TORONTO INTERNATIONAL FILM FESTIVAL 2024 REVIEW! The Assessment is set in a future where the outside world has become essentially uninhabitable, and humanity has retreated to climate-controlled domes. At the same time, a new drug has slowed aging dramatically. The ability to have a child is carefully controlled by the government, and only a select few couples even have a hope if they pass a battery of tests. The final test involves an assessor living with them for a week, one who puts them through all manner of emotional and relationship turmoil to test their suitability.
Aaryan (Himesh Patel) and Mia (Elizabeth Olsen) are an attractive young couple in a beautiful, stylish home in this bubbled oasis. Both are highly accomplished — Aaryan is creating virtual holographic pets to fill the void left by the dearth of children in this future, and Mia is a botanist looking to synthesize things from plants she carefully cultivates in her greenhouse. Yet their household seems sterile, and their marriage somehow almost overly formal and ordered. Clearly, they are missing the chaos, unpredictability, and special form of love that comes with parenthood. They are overjoyed when they are selected for assessment but also nervous. The decision of the assessor is final.
The assessor, Virginia (Alicia Vikander), an attractive but severe young woman, arrives and puts them through a series of ever more personal and intrusive questions. That’s odd enough, but she soon starts making escalating demands and behaving erratically — she insists on taking their bed, and one morning, she starts acting like a toddler, complete with food-throwing, tantrums, and inappropriate behavior. The couple isn’t quite sure what to do, but they have no choice but to submit if they are to have any hope of having a child one day. Tensions build, things get even wilder from there, and slowly, we begin to learn some revelations about the dirty underbelly of this post-apocalyptic future.
“…[Virginia] soon starts making escalating demands…The couple isn’t quite sure what to do, but they have no choice but to submit if they are to have any hope of having a child…”
Director Fleur Fortuné, who comes from a music video background, deserves credit for the bold visual style, and creeping tone of The Assessment. The film absolutely evokes a mood, and there’s enough odd human behavior and creepiness to keep the audience engaged in what would otherwise be a staid relationship drama.
Jan Houllevigue also deserves credit for the production design. Though it is science fiction, the world seems plausible in terms of day-to-day life and technology, at least enough to set the stage for the human drama. It is less clear why humans would choose to live a life where they would, for the most part, give up children. At some level, since that’s the driver for the story, we have to give the filmmakers a pass, but still, a bit more time could have been spent establishing the backstory here.
Where The Assessment falters is in establishing a coherent theme or message. It wanders a little close to the “women are crazy for children” trope and is borderline insulting to people who don’t have children. There is no particular redeeming theme about parenthood either. The overbearing government is little more than a necessary setup and is not really interrogated or explained. Nor are the trade-offs of giving up children for extended life. All this is just fodder for setting up a plot that has ambitions to be a thriller but not quite enough thrill to become an all-time classic. Still, the film gets points for style, boldness, and an innovative science fiction setup.
The Assessment had its world premiere at the 2024 Toronto International Film Festival.
"…gets points for style, boldness, and an innovative science fiction setup."
