Lorcan Finnegan talks about making Vivarium work

In a chat with IFTN Irish director Lorcan Finnegan and lead actor Imogen Poots of the new Sci-Fi thriller Vivarium talk about being selected for Critics’ Week at Cannes, taking on challenging characters, and working with Jesse Eisenberg and Jonathan Aris.

“When we came to cast, who was going to play alongside her, Tom's character, we discussed who could work, who would be good and Jesse's name kept coming up. ‘Yes, let's get the script to him,’ because Imogen knew him, she was able to just go, ‘Okay, I'll attach it up here, beep, and send it.’"

On the horror aspect of the film Lorcan said that a certain amount of repetition is required for the story: “That's part of the horror of it. But with everything, things keep on changing for them. They learn a little bit more or come up against a new challenge, or there's a new threat," he continues:  "I think that's what keeps the audience engaged with this level of anxiety and not really knowing what's going to happen.”

The film itself did bump into low-budget limitations: “unfortunately, our imaginations end up taking over, and then it's like, there's no point, it's actually not very conducive to creativity when you're trying to go, ‘Oh, we can't do that because we won't be able to do it.’ I'd always say, ‘ah, we’ll figure out a way.’ There are always ways of doing things and we had to change a few things based on the budget towards the end.” In the end the movie pulled out two scenes. “There are certain things that the set wouldn't allow to happen. We just have to stay light on our feet creatively and adapt.”

Read our interview with Lorcan Finnegan here.

Vivarium releases online across all major digital platforms this Friday, March 27th.