What does it mean to want to have a child? In our present moment, many people — including those who do want offspring at some point — are reportedly deciding against having kids because now doesn't feel like a really a great time to do so. When you look around at the sad state of the world that always seems to be only getting worse, it's hard to not empathize with this struggle. No judgment on those who still decide to reproduce, as the world has always been a right awful place. Bringing a child into any period of time is inherently a leap of faith. It's an expression of hope that things could possibly begin to get better for you, for the world and for your children's future.
In The Assessment, the fascinating feature directorial debut from Fleur Fortune about a couple trying to prove themselves worthy enough to have a child in a dystopian future where the world has fallen apart and procreation has become impossible without approval, it is this hope that all are desperately seeking. With elements of everything from Alfonso Cuarón's still magnificent Children of Men to Mel Eslyn's oddly beautiful Biosphere, it's a sci-fi film that's primarily about using the genre to explore what it means to be alive when all hope seems lost. As we get to know the couple of Mia (Elizabeth Olsen) and Aaryan (Himesh Patel) as well as their assessor Virginia (Alica Vikander), Fortune approaches this with a sharp eye for humor and a sense of existential dread. It's a rather messy cocktail, but an ultimately effective one that grows on you.
It's also a quite beautifully designed and shot film as, from the moment we first see the couple's residence where we'll spend most of the film, it creates a sense of understated yet cold beauty. Forced to live under a dome as the world beyond is supposedly inhospitable to life, their reality is a bleak one where, even as some of the more harrowing details either come via dialogue rather than us seeing them or exist on the margins of the frame, we feel the weight that both of the aspiring parents carry on their shoulders. When Virginia first arrives, the nervousness that the couple feel soon turns to something that teeters on the edge of despair as their assessor seems to be there primarily to torment them. They do their best to fulfill what is being asked of them, but the seven-day test they're put through goes from being more comically strange to sinister as time passes. With every absurd task that's placed upon them, the weight they bear grows heavier.
While this may sound like the exact worst thing to watch for either parents or those aspiring to be, it's actually them who may enjoy it most. From the many scenes where Virginia pretends to be a petulant child to the ones where Mia and Aaryan begin to stress over how to put together an elaborate structure for their potential future kid, it's a film that's often witheringly funny about how nobody really knows what they're doing in these situations. Where it then becomes more intentionally rough going is when Virginia begins to wreak havoc on the lives that they have built. Why is she doing this? What possible purpose could it serve? The more you try to make sense of it all, the more it seems like this test is merely some sort of cruel joke.
Rather than feel repetitive, the respective performances ensure we are always being kept on our toes. Vikander, whose still astounding work in the modern sci-fi classic Ex Machina feels most relevant to some of what she is doing here, is a menace in the best possible sense with layers upon layers to her performance. Olsen, who gave a quietly shattering performance in last year's His Three Daughters, is a grounding force to the experience, perfectly playing off of Vikander's more menacing energy. Even Patel (Station 11), who can often feel like he is left with the least to do, is able to capture something critical as the film increasingly becomes about his character's desire to create a false mirage of hope and connection so he can pretend that everything is OK.
How this takes shape is best left to the film, as there are some significant revelations in the final act, but it's also not reliant on these twists. Instead, Fortune demonstrates a command of both tone and theme, opening up The Assessment to be much more about the clinging to hope that can come from a child rather than confronting the cold realities of the world as it is. In this regard, it bears some similarities to Joshua Oppenheimer's recent narrative debut The End in how it is about the fragile lies the characters have told themselves either shattering to pieces or becoming something that they hold even tighter to. As Mia and Aaryan begin to drift apart from each other in how they respond to this, Fortune captures some of her most illuminating images that tear right through you. They both find hope in their own ways, but there is the grim realization that these could be false. Yet confront them Fortune does, finding plenty of truths in the shadow of the death of their hope. It's no bundle of joy, but there is plenty of life there all the same.
The Assessment
Rated R
Directed by Fleur Fortune
Starring Alicia Vikander, Elizabeth Olsen, Himesh Patel
