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This chapter examines the portrayal of motherhood in Vivarium (2019), a dystopian Irish film by Lorcan Finnegan. Trapped in a sterile suburban maze called Yonder, Gemma and Tom are forced to raise a rapidly growing, alien-like child. The film explores themes of confinement, alienation, and enforced parenthood through speculative fiction. Drawing on Kristeva’s concept of the abject, the child is interpreted as a disturbing figure that evokes both fascination and revulsion, embodying maternal ambivalence and the fear of identity loss. Barbara Creed’s theory of the monstrous-feminine further illuminates Gemma’s role, particularly through the lens of the archaic mother in horror cinema. Vivarium subverts traditional maternal ideals, presenting motherhood as a nightmarish obligation rather than a nurturing choice. The film’s claustrophobic setting and mechanical domestic routines underscore the psychological toll of this imposed role, ultimately challenging cultural assumptions about instinctive, unconditional maternal love.

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“Why Do You Look at Me Like That, Mother?” Motherhood, Abjection, and Entrapment in Vivarium

  • 章节

  • 发表日期：

    2026年

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  • Verónica Membrive

摘要

This chapter examines the portrayal of motherhood in Vivarium (2019), a dystopian Irish film by Lorcan Finnegan. Trapped in a sterile suburban maze called Yonder, Gemma and Tom are forced to raise a rapidly growing, alien-like child. The film explores themes of confinement, alienation, and enforced parenthood through speculative fiction. Drawing on Kristeva’s concept of the abject, the child is interpreted as a disturbing figure that evokes both fascination and revulsion, embodying maternal ambivalence and the fear of identity loss. Barbara Creed’s theory of the monstrous-feminine further illuminates Gemma’s role, particularly through the lens of the archaic mother in horror cinema. Vivarium subverts traditional maternal ideals, presenting motherhood as a nightmarish obligation rather than a nurturing choice. The film’s claustrophobic setting and mechanical domestic routines underscore the psychological toll of this imposed role, ultimately challenging cultural assumptions about instinctive, unconditional maternal love.