FilmSnobReviews

Title: Vivarium
MPAA Rating: Not Yet Rated
Director: Lorcan Finnegan
Starring: Jesse Eisenberg, Imogen Poots, Jonathan Aris
Runtime: 1 hr 37 mins

What It Is: Young lovers Gemma (Poots) a teacher and her beau Tom (Eisenberg) a handyman are looking around and perhaps considering purchasing their first home together. When they are convinced to check out a new modular network of homes opening near them they venture there to check it out. Their salesman Martin (Aris) seems a bit off though and when he mysteriously disappears while showing the home they soon discover that they’re in a nightmarish eutopia. One with only one way out.

What We Think: How is it that this film was so boring. I think Imogen Poots is a fantastic actress. Both extremely talented and always pitch-perfect in her portrayals. Jesse Eisenberg has proven in this decade that he is a really reliable hand. I’m just not too plussed with the actual narrative, how it moves along. This isn’t a particularly well-directed film and this is coming from the director of Foxes which is a film I actually loved even though I missed it on release. No instead of anything worthwhile we get a boring misguide of a story that just sort of comes, goes and never does anything interesting.

Our Grade: C-, Boring, mediocre and an overall slog this one had potential with an interesting and odd premise. Instead, this gets squandered and left for dead on the side of the road. Don’t really bother taking the time to find this. Even if it’s only 97 mins. Imogen, dear Imogen you deserve so much more than this. There’s one element of this film that irritated me to no end. To the point that I seriously wanted to walk out. I won’t say what it is because…spoilers. Needless to say, this one is a waste.