How to beat the Creatures from Vivarium (2018): You Can't

[Kend]

Just gotta say whoever came up with the "the child just picks up the whole damn sidewalk and flees" is a genius. The entire movie was confusing, but that scene really just cements how bonkers the movie is.

[theskeletonposse]

To anyone who hasn't seen the movie—the kid acts completely alien, so convincing the child to do anything would not work.

[nekotorin]

By not going with a suspicious real estate agent. The end.

[lubosjahoda]

I have spent the last 30minutes reading the comments to this video. They are such a wonderful showcase of human creativity and different approaches to problem solving as we all as different values. From "eat the kid", through "convince the kid to show you the way out" to "show the kid you love them and through that provoke compassion". Someone should take this entire section and archive it!

[ryanmiller]

Gotta remember the title of the movie. Vivarium. They're literally just being observed and studied on their actions by what can only be assumed to be a higher being we can't see. The real estate agent was a lure that captured them the same way fish are drawn to bait while fishing. This movie is brilliant because it makes you ask the question "What if human's weren't the top of the food chain, and instead fished and kept as pets just like a common goldfish?"

[Tracker]

If they can "trap" the child, and the creatures do not intervene to save it, then theoretically wouldn't it also be possible to withhold the child from its lessons with its own kind?

[gail_blue]

Teach the child the usual human greeting of "I am an extra-dimensional being here to kidnap you."

[xasz]

I think the key to their escape may be the book the child brings. While in a language they can’t understand, the book IS shown to have pictures, which means it could have use to it. Maybe the book could indicate a method of escape, and if they analyze the pictures enough, or perhaps trick or force the child to read the book to them, they could understand their situation better and possibly find a crack in the wall.

[nman]

“Oh look honey they put a baby in this box”
“I’ll fire up the oven, finally some good food”

[DanielDaniel]

Since the creature mimics human behavior, the parents could act totally insane, speak gibberish, violent. That would possibly break the cycle for at least one of the alien children

[caseycapsulequeen]

I watched this movie a few weeks ago and immediately after was like, "how has he NOT done this yet?" Thank you so much for doing this weird movie, I'm so happy!

[davidsargsian]

restrain the kid, put it in the car, drive. The kid would likely limit the location manipulation they pull off. if not, the kid would also be like WTF and would likely be able to figure out a way to lead them out before being mindfcked by its own kind.

[sugarqbs]

The only hope we might have of finding a way out for our doomed duo would be if there is some fault in the premise: if reality is not portrayed accurately. The characters believe that they, for example, drove in a completely straight line only to end up where they started and this would be a pretty doomed situation if they were correct but we have reason to believe that their sense of reality is warped. We’re given a pretty compelling reason within the text to distrust the food so my first assumption was that the food was drugged in some way. Adding on top of that the absurdity of the situation and the all too convenient bouts of fatigue and death, I don’t think it’s unreasonable to assume that whatever is trapping them is capable of messing with their perceptions as well. This is still incredibly tricky, as the protagonists are still left in a situation where they can’t conceive of an exit even if one theoretically exists. For all we know, there could be drugs present on surfaces or in the air rather than the food (hell, maybe they regularly get injected with hallucinogens and they just can’t remember) so they probably couldn’t avoid any foreign psychoactive substances that might be messing with their brains.

All that said, I do think there is one option that hasn’t been considered: If the [cuckoo alien whatevers] have trapped them here and placed them with a baby, continually supplying them with sustenance, they must have some interest in keeping the humans alive (at least for long enough for the humans to raise the cuckoo baby). A single baby might be disposable enough to the [creepy Book of Mormon monsters] but they seem to go through a lot of trouble to keep the humans alive and trapped so they could try bargaining with their own lives. Pulling a Hunger Games double-suic SIKE probably won’t allow them to negotiate their freedom but it could force the [white collar weirdos] to show their hand more, potentially giving our pair a slightly better chance of retaliating. It’s not a foolproof strategy by any means but making a threat against yourself is one of the more consistent options imo because it works in multiple contingencies: if the [suburban sickos] are real and keeping them trapped intentionally, this would allow them to bargain, and if this is more of a hallucination situation making a threat against yourself probably gives you the best chances of someone intervening on your behalf (with a better outcome than “psycho high on drugs attempts to kill child). They may be doomed to lose no matter what they do but they could at least try to be non cooperative to prevent their adversaries from winning.

[kirakira]

I would love to see a part 2 and this time, the couple is actually a psychotic duo

[Demona]

Real Estate Agent: Do you have a car? Follow me

My husband and me: Follow him out of the parking lot and then turn in the opposite direction.

[maxmax]

This movie really bothered me. The couple was so inept in trying to understand their situation and were constantly fighting eachother rather than pooling their minds and working together. I really liked the scene where Gemma tricks the boy into revealing his true form, but nothing really comes of it.

[greentitan]

in all honoesty, killing the child right after you discover it isn't human, might be a way to at least cure your own sanity.
Even when you die of the weird food, at least you ruined the extraterrestrial creature's plan with you. (although i do feel like they will just send you another one)

[lonelystarslibrary]

Hear me out, I think i found a way how they could have beaten it.

This sounds a lot like faries (or something along that line) from certain mythologies, i think Japanese or Chinese; but Asian for sure.

a lot of points struck me as familiar, for example:
- Bringing you into their world that looks a lot like an uncanny valley version of ours.
- imitating humans.
- The whole focus on food.

I legitimately think one way for them to escape would have been not to eat the food,
since fairy food apparently traps you in their world, drains your energy and slowly kills you (sounds familiar), while eating real food sort of "pulls" you back out, of course they would've needed to know this before hand but still.

[ninodino]

I've just watched the movie with a friend and as soon as I saw the houses, I was like "And that's the moment, I'm turning the car around, because I already know, I don't want to live in this environment." Also we found so many things to pass the time there that sounded much less depressing than digging a hole.

[greendemon]

My solution:

1. Don't eat the food. It's clearly bad for you. Try to survive as long as you can on an empty stomach, or eat your fingers/toes if you have to. You might consider eating the kid too, but since it's essentially an alien, it might be toxic to humans. That neck bulge doesn't look very appetizing.

2. Read the kid bedtime stories from the book, but make up your own interpretation. The child seems to learn and mimic human speech and mannerisms, so you might be able to confuse him by teaching to read the book wrong. if he gets taught different things from 2 different sources, he might get confused enough to reveal essential information.

3. Tell the kid he can't leave the house unless he tells and shows you where he's going every day. If he's meant to be your child, then you can ground him. Also, don't let him watch the creepy hypno-tv. It will rot his brains.

4. if he refuses to show you where he goes to school, tie him up, and put him in the car. Then tell him you'll keep driving until you're out of town. the kid has some level of reality-warping powers, as evidenced by him lifting up the sidewalk and crawling under it.

5. If all else fails, kill the kid and stay up all night watching the body. Maybe he comes back to life, maybe he gets replaced. The world basically gets reset after every night, but it might not happen if you stay awake.