Certificate: TBC

Running Time: 114 mins

UK Distributor: Prime Video

UK Release Date: TBC

REVIEWED AT TORONTO INTERNATIONAL FILM FESTIVAL 2024

WHO’S IN THE ASSESSMENT?

Elizabeth Olsen, Alicia Vikander, Himesh Patel, Minnie Driver, Indira Varma, Charlotte Ritchie, Nicholas Pinnock, Leah Harvey, Anaya Thorley, Benny O. Arthur, Malaya Stern Takeda

WHO’S BEHIND THE CAMERA?

Fleur Fortuné (director), John Donnelly and Mrs and Mr Thomas (writers), Julie Goldstein, Grant S. Johnson, Elizabeth Karlsen, Jonas Katzenstein, Maximilian Leo, Shivani Rawat and Stephen Woolley (producers), Emilie Levienaise-Farrouch (composer), Magnus Nordenhof Jønck (cinematographer), Yorgos Lamprinos (editor)

WHAT’S IT ABOUT?

In a future where reproduction is strictly limited, a mysterious assessor (Vikander) tests a couple (Olsen and Patel) on their potential parenting skills…

WHAT ARE MY THOUGHTS ON THE ASSESSMENT?

What is it to bring a child into a world where their future is far from guaranteed? As our planet reaches a climatic and societal threshold from which it may never be able to retract, the notion of birthing a new generation is increasingly being seen by some as selfish, because we will be leaving them with a world that is irreparably damaged from years of man-made assaults on our environment that might not even provide them with as many fresh resources as we once had.

A film like The Assessment, which comes from debut feature filmmaker Fleur Fortuné, explores this concept with an uncomfortably wise assessment of its own, not just of how screwed we may be as a species (or, at least, as one that can be trusted to look after our planet, let alone an actual child), but of why the mere prospect of parenthood could well be the very thing that finally drives us all over the edge.

It is set in a future where what’s left of humanity lives inside a dome-like enclosure, separating them from the “Old World” that has been rendered uninhabitable by extreme weather and the like. Life inside the dome isn’t much better, for to reduce the prospect of overpopulation, human reproduction is strictly prohibited, with any and all prospective parents subject to a rigorous seven-day assessment to determine whether they are indeed worthy of bringing a child into the world. One couple, biologist Mia (Elizabeth Olsen) and computer scientist Aaryan (Himesh Patel), are the latest would-be parents to be put to the test, with their facilitator arriving in the form of a woman named Virginia (Alicia Vikander), who immediately enacts a series of increasingly odd situations that could well determine their future family prospects.

One thing that is immediately striking about The Assessment is how fully-formed the world of this dystopian future is, even though we only ever really see mere glimpses of it. Fortuné, primarily a music video director for artists like M83 and Travis Scott, carves a staggeringly visual realm out of the one provided in the script by John Donnelly and the uniquely named collective Mrs and Mr Thomas (real names Nell Garfath Cox and Dave Thomas), one that gives the viewer all they need to know about this future without getting lost in its own lore. From what little is given, the viewer is able to create a rather devastating image inside their own mind about the realities of this world that we rarely (if at all) get to explore, with most of the action taking place around this remote yet quite cushy cliffside home that Olsen and Patel’s characters have made their own.

Even in this largely singular location, the filmmaker still manages to convey every horrific thing about this dystopian world in the smallest yet most significant of details. Much of the set design is clearly inspired by 60s/70s-era Soviet propaganda about the wonders that the then-future beholds, within which there are strong hints of an archaic past life that have been revitalised to intentionally lifeless effect, combined with some innovative but ultimately artificial new technology (throughout the film, Patel’s Aaryan is developing a lifelike simulation where he can’t quite get the skin textures right, a slight commentary on our growing everyday reliance on imperfect AI-generated imagery). Fortuné cherry-picks the most fascinating concepts and makes them shine in both the closest foreground and furthest backdrops, creating a stunning landscape that is just as nightmarish in practise as it is in theory.

The director also leans heavily into an absurdist flavour that almost borders on the territory of Lars von Trier’s provocative film The Idiots, particularly with the performance that she gets out of Alicia Vikander, who – in her most out-there role since Ex Machina – wholly commits body and soul to a turn that is both fascinating and disturbing. Initially arriving like some kind of twisted Mary Poppins, Vikander’s Virginia soon regresses into full-on childlike behaviour that takes both Olsen and Patel – and by extension the viewer – on an uncomfortable crash-course through the trials and tribulations of parenthood. Through the set of unpredictable and at times ethically inappropriate tasks that her character lays out, on top of some increasingly unsettling attitudes that she cannot seem to shake off even when she’s alone, Vikander displays a profound range of physical and emotional attributes that are never less than thrilling, matched only by Olsen’s own tender and emphatically layered performance.

If the film stumbles, it’s whenever it threatens to become too expository for its own good, particularly during a third act that is very well-performed but perhaps lays on the explanations overly thick. It can lead to certain climactic decisions coming out of almost nowhere, ultimately ending things on a note that’s satisfactory enough for the characters involved, but with a number of questions still left to be answered. The intent of Fortuné and her writers, though, is to not offer a whole load of answers, and to instead present a contained scenario in a world filled with all but certain devastation, one that is impressively realised in a visualist piece of filmmaking that, while not flawless, explores a number of questions about who we are and what we want to leave behind.

SO, TO SUM UP…

The Assessment is an intriguing dystopian thriller with exceptional world-building, even within the contained scenario of this narrative, and some eye-opening absurdism as fronted by a bravura turn by Alicia Vikander.

It’s too early for cinema showtimes, but stay tuned!