Vivarium (2019)

Written by larz9 on August 23, 2020

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.