Vivarium (5 Stars)

It's all about the Martins.

One Martin dies, and the next steps up to take his place.

Where do the Martins come from? We don't know. We first see Martin as a young baby. Maybe he had a mother, but we don't see her. We can't even assume that the previous Martin was his father. Maybe, maybe not.

I had a rough idea what a vivarium is, but today is the first time I've looked up its definition.

"A vivarium is an area, usually enclosed, for keeping and raising animals or plants for observation or research".

That definition doesn't exactly describe what we see in the film. Tom and Gemma are being kept in an artificial environment, but it's not with the intention of studying them. They've been put in this artificial nest to raise the cuckoo, Martin, to adulthood. The timeframe isn't exactly specified, but we can assume, based on the markings on the door, that it's about a year. In this time the first Martin dies while the new Martin grows up to take his place. Without Tom and Gemma, Martin would have died. A cuckoo mother places her egg in another bird's nest because she's unwilling to bring it up herself. So maybe there is a mother behind the scenes in "Vivarium" after all?

This is a very good film. Creepy. Unnerving. But brilliant.

Success Rate:  - 9.2

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