This article covers a list of movies like Vivarium if you are a great fan of the thriller.
Imagine going to look for a house with your boyfriend only to end up stuck in a maze of identical houses and tasked with the responsibility of raising an unknown child.
This movie, directed by Lorcan Finnegan, is one mystery /thriller movie that will keep the viewers hooked to their screens till the end.
The lead characters – Imogen Poots, Jesse Eisenberg, and Senan Jennings, did a fantastic job in the movie.
Vivarium got 73% on Rotten Tomatoes, 3 awards, and about 10 nominations; you can guess this movie is worth your time.
If you thoroughly enjoyed Vivarium, other movies can give you the same exciting and thrilling experience.
Here is a list of movies like Vivarium.
1. Blue Velvet (1986)
- Director: David Lynch
- Cast: Kyle MacLachlan, George Dickerson, Laura Dern, Isabella Rossellini
- IMDb rating: 7.7/10
The first on our list of movies like Vivarium is Blue Velvet.
The storyline is about a college student, Jeffrey Beaumont (Kyle MacLachlan), who returns to his hometown in Lumberton to see his sick father and manage his hardware store. One day, he finds a severed human ear on a grassy meadow.
He contacts Detective John Williams (George Dickerson), who advises him to keep the information to himself while the police investigate further.
However, Sandy (Laura Dern), the daughter of Williams, tells Jeffery why she has heard about the case from her father’s investigation, mentioning a nightclub singer named Dorothy Vallens (Isabella Rossellini).
With Sandy’s help, Jeffery decides to find out more about the woman; his curiosity leads him to dark secrets like kidnap, psychopathic killers, drugs, and bizarre sexual acts.
Blue Velvet is one mystery movie you would want to take advantage of. This movie is rated 95% on Rotten Tomatoes.
2. The Platform (2019)
- Director: Galder Gaztelu-Urrutia
- Cast: Iván Massagué, Zorion Eguileor, Antonia San Juan, Emilio Buale
- IMDb rating: 7.0/10
A weird prison house with one cell for each level. Two people are placed in each cell, and inmates in the upper cells are served food while those in the lower cells starve.
Goreng (Iván Massagué) prisoner has to step up and share food portions to get to all prisoners, but he does not achieve this without sustaining injuries and losing cellmates.
The Platform will give the viewers endless nightmares with its many mysterious scenes. Rotten Tomatoes rated this movie 79%.
3. Fright Night (2011)
- Director: Craig Gillespie
- Cast: Anton Yelchin, Christopher Mintz-Plasse, Colin Farrell, David Tennant
- IMDb rating: 6.4/10
This comedy but horror movie made it to our list of movies like Vivarium.
Charley Brewster (Anton Yelchin) lives on the outskirts of Las Vegas, and his friend Ed (Christopher Mintz-Plasse) suspects Charley’sCharley’s neighbor Jerry (Colin Farrell) is a vampire because his windows are all blacked out.
The town starts to lose children, including Ed; Charley decides to break into Jerry’sJerry’s house for investigation.
His investigation leads him to something more than he bargained for, including involving his parents and friends in the ugly situation.
Charley has no option but to involve a self-proclaimed vampire killer Peter Vincent (David Tennant), to save his friends from being turned into vampires.
The movie has a good balance of humor and horror; it shows that even in a suburb, you cannot be entirely safe with your neighbor. Rotten Tomatoes rated Fright Night 72%.
4. In the Tall Grass (2019)
- Director: Vincenzo Natali
- Cast: Laysla De Oliveira, Avery Whitted, Patrick Wilson, Will Buie Jr.
- IMDb rating: 5.4/10
In the Tall Grass is a mystery, horror, and thriller that involves getting stuck in a confined space hence the need to add it to our list of movies like Vivarium.
The story is about two siblings – Becky (Laysla De Oliveira) and Cal (Avery Whitted) who enter a vast field of tall grass in Kansas to rescue a young boy crying for help.
However, they found out that there was no way out of the grass. There is also something worse than getting lost – an evil force manipulating the tall grass.
Will they survive the supernatural power and find their way out of the field?
The mysterious and exciting storyline will keep you entertained. In the Tall Grass is rated 36% on Rotten Tomatoes.
5. Cube (1997)
- Director: Vincenzo Natali
- Cast: Nicole de Boer, Maurice Dean Wint, David Hewlett, Andrew Miller, Nicky Guadagni, Wayne Robson
- IMDb rating: 7.2/10
Cube is included in movies like Vivarium as it also has a mysterious maze.
Six total strangers wake up and find themselves inside a cube with many rooms.
Each has unique skills, so they must team up to survive the traps in the rooms. They must leave the cubicle maze and find out why they were imprisoned.
This survival horror movie with a mind-bending storyline is rated 64% on Rotten Tomatoes.
6. Mother! (2017)
- Director: Darren Aronofsky
- Cast: Jennifer Lawrence, Javier Bardem, Ed Harris, Michelle Pfeiffer
- IMDb rating: 6.6/10
This disturbing, psychological, and surreal movie made it to our list of movies like Vivarium.
A man called Him (Javier Bardem) and his wife Mother (Jennifer Lawrence) live in a sizable burned-out house peacefully until a stranger known as Man (Ed Harris) and his wife Woman (Michelle Pfeiffer) show up at their door requesting a room.
The house owners agreed, but things became chaotic and disturbing. Mother! has scenes like cannibalism, vandalism, horror, and brutality. Rotten Tomatoes rated this movie 68%.
7. Goodnight Mommy (2014)
- Directors: Severin Fiala, Veronika Franz
- Cast: Elias Schwarz, Lucas Schwarz, Susanne Wuest
- IMDb rating:
If you love Vivarium, then Goodnight Mommy will interest you as well. This film is on our list of movies like Vivarium.
Two nine-year-old twin brothers – Elias (Elias Schwarz) and Lukas (Lukas Schwarz), wait in their lonesome house for their mother after her face-changing cosmetic surgery.
However, they discover something suspicious about the woman in bandages.
Do they trust her? Is she their mother? These young boys have to unravel the mystery behind the bandages.
This disturbing, psychological, and horror movie has a rating of 85% on Rotten Tomatoes.
8. Under the Skin (2013)
- Director: Jonathan Glazer
- Cast: Scarlett Johansson, Jeremy McWilliams, Lynsey Taylor Mackay
- IMDb rating: 6.3/10
If you love Vivarium and its mysterious storyline, then Under the Skin will be fun to watch.
An alien in the form of a young woman (Scarlett Johansson) has a mission – to lure men under her spell to a place where they are consumed.
She has always been lucky until the complexities surrounding human existence lead her to a process of self-discovery.
This dark and disturbing movie got ratings of 84% on Rotten Tomatoes.
9. Meander (2020)
- Director: Mathieu Turi
- Cast: Gaia Weiss, Peter Franzén, Romane Libert, Frédéric Franchitti
- IMDb rating: 5.4/10
The next on our list of movies like Vivarium is Meander, which has the same storyline of surviving in a confined space.
Lisa wakes up in a small room with no seeming way out. She has to go through a narrow tunnel full of deadly traps.
The more time she wastes on the tunnel, the end of the tube catches fire.
Can Lisa crawl forward through the tunnel and regain her freedom?
This suspense-filled movie with psychological and claustrophobic themes will keep your heart thumping till the end. Rotten Tomatoes rated Meander 77%.
10. The Room (2019)
- Director: Christian Volckman
- Cast: Kevin Janssens, Olga Kurylenko, Joshua Wilson
- IMDb rating: 6/10
The Room is added to the list of movies like Vivarium as its location is a mystery house with supernatural powers.
Matt (Kevin Janssens) and Kate (Olga Kurylenko) discover a strange room in their new home; the room can grant their unlimited number of material wishes.
However, since this couple has had two miscarriages, Kate decides to ask the room for a child.
The room grants their request, but the child comes with unforeseen circumstances.
Is the blessing worth the aftermath? The Room will surely give you goosebumps with its entertaining and scary scenes. Rotten Tomatoes rated this movie 71%.
11. Gerald’s Game (2017)
- Director: Mike Flanagan
- Cast: Bruce Greenwood, Carla Gugino, Carel Struycken, Henry Thomas
- IMDb rating: 6.5/10
A young couple, Gerald (Bruce Greenwood) and Jessie Burlingame (Carla Gugino), goes on an adventure in a remote lakeside house to rekindle their love life and spice up their marriage.
Gerald initiates a harmless game of handcuffs and foreplay; things go south when he mysteriously dies.
Still handcuffed to the bed, Jessie has to fight the mysterious man in the room and her imagination.
This seductive movie with bone-chilling scenes is one of the horror movies like Vivarium.
12. Run (2020)
- Director: Aneesh Chaganty
- Cast: Kiera Allen, Sarah Paulson, Sara Sohn, Erik Athavale, Pat Healy
- IMDb rating: 6.7/10
A disabled teenager, Chloe (Kiera Allen), is isolated and restricted from contacting the outside world; her mother (Sarah Paulson) homeschools her.
The girl starts to notice some strange behaviors about her mother, including her change of name and prescription.
Suspecting her mother of something evil, Chloe runs for her life in her wheelchair.
This classic movie, like Vivarium, got much applause from viewers due to the thrilling storyline. On Rotten Tomatoes, Run is rated 88%.
13. Searching (2018)
- Director: Aneesh Chaganty
- Cast: Michelle La, John Cho, Debra Messing, Joseph Lee
- IMDb rating: 7.6/10
This brilliant mystery thriller made it to our list of movies like Vivarium.
A young teenage girl, Margot (Michelle La), goes missing, and her father, David (John Cho), reports to the police for investigation.
After many hours of no success, David decided to search her laptop for clues but found secrets and hidden truths he did not know about his daughter.
The mysteries in Searching will keep you entertained till the end. This movie is rated 91% on Rotten Tomatoes.
14. Fractured (2019)
- Director: Brad Anderson
- Cast: Sam Worthington, Lily Rabe, Lucy Capri, Adjoa Andoh
- IMDb rating: 6.4/10
Ray (Sam Worthington), his wife Joanne (Lily Rabe), and his daughter Peri (Lucy Capri) stop at a gas station; their daughter fractured her arm and needs medical attention.
While his daughter and wife go for an examination, Ray falls asleep in the lobby.
On waking up, he discovers his family is missing, and something strange is happening in the hospital.
With a mind-blowing twist, this movie made it to our list of movies like Vivarium, and the end will completely shock you. Rotten Tomatoes rated Fractured 59%.
15. Without Name (2016)
- Director: Lorcan Finnegan
- Cast: Alan McKenna, Niamh Algar, James Browne, Olga Wehrly
- IMDb rating:
A land surveyor, Eric (Alan McKenna), is sent to assess land in a forest.
He goes with his student assistant Olivia (Niamh Algar) whom he is having an affair with.
They both take the job of escaping the world and enjoy their romance, but things become chaotic when a strange silhouette starts to move among trees.
Will they come out of the evil forest alive? This movie, like Vivarium, is a horror thriller that keeps viewers hooked to their screens.
On Rotten Tomatoes, Without Name is rated 81%.
