VIVARIUM - FILM REVIEW

How is your self-quarantine so far? I always hope that you all are in good condition, stay at home and don't forget to wash your hand, and also don't forget to maintain your mental health because it is as important as your physical health, too.

It’s been two months I’ve been stuck inside my house because of course I obeyed the PSBB rules and I’ve been doing a lot of stuff like working at home, writing thesis, writing reviews, watching films, listening to music, playing games, reading books, and rebahan. What else to do? I don’t know. Just stay at home, do something fun, learn a new skill, make a new habit, or something that makes you feel good and useful during the quarantine.

Long story short a couple of days ago, I stumbled upon one independent horror-thriller/black comedy film that really intrigued me. It’s called VIVARIUM. It actually released last year, maybe for film competition admissions or something and finally it is widely released on 27 March 2020. Starring by Imogen Poots and Jesse Eisenberg, this film is focused on a young couple looking for a perfect home and finding themselves trapped in a mysterious labyrinth-like neighborhood of identical houses.

The premise is not really that special to me because I have seen typical movies where a young couple make bad mistakes that lead to their own graves. Such a common plot. The first 15-minute is such a grave mistake for this film, like how come you can trust a real estate agent without making sure that it is not a scam or can be trusted? Like what? I know you were so desperate to get a new home, my friends. Let me tell you about something. Do. Not. Trust. People. So. Fricking. Easily.

I actually almost stopped watching this film, but somehow it glued me especially when this young couple arrived at Yonder neighborhood. The concept of this neighborhood itself kind of reminds of that SquidVille episode from SpongeBob Squarepants – a definition of utopia and perfection. The neighborhood is like a dream-like land, serene, peaceful, yeah you can name it with all the good traits. After a brief tour of the new home, something is not right. The real estate agent left this young couple. And of course, feeling the anomaly, the couple also left the house. The madness is started from there. The couple could never leave the neighborhood. All roads feel like going in a circle, always taking this couple back to their intended house. Desperate, the couple burned the house and strangely the house is fine on the other day and another problem exists. A box with a baby boy inside arrived at the front of the yard, forcing this couple to take care of him.

I don’t want this review to spoil the fun, so I might just keep showing little details.

From the pacing itself, it is a fast-paced film. It runs about 90 minutes. The progression of the story is also quite good. It is that kind of that “show-rather-tell” film so that is why it successfully kept me intrigued the whole time. The whole film itself is full with metaphors, symbols, foreshadowing, and hidden messages.

I do really love the simplistic production design of this film. It is really neat and eye-catching. The production successfully giving “everything-looks-so-perfect-but-actually-no” tone for the film. The using of color is so good. It is also giving some mood for the film.

The acting from Eisenberg and Poots is really good in portraying their character in which they tend to feel frustrated, isolated, and accept about their condition. The characters are also dynamic here. In a sense that there will be a time during the film that their actions will be changed toward what happened at that time.

The scarier part for me is not about jumpscares or anything. If you expect jumpscares from this film, believe me, you will be disappointed. The scarier part of this film is in its subliminal ideas. One of them is about millennial anxiety in dealing with common life steps in their 30s: buying a house, starting a family, settling on the edge of town. The filmmaker successfully made a fright-fest from a boredom and unwanted life. Most of us millennials fear that our hopes and dreams will vanish as we become trapped in a life we don't want. The next idea is the feeling of being trapped, but besides that there is also the question, what exactly is your role when everything that shapes you as an individual is taken away?

Overall, this film is intriguing even though it opened with such a big flaw. The performance of Imogen Poots and Jesse Eisenberg are pretty great. It also has interesting ideas and it is presented with in great style. Worth a watch especially during this time. It could be a reflection as well.