Director: Lorcan Finnegan
Notable Cast: Imogen Poots, Jesse Eisenberg, Jonathan
Aris, Senana Jennings, Eanna Hardwicke
It’s not very often that a film hits home in such an
unnerving way that it’s hard to shake. As a reviewer dedicated to cult cinema,
particularly of the genre kind, it’s easy to think ‘well, been there, seen that’
to even the strangest corners of the cinematic world. Occasionally a film strikes
out in an unexpected way. Vivarium is a film that has systematically
flown under the radar in my sphere and it wasn’t until I saw it in a Redbox
rental unit that I just randomly grabbed it for the night. Two days later and
the film just writhes under my skin. It’s an odd film, yes, never quite
embracing any one particular genre in full and never actively moving away from its
Twilight Zone inspired roots, but Vivarium is a film seething
with symbolism and empowered by its intimate and often emotionally raucous
message.
Due to its high brow concept, Vivarium is a film that
can be a little problematic to review without spoiling its many, many strange
reveals. Thus, in the spirit of being spoiler free, this review may read a
little vague. Hopefully the praise that I am about to lay onto the film still seeps
through.