Film Review – The Assessment

March 20th, 2025 | POSTED BY Allen Almachar

There are several themes running throughout The Assessment (2024). Sci-fi is at its best when it uses fantastical elements as a representation of real-world issues. In that sense, it should be commended. Director Fleur Fortune (in her feature length debut) crafts a stylish, feverish, and bizarre dystopian world. In it, she introduces us to a premise where government regulation has made its way to the most intimate parts of everyday life: Family, parenthood, sex, etc. All the things that should exist in the privacy of one’s home is let out into the open. However, while I admire the film’s ambition to not shy away from pressing and relevant topics, I’m not so sure it explores them to their fullest extent. It grazes the surface but doesn’t dig deep into the trenches of what it wants to say.

Working off a script by Nell Garfath Cox, Dave Thomas, and John Donnelly, Fortune brings us into a near future where couples wishing to have a child must undergo a rigorous, seven-day assessment. We get hints that most of the world is no longer inhabitable. We also learn that people are living longer, well past age one hundred. People sticking around longer with less space is not a great recipe for long term survival. And so the best, brightest, and most affable get the opportunity to apply. Mia (Elizabeth Olsen) and Aaryan (Himesh Patel) are the latest couple chosen to be assessed. Their assessor is Virginia (Alicia Vikander). Virginia will live with Mia and Aaryan, observe their daily activities, run tests, and at the end of the seven days will determine if they are suitable parents.

Right from the start, the narrative creates parallels between Mia and Aaryan’s situation and that of the real world. In a time where the debate between pro-life and pro-choice is as pressing as ever, and how those in positions of power try to exert control over women’s bodies, the setup of The Assessment – sadly – does not seem that farfetched. Mia and Aaryan structured their entire lives to create a home a child can grow up and thrive in. They arranged one of their bedrooms according to Virginia’s specifications and are willing to answer any question she may have. These elements were fascinating in how they were extreme examples of the hoops couples go through to become parents in real life. Look at the processes when it comes to biological birth, adoption, surrogacy, IVF, and so on. In that aspect, Fortune and the rest of the production hit the nail on the head. The problem is how it goes about examining those themes.  

How Virginia executes her assessment of Mia and Aaryan is where things go astray. Not only does she study the way they eat, work, and conversate, but she also watches them during intimate moments (aka “sexual moments”) and questions their backgrounds. But the biggest test involves Virginia acting like an infant. That’s right – during long stretches of the day she will eat, behave, and talk like a child. Of course, she chooses to act like one in the worst way possible: defiant and rebellious. She resists Mia and Aaryan’s parenting, chooses one parent over the other, and puts herself in positions that could get someone hurt. While some might see this as a way for Mia and Aaryan to deal with the toughest aspects of parenthood, I did not find it effective. Virginia’s assessment is problematic because, well, she’s a grown adult. Babies and infants act on instinct – hunger, tiredness, fear, frustration, etc. Virginia acts out merely to catch Mia and Aaryan doing something wrong. She behaves badly in hopes of finding some reason to disqualify them. Alicia Vikander commits to the bit, going all in pretending to be a toddler. But her exaggerated actions feel insincere, because the character is there with a specific intention. This approach ignores the fact that parenthood is a learning process. Mia and Aaryan must be perfect right from the get-go, which obviously puts them at a disadvantage.

Fortune’s direction is sleek and ominous, as though something menacing is always lurking underneath what we see. But the writing does not keep up with her. There are admirable pieces. In a way, Mia and Aaryan already have parental aspects to them. Aaryan is a professor who specializes in creating artificial life so realistic in look, touch, and feel, that the difference is nearly imperceptible. In that way, he has put himself in the “creator” or “father” role to his projects. As for Mia, she has developed a method of creating food and sustenance without depleting soil resources. Her greenhouse could pose as a symbol of “Earth” in its most desirable form, with Mia being the “mother” to it. Perhaps Mia’s wish of becoming a parent has something to do with her own mother, whom we see in quick flashbacks. Does she wish to give her child the life her mother couldn’t give her?

The film looks impeccable. The production design and art direction conjure Mia and Aaryan’s home with sharp angles, stone walls, and impersonable minimalism. The lack of identity and individuality is reflected in how empty their home is. By the looks of it, anyone could be living there and we couldn’t tell the difference. There are no pictures, there’s no artwork to be found, and any sense of personality is missing. There are barely any doors to block characters’ comings and goings – people seem to leave and arrive through the shadows. Outside, the surrounding environment is bare. Yes, Mia and Aaryan have a beautiful seaside view – but the harsh, rocky terrain prevents it from feeling warm and inviting.

The performances all around are solid. Elizabeth Olsen and Alicia Vikander’s characters appear on complete opposite ends of each other, but once we get to know them realize they share more in common than either could have anticipated. Himesh Patel plays Aaryan with a sly, under the radar effectiveness. He exudes intelligence, wit, and compassion, but beneath his exterior exists a much more self-serving mindset – one that might go unnoticed at first glance. Even some of the smaller performances – such as Minnie Driver as a jaded dinner guest – make the most of their opportunities. Unfortunately, the strength of the acting barely makes up for a narrative that starts out strong but fizzles out. Whatever ideas are presented are not developed. Instead, they are pushed aside in favor of more traditional sci-fi/thriller tropes. Thoughts of creation and parenthood make way for some strange twists and turns that make us question the motives of everybody we encounter.

The Assessment works better in separate sections than as a whole. There are instances that are thought provoking and ambitious. It’s refreshing to see a heady, sci-fi film willing to tackle adult-oriented themes rather than aim for sheer spectacle. But just because it has grand objectives does not necessarily make it successful. It skims over its themes without presenting anything new or interesting about them. And although the performances are good, the tone, character development, and overall story ends up all over the place. This is a movie that really wants to say something important but doesn’t articulate it well enough.  

Alicia Vikander, Dave Thomas, Elizabeth Olsen, Featured, Fleur Fortune, Himesh Patel, John Donnelly, Minnie Driver, Nell Garfath, The Assessment