. But no matter what they do, their path always leads back to house No. 9. From one moment to the next, they are trapped in their own personal nightmare. Food deliveries appear inexplicably in front of “their” house on a regular basis – and one day there is a parcel containing a living baby. A label tells them that they will be released if they raise the child.
Colorful, Fake and Absolutely Disturbing
Director Lorcan Finnegan has created a horror movie that is in many ways reminiscent of an episode of The Twilight Zone. The title “Vivarium” is revealing: as if they were pets, someone has created the supposedly perfect living conditions for Gemma and Tom. Within a very short space of time, they are cut off from the outside world and held captive in this vivarium. Although Yonder is quite large, a chamber play unfolds. In this settlement there is only the young couple and the mysterious fast-growing boy.
The premise of Vivarium is promising and the set design in particular is impressive. Everything is obviously artificial. The seemingly infinite number of houses all look the same; streets and buildings are a little too colorful to be real; the clouds are perfectly cloud shaped; and the food tastes of nothing. Even the daylight looks artificial. The impression is reinforced by camera shots taken from a bird’s eye view – as if somebody were looking into a terrarium from above. Rarely has suburbia been presented in such a slick and nightmarish way.
Vivarium only allows us a brief glimpse behind the scenes of perfect Yonder. When Gemma attacks the nameless boy – who has now grown into a young man – he quickly hides under the sidewalk. As if he had unraveled a fabric seam, he simply pulls the pavement off the ground, opening a path into a weird world that is incomprehensible to the human mind. We only catch a few seconds of this abstract reality, but these are among the most powerful and impressive moments in the film.
Overexplained Metaphors
Unfortunately, Vivarium handles its own metaphors too heavy handedly, as if the movie does not trust its audience to think critically. Already in the exposition, Gemma explains to a young schoolgirl that the fast-growing cuckoo bird reproduces parasitically by foisting its eggs on other birds. This basically foreshadows a large part of the plot and Vivarium never lets us forget that the movie is one great cuckoo metaphor. And that this metaphor naturally also applies to the capitalist dream of home ownership in estates like Yonder. Does the usual “my house, my car, my boat” narrative really stem from the desires of people like Gemma and Tom? Or has this dream been implanted in them by society? The two main characters may act rebellious at first, but they fall into the routine of suburban life with a child rather quickly. That’s all well and good, but not particularly sophisticated. Instead, Vivarium makes the mistake that horror is all too prone to: The movie over-explains its own message.
Fact Sheet: Vivarium
Director: Lorcan Finnegan
Script: Garret Shanley, Lorcan Finnegan
PG Rating: R
Vivarium on IMDb