.jpg?width=400){kind=small}
.jpg?width=400){kind=small}
Vivarium is a 2019 science fiction psychological thriller film directed by Lorcan Finnegan, from a story by Finnegan and Garret Shanley. Shanley also wrote the screenplay. An international co-production of Ireland, Denmark and Belgium, it stars Imogen Poots, Jesse Eisenberg, Jonathan Aris, and Éanna Hardwicke.
The film follows a couple (Eisenberg and Poots) who are forced to care for a mysterious humanoid creature while trapped in a strange, vivarium-like neighbourhood. It had its world premiere at the Cannes Film Festival on 18 May 2019, and was released in Ireland on 27 March 2020 by Vertigo Releasing.
Contents
Plot
Primary school teacher Gemma and her boyfriend Tom, a landscaper, visit a housing development called Yonder, where all the homes appear identical. They are shown house number 9 by an unusual real estate agent named Martin, who unsettlingly mimics Gemma's answer after asking if they have children. During a tour of number 9, Martin disappears without explanation. Gemma and Tom attempt to leave the development but inexplicably end up going back to house 9, after which the couple drives through the seemingly endless, identical streets until eventually running out of fuel.
Gemma and Tom sleep in the house and attempt to escape on foot but repeatedly return to the same house. Outside, they find a box containing vacuum-sealed, flavorless food. Tom sets the house on fire and the couple sleeps on the pavement. By morning, however, the fire has left no damage, and a new box appears, this time containing a baby boy and a message instructing them to raise the child in order to be released.
