Vivarium

Une allégorie boiteuse et soi-disant artistique du cycle de fonctionnement de la société de consommation ? Probablement oui. Mais la plupart du temps, ça se balance maladroitement à un rythme qu'il ne comprend pas et ne sait pas quoi faire. [Sitges FF] (08/10/2019)

Excellent bizarre thing that gave me the chills several times. Vivarium can be funny in its black humour, when we detachedly watch the main characters trying to solve the unsolvable situation that they got into through no fault of their own, while at the same time, it can get on your nerves when you discover that this mad world has full control over the heroes and any attempt to fight against its (il)logic can be cruelly repaid. In a nutshell, an imaginative prank, ideal for these times of quarantine, and criminally underrated. (03/05/2020)

An unusual mystery mindfuck that has a fine idea and premise, but hits a slower pace. Jesse Eisenberg and Imogen Poots have another joint role after The Art of Self-Defense, and once again their performances are very good and likeable. The main characters find themselves in a labyrinthine suburban sprawl from which there is no escape, and they also have to raise a strange child. The film moves at a slower pace, as I mentioned, but it manages to disturb and even chill a few times, and I consider the finale to be very good with a good twist. All in all, decent, but I don't need to see it again. Story****, Action>No, Humor>No, Violence*, Entertainment***, Music***, Visual***, Atmosphere***, Suspense***. 6/10. (30/03/2020)

With an appropriate runtime, Vivarium would perhaps be fine as an episode of The Twilight Zone, whereas the format of a ten-page comic book would suit it even better. But for a feature-length film, there is not enough material here, while being too literal and having zero overlap. It suffices to have a look at the credits and see the production company, and then it’s no wonder. XYZ Films, which like the Twitch Film website, now known as the boastful Screen Anarchy, was founded by company owner Todd Brown, has made a trademark out of elevating genre flicks with fresh ideas. Unfortunately, all of its projects lack development, dramaturgy and maturation of the theme, which are precisely the ills that befall Vivarium. It’s nice that XYZ Films is engaging more big-name actors, but it would be much more essential to hire a script editor for its productions. (19/05/2019)

J’ai été attiré par le début prometteur saupoudré d’humour décalé ainsi que par l’intrigue qui démarre sur les chapeaux de roues. Je craignais juste que ça reste figé jusqu'à l’enlisement et c’est malheureusement ce qui est arrivé. Le scénario et son message auraient convenu à un court métrage de trente minutes ; cette version de 97 minutes devient très rapidement répétitive, voire légèrement gonflante quand on se rapproche de la fin. Le cœur du mystère est présenté de sorte à pouvoir être résolu par de simples moyens, de façon cyclique, laissant peu de place à la réflexion pour le spectateur et faisant l’impasse sur l’un ou l’autre moment fort qui ferait de Vivarium un film mémorable. [Sitges 2019] (09/10/2019)