Being released at what couldn’t be a more appropriate time, director Lorcan Finnegan‘s Vivarium was recently released to VOD, marking a rather apt metaphor to the confining measures being taken to curb the current pandemic. Starring Jesse Eisenberg and Imogen Poots, this is an unnerving (if slightly vapid) suburban sci-fi/horror film that delves a bit abruptly into psychodelia in the third act, but was still an interesting watch. The single setting likewise hit hard, given our current lockdown situation, but the movie itself still lacked some oomph…
Tom (Eisenberg) is a groundskeeper and overall handyman to Gemma’s (Poots) school, where she works as a schoolteacher for young children. They’re not married, but their relationship is serious enough for them to consider moving in together. Eager to purchase a house, they meet real estate agent Martin (Jonathan Aris), who leads them to the planned community, Yonder. Trundling through row after row, street after street, of cookie-cutter (and uininhabited) mini-McMansions, they are led to Number 9, a green, bland, benign house perfect for the two of them to be unimpressed with.
Looking around the various rooms, they soon discover Martin has left them, leaving them alone in house Number 9. Attempting to leave Yonder, they soon discover themselves driving in circles, no matter which way they turn, the road leads them back to house Number 9, driving for several hours, until they run out of gas.
They attempt to escape on foot, to no avail. All roads lead to Number 9. Making the best of the situation, they stay the night, waking up to discover a box full of food and supplies left outside the front door. The food is all vacuum sealed, and has no taste. Soon after, a box arrives with a baby inside, and the instructions “Raise the child and be released”. Growing at an exponential rate, the Boy (Senan Jennings) soon grows to a seven- or eight-year-old in a matter of just over three months, Tom and Gemma acting as guardians, but never fail to remind the Boy that they are not his parents, nor does he even have any parents.
More inquisitive than anything, the Boy (who they never name) observes them with a near psychotic fascination, mimicking their behavior — and perfectly imitates their voices — and emits a high-pitched squeal every time he wants something, or is hungry. It is clear early on that the Boy isn’t human, but what, exactly, he is is left unexplained even by the end of the movie.
As monotonous as the days seem, Tom soon finds purpose after discovering the ground on which the house sits is seemingly artificial, and he begins to dig, hoping to reach some sort of bottom.
Gemma, meanwhile, attempts to learn about the Boy, realizing that he is incapable of imagining things (a dog is just a furry thing on four legs that says “woof”). As the Boy grows, both Gemma and Tom grow weaker, and their days grow exceedingly monotonous, as the need to escape grows stronger.
The opening shot (which I’m not going to describe) foreshadows the entire point of the movie, yet even then, the conceit behind Yonder is left murky. At no point is the purpose of the Boy, Yonder, or house Number 9, made explicit, but the title of the movie hints greatly at what is happening to Gemma and Tom…to an extent. The performances are strong enough to keep you interested: quirky and fun in the opening scenes, Poots and Eisenberg have strong chemistry, enough that once they start to drain, you actually notice that something is off with them, and their attempts to regain some of their spark midway through the film comes off as (understandably) sad and sober.
Poots especially wears weariness well, the mental and emotional toll of raising a child who isn’t a child (and who mocking projects their voices, insulting him, back to them), and who doesn’t understand what is happening, or why, yet holding the facade of normalcy, is convincing. It is easy to feel sorry for her.
As interesting as the premise is, the film does tend to drag a bit, and the actually explanation behind Yonder, and Martin, is very, very lacking. There’s only so much terror and mystery that could be mined from a single house in suburbia (and ignore what IMDB says…as dry as Eisenberg’s performance is in this, this movie is NOT a comedy in any way shape or form.
MacGregor’s cinematography makes the most of the single location (a lot of the exteriors are gorgeously shot), but once the climax kicks into gear, and the movie shifts into hallucinogenic mode, the transition is too abrupt (as weird as the movie gets, it gets super weird in the last 10 minutes or so). There’s too many questions by the time the credits roll, and while I usually don’t mind that, it seemed like there should have been something more by the end.
It’s worth watching if there’s nothing else on, and, again, Poots’ performance, and the cinematography make this movie at least interesting, but I just wish there was something a bit more concrete that director Finnegan had to say. Perhaps being likewise confined to a single location makes this movie resonate a bit more than it otherwise would, but it needs a bit more going on to be a must-watch. 3/5 Babies In A Box.
Vivarium is now available on VOD.