Vivarium

"You're home. Forever."

2019 1h 39m EN

😐

6.1

MID

🍅

73%

FRESH

👌

METACRITIC

⭐

5.9

IMDB

★6.1TMDB · 2,778🍅73%Rotten Tomatoes●64Metacritic★5.9IMDB · 86,624

Science FictionMysteryHorror

Synopsis

Spoiler shield

A young woman and her fiancé are in search of the perfect starter home. After following a mysterious real estate agent to a new housing development, the couple finds themselves trapped in a maze of identical houses and forced to raise an otherworldly child.

“You're home. Forever.”

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Cast

Imogen Poots
Gemma
Jesse Eisenberg
Tom
Senan Jennings
Young Boy
Éanna Hardwicke
Older Boy
Jonathan Aris
Martin
Côme Thiry
Baby
Molly McCann
Molly
Danielle Ryan
School Mom

Credits

Behind the camera

Director: Lorcan Finnegan
Writers: Maurice Pierce, Garret Shanley, Garret Shanley
Languages: English
Countries: Belgium, Denmark, Ireland, United States of America

Want more? Switch to Cinephile mode in the header for DP, composer, budget, box office, production companies, keywords, and release history.

Did you know?

Fun facts 🍿

1 / 8

MONEY

Did you know

Shot for just $4.0M — micro-budget by Hollywood standards.

MoodPlayr · trivia#01

2 / 8

MONEY

Did you know

Earned back only 12% of its budget on initial theatrical — a commercial disappointment on release.

MoodPlayr · trivia#02

3 / 8

ERA

Did you know

Released 7 years ago.

MoodPlayr · trivia#03

4 / 8

WORLD

Did you know

International production across 4 countries: Belgium, Denmark, Ireland, United States of America.

MoodPlayr · trivia#04

5 / 8

DIRECTOR

Did you know

Directed by Lorcan Finnegan, shot by MacGregor. Note their partnership — DPs and directors often return to each other across a career.

MoodPlayr · trivia#05

6 / 8

DIRECTOR

Did you know

Original score by Kristian Eidnes Andersen. Worth a dedicated listen after — most great films lose half their impact without the score.

MoodPlayr · trivia#06

7 / 8

DIRECTOR

Did you know

Editor Tony Cranstoun shaped the rhythm. On an edit-heavy film, the editor does more to control your pulse than the director.

MoodPlayr · trivia#07

8 / 8

CAST

Did you know

Imogen Poots and Jesse Eisenberg and Senan Jennings carry the top of the cast.

MoodPlayr · trivia#08

Cinephile deep dive

The take

Lorcan Finnegan directs. MacGregor behind the camera. Kristian Eidnes Andersen scores. Tony Cranstoun cuts. Runs lean at under 100 minutes. A commercial under-performer on release. Produced in Belgium, Denmark, Ireland, United States of America. Dialogue in English.

Trivia

Things worth knowing

1Shot for just $4.0M — micro-budget by Hollywood standards.
2Earned back only 12% of its budget on initial theatrical — a commercial disappointment on release.
3Released 7 years ago.
4International production across 4 countries: Belgium, Denmark, Ireland, United States of America.
5Directed by Lorcan Finnegan, shot by MacGregor. Note their partnership — DPs and directors often return to each other across a career.
6Original score by Kristian Eidnes Andersen. Worth a dedicated listen after — most great films lose half their impact without the score.
7Editor Tony Cranstoun shaped the rhythm. On an edit-heavy film, the editor does more to control your pulse than the director.
8Imogen Poots and Jesse Eisenberg and Senan Jennings carry the top of the cast.
9Marketing tagline: "You're home. Forever.".
10IMDB entry: tt8368406 — still the authoritative cross-reference for credits and trivia.
11Classified under 8 themes, including "baby", "suburbia", "suburb", "trapped".

The technical file

Cinematography: MacGregor
Original score: Kristian Eidnes Andersen
Editing: Tony Cranstoun
Production design: Philip Murphy
Makeup / hair: Catherine Argue
VFX supervisor: Peter Hjorth
Sound: Kristian Eidnes Andersen
Stunt coordinator: Olivier Bisback
Runtime: 99 min · 1h 39m
Aspect ratio (typical): 1.37:1 (Academy)
Status: Released
Budget: $4,000,000
Box office: $488,000
Return: 12% of budget
Original language: EN
Certification (US): R
IMDB: Vivarium (2019)
Rotten Tomatoes: 73% 🍅 Fresh
Metacritic: 64/100
IMDB rating: 5.9/10 · 86,624 votes
MPAA: R

Awards

3 wins & 10 nominations total

Sitges Film Festival Best Actress award

Individual records documented via Wikidata; the summary above may count more.

Also by

Lorcan Finnegan

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Trailers & featurettes

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Community reviews

What people are saying

SWITCH.2019-11-20
★ 8/10
‘Vivavirum’ slots in neatly next to Jocelyn DeBoer and Dawn Luebbe’s ‘Greener Grass’ and Richard Stanley’s ‘Color Out of Space’ to form a loose trilogy of deeply surrealist releases in 2019 that skewer our perceptions of suburbia and the family unit. Director Lorcan Finnegan has brought to life a disturbing, thoughtful and bleakly funny mutant of a movie. - Jake Watt Read Jake's full article... https://www.maketheswitch.com.au/article/review-vivarium-what-makes-a-house-a-horrific-home
actionace2020-03-28
★ 4/10
Pretty pointless movie. Signed up to review because I couldn't believe the rating this received. Yes, you get a weird realtor and a creepy kid but other than that you just watch the couple basically repeat each day hating being stuck. You're not going to learn anything more about the weird freaks or why they're doing what they're doing and will end up feeling like you just wasted your time. Yeah, I get it's supposed to be satire but pass.
jackcarlin182020-04-13
★ 6/10
Review on Horror Focus This indie sci-fi thriller Vivarium from Irish filmmaker Lorcan Finnegan is many things, one definitely being quite the head-scratcher. Not because of it being an intellectually challenging story, or one that is laced with twists and turns to create an unpredictable viewing, but a film that delivers a narratives so peculiar that it is like something you've never seen before. Take this with a pinch of salt, as there's certainly aspects which don't make the landing of such an ambitious plot, but let it also be known that Vivarium contains some impressions visual and narrative storytelling, enough to forgive some of the mid-act waffle that cripples the films momentum. Finnegan gets the ball rolling with power, keeping the story taught enough that we are thrown straight into the mystery early doors. This works extremely well as the tension begins to bubble within the first ten minute mark. The performances here from our main cast member already begin to show their brilliance, especially Jonathon Aris who sets a chilling foreshadowing tone with his appropriately eerie character Martin. The small (yet effective) amount of screen time we have with Martin is enough to set the tone, and we, like Tom and Gemma are forced to endure something that is so ominously intense that it leaves a lingering sense of dread. Unfortunately, this soon begins to simmer once Finnegan establishes the plot in its whole, and realisation settles on the simple fact that, after the 30 minute mark, there really isn't much else for the story to go. Yes the labyrinth maze of suburbia is strangely terrifying, and the strenuous repetition is effective, but after 15 minutes of having the child introduced, Vivarium begins to fall flat, and grow increasingly more stale up until after the sixty minutes in. The fantastic Poots and Eisenberg, and the deadpan humour do prevent this film from becoming a little too one-note, but this doesn't exuse more than a few scenes that will be a task to sit through, even in these current homebound world we are living in. There is a glimmer of brilliance in Finnegan's choice of release here, as what our main couple are enduring is poetically reflective of the life we are living in this mad pandemic virus. I found myself identifying with the irritated attitude our characters develop, and sympathised with them when their child (the boy) was well deserving of a slap. Vivarium is intelligently relative right now, and can definitely be perceived as as Finnegan holding a mirror up to the idealistic yet treacherous concept of what makes the perfect home, and the urge to be the perfect family. In fact, there's so much underlying aspects of Vivarium that are so incredibly reflective of the inevitable repetition that comes once a spunky couple are weighed down by family life, securing their "ideal" home and tolerating each others impurities under the same roof constantly. Finnegan exposes the dangers of the nuclear family here, and forces us to endure it too, warts and all. We even get those little moments in which Tom consistently chips away, digging a whole, not to be talked to, helped or interrupted by Gemma, who becomes a slave to ensuring nothing but contentment for their boy. This moment is humourous with a dark sting, and will be reflective of reality to many, but to those inside Vivarium is nothing but a nightmarish loop. This distorted utopia Finnegan creates is what's most effective, orchestrated by a Burton-esque palette that is as gorgeous as it is hauntingly off-kilter. The early 80's, Romero's Day of the Dead-like synth is undeniably effective, and carries the tension through to the final act, which although doesn't hit a payoff point that excuses the slow middle act, does add to the bankers reality Finnegan has crafted, and highlights the eeriness established from the beginning. While Vivarium does lose a tone of momentum when it hits the mid-way point, by the time it reaches its end, I can't shake the distinct feeling of unease I had to endure for over eighty minutes, and I can't deny that a film like this was an experience I have quite been exposed to before. I have been feeling really under the weather these past few days, and let's just say this only made me feel worse. Great job, I guess? VERDICT Vivarium is a simplistically disturbing suburban nightmare with a captivating story and little room for growth. Enduring its drab middle act may prove tricky, but once Finnegan blows the dust of the eerie intensity established from the beginning, you'll find there is much to be desired with this unsettling little indie-sci-fi thriller.