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Vivarium (2019)

Vivarium (2019)

R 97 minutes EN Science Fiction , Thriller , Mystery , Horror
You're home. Forever.
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.
CinePops rating:
5.4 /10
10 votes
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Top cast

Imogen Poots
Gemma Pierce
Senan Jennings
Young Boy
Danielle Ryan
School Mom
Olga Wehrly
Crying Woman
Jack Hudson
Estate Agent (uncredited)
Mark Quigley
Estate Agent (uncredited)
Michael McGeown
Factory Worker (uncredited)

Production crew

Production Design
Director of Photography
Music Supervisor
Electrician
Visual Effects Supervisor
Visual Effects Supervisor
Foley Mixer
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9 reviews, comments and opinions
The most positive review

Amazing watch, will watch again, and can recommend.
Imogen Poots and Jesse Eisenberg (both from "The Art of Self Defense") are amazing in their roles as an abducted couple force to raise a child.
This is an amazing premise (see "Solar Opposites" for something similar), and one that is extremely hard to discuss without spoilers. This is a wonderful mix of tropes. There is a prisoner / abductee trope, there is "adoption of a strange child" trope, there is a "troubled couple" trope, there is even a mystery trope.
I'm fully of the opinion that the right thing to do in any abduction situation is to not reward the criminals with what they want because there is no reason that while they have all the power that they're going to do anything to benefit the victims. We get see an exploration of what people do in a dire situation and given a task, similar to a couple different "Twilight Zone" episodes.
The production value is clearly here, and while they appear to have saved some money on limited locations, it clearly put to good use as the movie delves deeper into its story.
I can't recommend this enough, please give it a shot all the way through.

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The most negative review

It's a movie whose premise had promise but was never thoroughly explored.
I read the generally high praise in the reviews for this movie and admittedly, I was fooled. I'm convinced that at least the individual here who likened part of its premise to the animated series, "Solar Opposites," while not being entirely off the mark, neglected to mention that unlike Solar Opposites, there is no payoff with Vivarium. Unlike Solar Opposites, we don't know why Vivarium exists. We don't know why people are expected to raise these mysterious hominids. We don't know what their purpose is, other than to entrap first home buyers, like some kind of otherworldly predatory lender. Is it a euphemism for unscrupulous property developers? Who knows?
Only thing I know is that by the end of it all, I felt totally ripped off. At around 90 minutes, it was 60 minutes too long. It's not even something that I can suggest is open to much interpretation.
If you just need something playing in the background while you're performing other work at home, even then it may be a stretch but it certainly doesn't deserve much better.

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Production companies: Fantastic Films, Frakas Productions, Lovely Productions, XYZ Films, PingPongFilm, Saban Films
Production countries: Belgium, Denmark, Ireland
Budget: $4,000,000
Revenue: $488,000

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Certificate:

R (Under 17 requires accompanying parent or adult guardian 21 or older. The parent/guardian is required to stay with the child under 17 through the entire movie, even if the parent gives the child/teenager permission to see the film alone. These films may contain strong profanity, graphic sexuality, nudity, strong violence, horror, gore, and strong drug use. A movie rated R for profanity often has more severe or frequent language than the PG-13 rating would permit. An R-rated movie may have more blood, gore, drug use, nudity, or graphic sexuality than a PG-13 movie would admit.)

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