Search/Recent Changes
DBTropes
...it's like TV Tropes, but LINKED DATA!

Vivarium

 Vivarium
type
TVTItem
 Vivarium
label
Vivarium
 Vivarium
page
Vivarium
 Vivarium
comment
Vivarium is a 2019 science fiction thriller film based on a story by Lorcan Finegan. When a married couple are searching for a house, they are informed of a new development dubbed "Yonder" by a shady real estate agent. When they arrive, they see that all the houses are identical, and the clouds and sun appear to be artificial. Things only worsen for them when they are forced to raise a baby.
 Vivarium
fetched
2024-01-18T22:31:18Z
 Vivarium
parsed
2024-01-18T22:31:18Z
 Vivarium
isPartOf
DBTropes
 Vivarium / int_115b9907
type
Starfish Language
 Vivarium / int_115b9907
comment
Starfish Language: The book brought by the boy is written entirely in an alien alphabet consisting of letters in form of squiggly shapes, without any spaces, commas, or periods.
 Vivarium / int_115b9907
featureApplicability
1.0
 Vivarium / int_115b9907
featureConfidence
1.0
 Vivarium
hasFeature
Vivarium / int_115b9907
 Vivarium / int_16ad6f7f
type
"It" Is Dehumanizing
 Vivarium / int_16ad6f7f
comment
"It" Is Dehumanizing: Enforced. Tom refers to the boy as "it" and hates it. Gemma refers to the boy as "he" and at times shows empathy to him. In one scene, Tom calls her out for referring to the boy as "he" and insists that he's an "it."
 Vivarium / int_16ad6f7f
featureApplicability
1.0
 Vivarium / int_16ad6f7f
featureConfidence
1.0
 Vivarium
hasFeature
Vivarium / int_16ad6f7f
 Vivarium / int_19da8a03
type
Incurable Cough of Death
 Vivarium / int_19da8a03
comment
Incurable Cough of Death: Tom starts to become sick with something after a while. He starts coughing, wheezing, and developing sores on his body. Tom and Gemma theorize that it's because he's rejecting his role as the child's parent.
 Vivarium / int_19da8a03
featureApplicability
1.0
 Vivarium / int_19da8a03
featureConfidence
1.0
 Vivarium
hasFeature
Vivarium / int_19da8a03
 Vivarium / int_1ba17583
type
The Ghost
 Vivarium / int_1ba17583
comment
The Ghost: Save for the original "Martin," the other members of the boy's kind are this as they are mentioned but never seen. This also applies to the person that delivers Gemma and Tom's food. No matter how long they wait outside for them to show up, they don't come unless the pair are asleep.
 Vivarium / int_1ba17583
featureApplicability
1.0
 Vivarium / int_1ba17583
featureConfidence
1.0
 Vivarium
hasFeature
Vivarium / int_1ba17583
 Vivarium / int_272abb98
type
Shoot the Shaggy Dog
 Vivarium / int_272abb98
comment
Shoot the Shaggy Dog: Nothing is accomplished by anyone during this film other than a perpetuation of a short life-cycle which will just repeat again. Given how rapidly the boy and 'Martin' age, it'll have to start over again pretty quickly, and in fact does start again in the final shot of the film.
 Vivarium / int_272abb98
featureApplicability
1.0
 Vivarium / int_272abb98
featureConfidence
1.0
 Vivarium
hasFeature
Vivarium / int_272abb98
 Vivarium / int_28cd01ca
type
Disappeared Dad
 Vivarium / int_28cd01ca
comment
Disappeared Dad: Tom refuses to take care of the boy after the 98th day, effectively almost disappearing from his life despite being constantly just several meters away and sleeping in the same house.
 Vivarium / int_28cd01ca
featureApplicability
1.0
 Vivarium / int_28cd01ca
featureConfidence
1.0
 Vivarium
hasFeature
Vivarium / int_28cd01ca
 Vivarium / int_2eb94abd
type
Deadly Euphemism
 Vivarium / int_2eb94abd
comment
Deadly Euphemism: "Raise the child and be released."
 Vivarium / int_2eb94abd
featureApplicability
1.0
 Vivarium / int_2eb94abd
featureConfidence
1.0
 Vivarium
hasFeature
Vivarium / int_2eb94abd
 Vivarium / int_364b9be6
type
Flipping the Bird
 Vivarium / int_364b9be6
comment
Flipping the Bird: Tom and Gemma greet their subjectively 10-year-old boy like this after the Time Skip, revealing instantly that they've been treating him like a parasite rather than a son.
 Vivarium / int_364b9be6
featureApplicability
1.0
 Vivarium / int_364b9be6
featureConfidence
1.0
 Vivarium
hasFeature
Vivarium / int_364b9be6
 Vivarium / int_3687d605
type
Rapid Aging
 Vivarium / int_3687d605
comment
Rapid Aging: The boy goes from a newborn to a young kid in just over three months and becomes a full adult in seemingly just a year or so. Martin ages at the same rate, going from a man seemingly in his mid to late thirties or early forties to dying of old age by the end.
 Vivarium / int_3687d605
featureApplicability
1.0
 Vivarium / int_3687d605
featureConfidence
1.0
 Vivarium
hasFeature
Vivarium / int_3687d605
 Vivarium / int_3a90dc63
type
Aliens Are Bastards
 Vivarium / int_3a90dc63
comment
Aliens Are Bastards: Whether or not they have Blue-and-Orange Morality, the aliens are deliberately luring numerous couples to their inescapable pocket dimension to slowly torment and kill them while forcing them to raise one of their own.
 Vivarium / int_3a90dc63
featureApplicability
1.0
 Vivarium / int_3a90dc63
featureConfidence
1.0
 Vivarium
hasFeature
Vivarium / int_3a90dc63
 Vivarium / int_4637914d
type
Suburban Gothic
 Vivarium / int_4637914d
comment
Suburban Gothic: The suburban development of Yonder is a very nice neighborhood, even if all the houses look the same. However, a couple is trapped inside when Yonder turns out to be built with Alien Geometry, impossible to escape from. No matter how far they drive, they keep returning to the same house, and begin going mad from the experience. What makes matters worse is that they're the only sign of life in the entire neighborhood, other than a clearly-inhuman Creepy Child forced upon them.
 Vivarium / int_4637914d
featureApplicability
1.0
 Vivarium / int_4637914d
featureConfidence
1.0
 Vivarium
hasFeature
Vivarium / int_4637914d
 Vivarium / int_479d4e5a
type
Would Hurt a Child
 Vivarium / int_479d4e5a
comment
Would Hurt a Child: Tom locks the boy in the car rationalizing that whatever forces are behind their entrapment would try to rescue the boy after which they would be able to escape.
 Vivarium / int_479d4e5a
featureApplicability
1.0
 Vivarium / int_479d4e5a
featureConfidence
1.0
 Vivarium
hasFeature
Vivarium / int_479d4e5a
 Vivarium / int_4e3d253b
type
Downer Ending
 Vivarium / int_4e3d253b
comment
Downer Ending: Tom succumbs to his sickness and is followed by Gemma dying "of old age", with no one likely to ever know what happened to them. The boy buries both his adopted parents into the hole Tom dug earlier. He then takes Martin's place as the new real estate agent greeting a new couple, perpetuating the cycle.
 Vivarium / int_4e3d253b
featureApplicability
1.0
 Vivarium / int_4e3d253b
featureConfidence
1.0
 Vivarium
hasFeature
Vivarium / int_4e3d253b
 Vivarium / int_59e5940e
type
AnimalMotif
 Vivarium / int_59e5940e
comment
Animal Motif: The boy has a cuckoo bird motif. He is a baby being given to a pair of unwitting parents, he is growing at a very quick rate, he is very loud and demanding for food, and it's clear whatever gave him to his parents will punish them for failure to care for him.
 Vivarium / int_59e5940e
featureApplicability
1.0
 Vivarium / int_59e5940e
featureConfidence
1.0
 Vivarium
hasFeature
Vivarium / int_59e5940e
 Vivarium / int_5a3b8032
type
The Un-Reveal
 Vivarium / int_5a3b8032
comment
The Unreveal: Nothing about the boy or Martin, where the neighborhood is or how it functions, why Tom and Gemma are there and why they're raising the child or what the overall motive of the captors is ever revealed.
 Vivarium / int_5a3b8032
featureApplicability
1.0
 Vivarium / int_5a3b8032
featureConfidence
1.0
 Vivarium
hasFeature
Vivarium / int_5a3b8032
 Vivarium / int_5aa4ec8a
type
Ambiguous Syntax
 Vivarium / int_5aa4ec8a
comment
Ambiguous Syntax: "Take care of the child and you will be released". It means death, not freedom.
 Vivarium / int_5aa4ec8a
featureApplicability
1.0
 Vivarium / int_5aa4ec8a
featureConfidence
1.0
 Vivarium
hasFeature
Vivarium / int_5aa4ec8a
 Vivarium / int_5cd8680b
type
Doorstop Baby
 Vivarium / int_5cd8680b
comment
Doorstop Baby: Tom and Gemma are sent one in a package labeled "Raise the child and be released."
 Vivarium / int_5cd8680b
featureApplicability
1.0
 Vivarium / int_5cd8680b
featureConfidence
1.0
 Vivarium
hasFeature
Vivarium / int_5cd8680b
 Vivarium / int_5fcb9ad1
type
Time Skip
 Vivarium / int_5fcb9ad1
comment
Time Skip: After finding the baby, the film skips ahead 99 days, to when the boy looks to be about seven years old. The film later skips again to when the boy is an adult. Assuming he does in fact "age like a dog," it's probably about a year after the film began.
 Vivarium / int_5fcb9ad1
featureApplicability
1.0
 Vivarium / int_5fcb9ad1
featureConfidence
1.0
 Vivarium
hasFeature
Vivarium / int_5fcb9ad1
 Vivarium / int_61a503a7
type
Hell Is That Noise
 Vivarium / int_61a503a7
comment
Hell Is That Noise: The child regularly unleashes an ungodly high-pitched shriek whenever he needs anything and it quickly drives Tom and Gemma mad.
 Vivarium / int_61a503a7
featureApplicability
1.0
 Vivarium / int_61a503a7
featureConfidence
1.0
 Vivarium
hasFeature
Vivarium / int_61a503a7
 Vivarium / int_62434fe2
type
Sanity Slippage
 Vivarium / int_62434fe2
comment
Sanity Slippage: Tom starts digging a hole in an attempt to get out. He eventually becomes obsessed with digging, even sleeping in the hole at night.
 Vivarium / int_62434fe2
featureApplicability
1.0
 Vivarium / int_62434fe2
featureConfidence
1.0
 Vivarium
hasFeature
Vivarium / int_62434fe2
 Vivarium / int_6d7026fa
type
Punny Name
 Vivarium / int_6d7026fa
comment
Punny Name: A Martin is a family of birds, and the Martin in the movies sells houses, so he could be called a House Martin.
 Vivarium / int_6d7026fa
featureApplicability
1.0
 Vivarium / int_6d7026fa
featureConfidence
1.0
 Vivarium
hasFeature
Vivarium / int_6d7026fa
 Vivarium / int_6edc54d5
type
Here We Go Again!
 Vivarium / int_6edc54d5
comment
Here We Go Again!: The film ends with the boy having taken over for Martin, even taking the same name, about to ensnare a new couple in the same situation.
 Vivarium / int_6edc54d5
featureApplicability
1.0
 Vivarium / int_6edc54d5
featureConfidence
1.0
 Vivarium
hasFeature
Vivarium / int_6edc54d5
 Vivarium / int_7896ecc3
type
Perpetual Smiler
 Vivarium / int_7896ecc3
comment
Perpetual Smiler: Martin, which further intimidates Tom and Gemma due to its artificial feel.
 Vivarium / int_7896ecc3
featureApplicability
1.0
 Vivarium / int_7896ecc3
featureConfidence
1.0
 Vivarium
hasFeature
Vivarium / int_7896ecc3
 Vivarium / int_851dda8f
type
Humanoid Abomination
 Vivarium / int_851dda8f
comment
Humanoid Abomination: What the boy is no one knows. He has an adult voice, behaves in an inhuman fashion, and can inflate his throat as part of pretending to be the person he met when he was alone. He also ages at an unnatural rate, going from a newborn infant to a roughly seven-year-old in a span of just over 3 months. Gemma also discovers that imagination and dreaming are both completely foreign concepts to him. Martin as well. He has a permanent, disconcerting smile and odd mannerisms. He dies of old age within less than a year, with his replacement becoming the new Martin after disposing of his predecessor's body by folding it up.
 Vivarium / int_851dda8f
featureApplicability
1.0
 Vivarium / int_851dda8f
featureConfidence
1.0
 Vivarium
hasFeature
Vivarium / int_851dda8f
 Vivarium / int_8e3b5b4d
type
Minimalist Cast
 Vivarium / int_8e3b5b4d
comment
Minimalist Cast: For the vast majority of the movie, there are only three characters, Tom, Gemma, and the child.
 Vivarium / int_8e3b5b4d
featureApplicability
1.0
 Vivarium / int_8e3b5b4d
featureConfidence
1.0
 Vivarium
hasFeature
Vivarium / int_8e3b5b4d
 Vivarium / int_966da803
type
Defiant to the End
 Vivarium / int_966da803
comment
Defiant to the End: Gemma dies, but uses her last breath to curse the boy.
 Vivarium / int_966da803
featureApplicability
1.0
 Vivarium / int_966da803
featureConfidence
1.0
 Vivarium
hasFeature
Vivarium / int_966da803
 Vivarium / int_96a33f11
type
Riddle for the Ages
 Vivarium / int_96a33f11
comment
Riddle for the Ages: Little about what's going on is ultimately revealed. Are Martin and his kind aliens? Where do they come from? Do they have any sort of end goal? Where does the boy go and who does he meet when he leaves the house? Where and what is Yonder?
 Vivarium / int_96a33f11
featureApplicability
1.0
 Vivarium / int_96a33f11
featureConfidence
1.0
 Vivarium
hasFeature
Vivarium / int_96a33f11
 Vivarium / int_9aa3d869
type
Creative Sterility
 Vivarium / int_9aa3d869
comment
What the boy is no one knows. He has an adult voice, behaves in an inhuman fashion, and can inflate his throat as part of pretending to be the person he met when he was alone. He also ages at an unnatural rate, going from a newborn infant to a roughly seven-year-old in a span of just over 3 months. Gemma also discovers that imagination and dreaming are both completely foreign concepts to him.
 Vivarium / int_9aa3d869
featureApplicability
1.0
 Vivarium / int_9aa3d869
featureConfidence
1.0
 Vivarium
hasFeature
Vivarium / int_9aa3d869
 Vivarium / int_9bee1a7f
type
Eldritch Location
 Vivarium / int_9bee1a7f
comment
Eldritch Location: Yonder. It's a seemingly-endless suburb with no readily apparent means of entrance or exit once inside. At one point, Tom and Gemma walk in a straight line, following the sun and cutting through other yards and still end up back at Number Nine. There's no wind, the clouds all look artificial, the sun is a slightly off shade, the soil looks fake, there are no birds or animals of any kind, planes never fly over it and the food has no taste. There are no deliveries or trash collectors; groceries just appear in a cardboard box on the sidewalk whenever they're not looking directly at it and the trash leaves the same way. Tom digs a few metres down into the lawn and finds nothing, but the boy manages to lift the sidewalk pavement to reveal a labrinyth of other house interiors, all with couples suffering in the same position as Gemma and Tom are. Gemma sinks through the sponge-like floors several times before arriving inside of her designated house again.
 Vivarium / int_9bee1a7f
featureApplicability
1.0
 Vivarium / int_9bee1a7f
featureConfidence
1.0
 Vivarium
hasFeature
Vivarium / int_9bee1a7f
 Vivarium / int_9d12bbc1
type
Foreshadowing
 Vivarium / int_9d12bbc1
comment
Foreshadowing: The first scene of the movie is of a cuckoo bird kicking out the young of another bird and taking its place. The mother bird takes care of the alien bird even after it has grown much larger than her. This mirrors the alien baby, which its parents are forced to care for, even though it is a parasite. When Tom sees the dead bird, he digs a small hole and buries it. In Yonder, he becomes obsessed with digging a hole and is ultimately buried in it.
 Vivarium / int_9d12bbc1
featureApplicability
1.0
 Vivarium / int_9d12bbc1
featureConfidence
1.0
 Vivarium
hasFeature
Vivarium / int_9d12bbc1
 Vivarium / int_a2b998a0
type
Wouldn't Hurt a Child
 Vivarium / int_a2b998a0
comment
Wouldn't Hurt a Child: Gemma releases the child from the car after a short while, having developed maternal feelings for him. After being confronted with his inhuman nature and reconciling with Tom, she tells him that she regrets not letting him go through with it.
 Vivarium / int_a2b998a0
featureApplicability
1.0
 Vivarium / int_a2b998a0
featureConfidence
1.0
 Vivarium
hasFeature
Vivarium / int_a2b998a0
 Vivarium / int_a6bd0685
type
Died in Your Arms Tonight
 Vivarium / int_a6bd0685
comment
Died in Your Arms Tonight: Tom succumbs to whatever sickness he was afflicted with and dies being cradled by Gemma.
 Vivarium / int_a6bd0685
featureApplicability
1.0
 Vivarium / int_a6bd0685
featureConfidence
1.0
 Vivarium
hasFeature
Vivarium / int_a6bd0685
 Vivarium / int_ae3d6438
type
Deadpan Snarker
 Vivarium / int_ae3d6438
comment
Deadpan Snarker: Tom has his moments as is to be expected from a character played by Jesse Eisenberg.
 Vivarium / int_ae3d6438
featureApplicability
1.0
 Vivarium / int_ae3d6438
featureConfidence
1.0
 Vivarium
hasFeature
Vivarium / int_ae3d6438
 Vivarium / int_ca87e3ec
type
No Name Given
 Vivarium / int_ca87e3ec
comment
No Name Given: The child. Tom and Gemma never give him/it a name. At the end of the movie, the child takes on the name "Martin," plucking the nametag off of his dying predecessor at the Yonder development office.
 Vivarium / int_ca87e3ec
featureApplicability
1.0
 Vivarium / int_ca87e3ec
featureConfidence
1.0
 Vivarium
hasFeature
Vivarium / int_ca87e3ec
 Vivarium / int_cdfe12c3
type
Nothing Is Scarier
 Vivarium / int_cdfe12c3
comment
Nothing Is Scarier: Nothing about the nature of the situation Tom and Gemma are in, the nature of the boy, who is keeping them there and why, what exactly Martin is and what role he and his successors play or how the place operates is ever revealed.
 Vivarium / int_cdfe12c3
featureApplicability
1.0
 Vivarium / int_cdfe12c3
featureConfidence
1.0
 Vivarium
hasFeature
Vivarium / int_cdfe12c3
 Vivarium / int_dacdf37f
type
Shady Real Estate Agent
 Vivarium / int_dacdf37f
comment
Shady Real Estate Agent: Martin, who sells Gemma and Tom a house in the endless suburb of Yonder and seems to be some sort of alien who may or may not force them to raise an alien baby.
 Vivarium / int_dacdf37f
featureApplicability
1.0
 Vivarium / int_dacdf37f
featureConfidence
1.0
 Vivarium
hasFeature
Vivarium / int_dacdf37f
 Vivarium / int_dd620f82
type
Too Desperate to Be Picky
 Vivarium / int_dd620f82
comment
Too Desperate to Be Picky: The food Gemma and Tom are given by Martin's kind looks like normal food but it's tasteless and makes them feel ill after they eat it. They end up eating it anyway because it's all they're provided.
 Vivarium / int_dd620f82
featureApplicability
1.0
 Vivarium / int_dd620f82
featureConfidence
1.0
 Vivarium
hasFeature
Vivarium / int_dd620f82
 Vivarium / int_e3847ee8
type
Cigarette of Anxiety
 Vivarium / int_e3847ee8
comment
Cigarette of Anxiety: Tom smokes when stressed and regularly does so throughout the film.
 Vivarium / int_e3847ee8
featureApplicability
1.0
 Vivarium / int_e3847ee8
featureConfidence
1.0
 Vivarium
hasFeature
Vivarium / int_e3847ee8
 Vivarium / int_e9db9908
type
Younger Than They Look
 Vivarium / int_e9db9908
comment
Younger Than They Look: Gemma has remarked that the boy "ages like a dog." After 99 days, he appears to be about seven years old. After another Time Skip, he's an adult, while Gemma and Tom have not visibly aged.
 Vivarium / int_e9db9908
featureApplicability
1.0
 Vivarium / int_e9db9908
featureConfidence
1.0
 Vivarium
hasFeature
Vivarium / int_e9db9908
 Vivarium / int_f3d5d15f
type
Creepy Child
 Vivarium / int_f3d5d15f
comment
Creepy Child: The boy that Tom and Gemma are forced to raise is extremely creepy and inhuman. Most of his speech is mimicking Tom and Gemma's words, in their voices, while fresh words are spoken in fusion of their voices. He constantly spies on his parents, even when they're having sex. He has no empathy for the suffering of others and describes everything in a chipper, curious tone, even when being insulted or threatened. Most strikingly, if he wants something he will emit an unnatural shriek without stopping to breathe, and be perfectly calm once he gets it. Constantly has a dumb smile on his face when he's not shrieking.
 Vivarium / int_f3d5d15f
featureApplicability
1.0
 Vivarium / int_f3d5d15f
featureConfidence
1.0
 Vivarium
hasFeature
Vivarium / int_f3d5d15f
 Vivarium / int_f466c9b1
type
Overly Long Scream
 Vivarium / int_f466c9b1
comment
Overly Long Scream: When the boy is upset he can shriek for several minutes without stopping, not even pausing to breath.
 Vivarium / int_f466c9b1
featureApplicability
1.0
 Vivarium / int_f466c9b1
featureConfidence
1.0
 Vivarium
hasFeature
Vivarium / int_f466c9b1
 Vivarium / int_name
type
ItemName
 Vivarium / int_name
comment
 Vivarium / int_name
featureApplicability
1.0
 Vivarium / int_name
featureConfidence
1.0
 Vivarium
hasFeature
Vivarium / int_name
 Vivarium / int_name
itemName
Vivarium

The following is a list of statements referring to the current page from other pages.

 Vivarium
hasFeature
Alien Works / int_c11bea27
 Vivarium
hasFeature
Aliens Are Bastards / int_c11bea27
 Vivarium
hasFeature
Cut-and-Paste Suburb / int_c11bea27
 Vivarium
hasFeature
Doorstop Baby / int_c11bea27
 Vivarium
hasFeature
Films of 2015–2019 / int_c11bea27
 Vivarium
hasFeature
"It" Is Dehumanizing / int_c11bea27
 Vivarium
hasFeature
Monster Media / int_c11bea27
 Vivarium
hasFeature
Psychological Thriller / int_c11bea27
 Vivarium
hasFeature
Sci-Fi Horror / int_c11bea27
 Vivarium
hasFeature
Shady Real Estate Agent / int_c11bea27
 Vivarium
hasFeature
Stepford Suburbia / int_c11bea27
 Vivarium
hasFeature
Suburban Gothic / int_c11bea27
 Vivarium
hasFeature
Thriller / int_c11bea27
 Vivarium
hasFeature
Unnaturally Looping Location / int_c11bea27