I love some feel-bad horror. The kind of movies that maybe a little too acutely reflect the present moment, extending my sociopolitical anxieties outward in extreme, terrifying ways. Parasite is my favorite Best Picture winner of the last few years for a reason, and for as nasty as it is, I thought The Platform was horrifying in its prescience. Even the soon-to-be-released The Rule of Jenny Pen’s geriatric terror cuts a little too close to the bone (and I loved it for that).
Those are certainly among the more extreme examples, though plenty of other socially charged horror movies have managed to strike a chord with me. Last year’s festival hit The Tenants was deeply depressing in its claustrophobic terror, and pretty much every major 2024 release—The First Omen, Alien: Romulus, and so many more than that—was pretty much a sobering reminder of where we’re at. One of my favorites from the past few years is interestingly enough a favorite of acclaimed horror author Stephen King.
Get lost in the neighborhood with Lorcan Finnegan’s Vivarium, now streaming free on Tubi.
Per Tubi: A young couple looking for the perfect home find themselves trapped in a mysterious, labyrinth-like neighborhood of identical houses.
Vivarium stars Jesse Eisenberg and Imogen Poots as the love-struck couple in for their worst domestic nightmare. Vivarium is a slow burn and also very, very weird, but it’s absolutely worth checking out, especially now that the film is streaming free. Oppressive suburban lifestyles and rigid gender roles reach the most nightmarish, sci-fi/horror conclusions here, and its final act is a genuine sight to behold.
Stephen King himself remains a big fan of Vivarium. At the time of the film’s release, King remarked how the film “blew him away,” further adding, “If you love it, thank me. If you hate it, don’t blame me.” You can check out King’s tweet in full below:
VIVARIUM (Hulu) blew me away. Rich and strange. If you love it, thank me. If you hate it, don't blame me.
— Stephen King (@StephenKing) August 1, 2020
Post-Vivarium, Lorcan Finnegan directed the similarly socially driven thriller Nocebo (review here), and the upcoming Nicolas Cage vehicle, The Surfer. Vivarium, however, remains a hallmark of his career, and whether it’s for the first or tenth time, give this weird little movie a spin. You’ll be lost in it.
What do you think? Do you have any plans to check out Vivarium on Tubi? If you’ve already seen it, what did you think? Let me know over on Twitter @Chadiscollins.
https://ift.tt/cHO7Mre https://ift.tt/TgHh9CB
No comments:
Post a Comment