Movies Like Vivarium – Imogen Poots and Jesse Eisenberg give outstanding performances as Gemma and Tom, respectively, in Lorcan Finnegan’s surreal, terrifying, and bewildering sci-fi movie “Vivarium.”Tom is a handyman, and Gemma teaches in a public school. The first scene of “Vivarium” shows the couple searching for a reasonable home at a nearby real estate company. The representative drives them to Yonder, a brand-new community with identical homes. The spy sees unit nine for a split second and then vanishes. Tom and Gemma attempt to flee. But regardless of where they go or what they accomplish, they always return to unit 9.
“Vivarium” might seem to be a mash-up of better movies because it features aspects from every science fiction subgenre under the sun, such as body horror, alien invasion, and time loops. However, its distinctive visual aesthetic and terrifying use of boredom elevate it. With a powerful Imogen Poots, “Vivarium” captures viewers’ attention with its existential questions and satisfying conclusion. Here are 5 Movies Like Vivarium :
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1. Fright Night
Imogen Poots resembles a scream queen in several ways. She has established her horror career with leading parts in 2019’s “Black Christmas,” “Green Room,” and “28 Weeks Later,” among other films. Additionally, Poots co-starred with the late Anton Yelchin in Craig Gillespie’s “Fright Night” adaptation; oddly, Disney now owns this film as a result of their acquisition of 21st Century Fox. Charley Brewster, played by Yelchin in “Fright Night,” resides with his mother Jane (Toni Collette) in a suburb of Nevada. He soon develops the suspicion that their hot neighbor Jerry Dandrige (Colin Farrell) is a vampire who preys on the children and parents of the neighborhood.
The two try to put an end to Jerry with the aid of Amy from Poots, even enlisting the aid of Peter Vincent, the vampire expert played by David Tennant. It’s a hilarious movie that expertly balances humor and terror. Similar to “Vivarium,” it depicts Poots battling suburban America’s poison. The suburbs are a dangerous place for the characters in Poots’ stories, whether it’s due of vampires or Jesse Eisenberg’s Tom. “Fright Night” plainly states that even in the comparatively safe suburbs, citizens may never be completely sure who their neighbors are by using its terror as a metaphor.
2. The World’s End
For the finale of his Cornetto Trilogy, director Edgar Wright places “The World’s End” squarely in “Twilight Zone” territory. The movie has a recurring cast of actors from “Hot Fuzz” and “Shaun of the Dead.” In the movie “The World’s End,” Gary King (Simon Pegg), an elderly drinker, invites his old schoolmates Andy (Nick Frost), Oliver (Martin Freeman), Steven (Paddy Considine), and Peter (Eddie Marsan) on a pub crawl that they attempted but failed to complete 25 years previously.
They are unaware that aliens are occupying their hometown. It quickly turns into a comic-tinged struggle for survival. As it goes along, the movie leans more toward drama than humor. Wright ends his trilogy on a sadder note than fans may anticipate. Wright is utilizing a lot in his thematic work. But like “Vivarium,” he focuses on how people aren’t always what they seem to be. The agony and unhappiness of Pegg’s character and his hometown are being covered up, much like immaculate shudders and lush lawns do. Little remains hidden beneath the surface but hurt and sorrow.
3. Movies Like Vivarium: Little Children
A scary film is not what “Little Children” is. Even so, it is not science fiction. Tom Perrotta, who co-wrote the film’s screenplay, has experience in both of these subgenres (see: “The Leftovers”), and Todd Field’s 2006 film version of Perotta’s book is horrifyingly disturbing, but not in the way viewers may anticipate. For her leading role as Sarah Pierce, a mother and wife living in a suburban wasteland, Kate Winslet received an Oscar nomination. She is battling a failing marriage and existential unhappiness. Sarah eventually meets Brad, her next-door neighbor (Patrick Wilson). Within a few weeks, the two start a nefarious extramarital relationship.
“Little Children” is everything but traditional, despite how it might sound. This movie is a casket of flammable neighborhood boredom ready to blow, with alarming forays into sex offenders, ingrained insecurity, grief, and violence. “Little Children” is the kind of movie that will leave viewers feeling uneasy because it is so frightfully visceral and expertly executed. It demonstrates, like “Vivarium,” that a life that seems perfect is probably a falsehood.
4. Movies Like Vivarium: Society
It’s odd to read “Society” by Brian Yuzna. Billy Warlock’s character, Bill Whitney, is a teen who is sick of his wealthy family. Like most teenagers, he hates his parents, though it’s certainly simpler to feel that way in a huge Beverly Hills estate. He sees a therapist on a regular basis to vent his frustrations. Bill starts to wonder if his parents are members of a deadly cult despite the fact that his complaints at first seem to be more typical.
Missing classmates occur. Like ghosts, bodies appear and go. Even a tape that implies Bill’s parents are murderers is audible to Bill. This movie’s critique is similar to “Vivarium” in that it peels down the shell of society’s upper class as well as suburban life. Even if it’s hardly a novel idea to insinuate that the super-wealthy are monsters, aliens, cultists, or any other scary thing, “Society” has a breezy 80s conviction that greatly benefits the movie. The film by Yuzna challenges viewers to peel back the flawless image’s layers. It’ll expose something awful with a terrifying certainty.
5. American Beauty
The fact that Kevin Spacey, an actor who has been charged with several counts of sexual abuse with minors, starring in “American Beauty” is one reason why film hasn’t aged well. Because of these accusations, he was replaced in Ridley Scott’s “All the Money in the World” with Christopher Plummer, whose portrayal earned him an Oscar nomination. There’s no disputing “American Beauty” was a masterpiece when it was first released, despite the bad reputation it currently has. A number of Oscars were won by the movie in 2000, including best picture, best cinematography, best writing, best directing, and best actor in a leading role for Kevin Spacey.
Few movies portray suburban malaise as well as “American Beauty”, a furiously humorous satire of romance, beauty, and the American middle class. It’s a movie that makes serious points, relying initially on humor and competent acting before devolving into tragedy. The existential heights of “Vivarium” aren’t quite as high. Its parallels to these concepts, meanwhile, are similar to those of “American Beauty.” Both movies demonstrate how unpleasant and full of ulterior motives the suburbs are. The system is resisted by Gemma Poots, while Tom Eisenberg gives in. Tom is punished, much like the protagonists in “American Beauty,” but Gemma maintains her independence up to the surreal, heartbreaking conclusion of “Vivarium.”