Vivarium | 2019 | R | – 6.4.6

Why is “Vivarium” rated R? The MPAA rating has been assigned for “language and some sexuality/nudity.” The Kids-In-Mind.com evaluation includes two sex scenes with partial nudity and some cleavage revealing tops, a young man is struck on the head with a pickaxe and we see a bloody injury, a couple of arguments lead to tussles, there are threats of harming a child, we see a man and a woman suffer from being isolated for an extended period of time, the death and disposal of three people, and alien lifeforms; and nearly 20 F-words and other strong language. Read our parents’ guide below for details on sexual content, violence & strong language.”

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While looking for their first home, a couple (Imogen Poots and Jesse Eisenberg) is trapped in a new, unoccupied development of identical houses and artificial lawns. They are unable to find a way out when a baby is delivered to their front curb, with instructions to raise it, if they ever want to be released. Also with Côme Thiry, Senan Jennings and Eanna Hardwicke. Directed by Lorcan Finnegan. [Running Time: 1:37]

Vivarium SEX/NUDITY 6

 – A man and woman have sex as a boy watches and claps; we see the woman’s bare breasts and buttocks as she thrusts on top of the man. A man and woman have sex in bed, partially covered by sheets while a boy watches through a door; we see the man thrusting and we hear them both moaning (the man’s bare back is seen along with the woman’s bare leg and breast). A man and woman kiss in bed, he rolls away from her and turns off the light saying, “Sorry.”
► A man talks about having passed out on a woman’s sofa the first night they met.
► A man showers and a woman washes his back (we see his bare back and upper buttocks). A man and woman dance in a street and a young boy watches and then joins them (please see the Violence/Gore category for more details). A woman wears T-shirts that reveal cleavage in several scenes throughout the movie. We see a fully nude infant in a box left on a street (bare chest, abdomen, legs and partial genitals are seen). A woman gets out of bed wearing a T-shirt and underwear that reveal her bare legs to the upper thigh and her partial lower buttock.

Vivarium VIOLENCE/GORE 4

 – A woman hits a man in the head with a pickaxe (we see blood on his head and face) as he runs away. A man picks a boy up, carries him outside and locks him inside a car, threatening to starve him; the man and a woman argue about what he has done, and the man pins her on the floor and yells at her before letting her go (the woman lets the boy out). A man and woman dance in a street, a young boy joins them and the man trips over the boy hitting his head on a curb; the man gets up, picks the boy up and slams him on the ground (we hear a thud but we see no injuries). A woman yells at a boy and shakes him by the shoulders telling him to “shut-up.” A woman chases a man and ends up falling through several houses where she sees a woman crying at a table, and a man dead in a bathtub (we see what looks like water filled with blood); the woman sinks through a floor as if it is quicksand and she tumbles down a flight of stairs (we don’t see any injuries).
► A man flicks a lit cigarette and it burns away a small patch of grass on the ground; the man digs the exposed dirt with his hands then with a pick and shovel and digs for many days until he finds a body in the pit that he has dug. A man lights a house on fire and we see it engulfed in flames and collapsing. A man and a woman drive around a neighborhood that they are unable to escape, returning to where they started with every turn; they become increasingly frustrated and argue briefly. A man climbs onto the roof of a house to see rows and rows of identical houses in the distance. A man and a woman walk through yards and climb fences for an entire day trying to find a way out of a neighborhood. A man and a woman driving in a car run out of gas and are trapped in a strange neighborhood. A woman gets lost in thick fog and calls out to a man that calls to her; she gets back to him and find shim lying on the ground.
► A boy mimics something that someone he met one day did and the boy’s throat bubbles out with large blister like growths as he makes a strange noise; a woman becomes frightened and moves away from the boy. A boy mimics the voices and actions of a man and a woman in several scenes. A boy calls a woman “mother” and she becomes annoyed telling him each time that she is not his mother. A boy screams in several scenes for extended periods until a need is met by a woman or a man. A man lights a cigarette and a woman reprimands him for smoking in her car. A man and a woman wait outside a house for someone to come to pick up a box of refuse and the woman makes a remark about waiting to “bash their brains in.” A boy watches TV and we see unusual shapes moving around the screen accompanied by noises. A woman asks a man, “Why didn’t I let you kill him when he was young” about a boy that has grown to be a young man. A woman follows a man and she loses sight of him; we hear footsteps in the distance but cannot see him.
► A man dies in a woman’s lap and she cries. A man showers and a woman washes his back (we see bruising on his back and shoulders). A man seems to be getting sick as days pass and he coughs and seems weak. Two men and woman are each placed in body bags, the air is sucked out of the bags and are thrown into a deep pit (we hear a thud when they hit the bottom) while the third is rolled up and placed in a filing cabinet drawer (we hear it churn like a garbage chute). A woman collapses on a sidewalk and we see her clothes torn and some grime on her face as she mumbles.
► We see baby birds in a nest as one pushes an unhatched egg out of the nest and then a smaller hatchling out. We see two hatchlings dead on the ground as a young girl asks who could have done this to them. A woman kicks and punches a tree playfully and a man in the tree pretends to be getting hurt (as if he’s the tree). A man and woman brush their teeth in a bathroom in several scenes and we see them spit toothpaste into the sink.

Vivarium LANGUAGE 6

 – About 18 F-words and its derivatives (1 misspelled in large letters on the roof of a house), 4 obscene hand gestures, 4 scatological terms, 1 mild obscenity, name-calling (weirdo, strange, jerk, crazy, sick, sarcastic, disgusting, creepy little mutant, so glum, overwhelmed, pointless, mystery, sickening), exclamations (shut-up), 1 religious profanity (GD), 6 religious exclamations (e.g. God Knows, Oh My God, Jesus). | profanity glossary |

Vivarium SUBSTANCE USE

 – A man offers a man and a woman a bottle of champagne and the woman declines and says, “I’m driving,” a man and woman talk about drinking a lot the first night they met, and a man and a woman pour champagne into two glasses (we do not see them drink). A man smokes in a car, and a man smokes cigarettes in several scenes throughout the movie.

Vivarium DISCUSSION TOPICS

 – Nature, cuckoo birds, fear, alien lifeforms, parasites, suburban living.

Vivarium MESSAGE

 – The seemingly idyllic suburbia many crave is a superficial place devoid of any meaning.