#Vivarium Ending Explained: It’s Not That Complicated

We can always draw our own meanings and explanations from “Vivarium” and its hopeless ending. We can talk about how the ending could easily be interpreted as a relentlessly cynical commentary on modern society, specifically as it relates to traditional desires and expectations like homeownership, marriage, and starting a family. There just isn’t much to say beyond that because “Vivarium” is only interested in presenting a bunch of tired tropes and ideas without doing anything new or entertaining with them.

Gemma seemingly gives in to her natural maternal instincts when caring for the creature-child, which in turn alienates her from Tom, who resents her for giving attention to it. Tom becomes obsessed with his hole-digging “work” as a literal and metaphorical means of escape, unaware that he’s digging himself a grave, even though it’s so painfully obvious to the viewers, given that we also see Tom digging a grave for two baby birds just a few minutes into the movie. Gemma’s willingness to act as a mother to the child can be seen as her undoing, just as Tom’s obsessive hole digging and smoking can be seen as his … except that there was never any way for them to leave once they were trapped inside anyway, so their behavior wouldn’t have made a difference.

No matter what Tom and Gemma decided to do, the outcome would have been the same. So what is it that the ending of “Vivarium” is trying to say? A few things come to mind, but they’re nothing particularly fresh or compelling.

What if being forced into traditional gender roles can be toxic? It is, and we know that. 

What if you don’t really want what you thought you did? People find that out in real life every single day, often without such severe and fatal outcomes. 

What if we can’t survive without the natural world? Everything in Yonder is artificial and flavorless, which we already know is not ideal for sustaining human life. 

What if resistance is futile? Then we all die in the end.

We’ve seen all these things before, and “Vivarium” does nothing to further develop or explore any of them leading up to the inevitable, unsatisfying end, for which there is no meaningful explanation beyond “That’s just the way things are.”