I really liked vivarium

!I just watched vivarium and I thought it was really good, I therefore went on Letterboxd and was schocked to find that litteraly everybody was hating on it.!<

!From the reviews I have seen it just feels like everybody made an opinion about this movie after just 20 minutes in. Yes the plot is extremely predictable. Yes the concept is in your face and really easy to get. But maybe, just maybe that means there is more to it than just that and that it was intentional.!<

!I’ve seen a lot of people downplay it as a critique of conformist suburban family life. And I mean of course if you see a lot of identical houses your first thought might be : « oh is this like the Truman show or something » but that’s why the movie is 1 hour and 38 minutes long and doesn’t stop when they stop trying to leave. In my opinion this movie isn’t about a certain lifestyle that could be linked with the suburbs or consumerism like the setting could imply. The setting is merely a decoration and a way to make them feel trapped. Unlike the Truman show the « perfect family » or « perfect life » isn’t shown through people (they’re alone) or events (nothing happens) or just anything and people just make an idea on what the movie is going to be about in the first few minutes and then downplay it as being an overused trope (which is the case for the fake perfect life type story)!<

!For me this story is about gender roles, hopelessness and most importantly an allegory for perinatal depression. The fact that you can’t help to see your own child as a monster, someone you would feel happier, lighter without, someone that makes you feel trapped (shown through many shots where the vertical lines of the houses acted as bars). And that situation highlights the gender roles and dynamics inside the couple. When faced with the problems that « their » child might bring. The most developed role is clearly Gemma’s « the mother » no matter how much she hates her child and views it as disgusting she keeps on feeding him, she keeps on protecting him, she’s imposed to raise this child she despises alone because nobody will help her. On the other hand Tom resorts to violence almost immediately, he can’t stand to be in this situation where he doesn’t have control (already shown when in the beginning he wanted to take the wheel to get them out of the neighborhood), and will therefore isolate himself on the only tasks he finds meaning in, refusing any help and not helping his fiancé leaving her carrying the burden of this child alone. He’s metaphorically digging deeper and deeper into his selfish *bsession (we can’t say that word here!< >!😭!<>!)of trying to find meaning in his trap. Even with that Gemma will still be open to him, offering help and waging him, showing how she as the mother has to take care of everything, even of her boy that will grow up to a man killing her because « what do mothers do ? They die ».!<

In the end I would say that seeing the Letterboxd review I’ve found it very misunderstood and I would like to know what this sub thinks about it ?