This is every couple’s worst nightmare. Can you imagine, you and your partner are in love, and want to raise a kid. Instead of just, you know, doing that, you have to interview with some agency that determines if you’re gonna be good parents or not. The Assessment is as horrifying as it sounds, but that horror seeps into your body and mind, and stays with you, long after the movie ends.
We’re in post apocalyptic times. Society has purged normal child birth due to resources, so only the best of the best get a shot at having a manufactured baby. On paper, Mia (Elizabeth Olsen) and Aaryan (Himesh Patel) are the perfect candidates: Mia’s clearly ready, and both are rich, smart, and in love with one another. As such, they pass the 1st round of tests, qualifying for in person testing. Enter assessor Virginia (Alicia Vikander), determined to really see if Mia and Aaryan are ready for what’s in store for them.
The Assessment’s parenting tests are stuff we’ve seen before in movies about new parents. But in the hands of the talented triple threat of actors, it’s still potent stuff. Alicia Vikander is sensational here, taking bits of all her characters and crafting this new one. She essentially is playing 2 parts at the same time: a version of a tough child to parent, and the assessor behind that performance. It’s incredible stuff how well Vikander switches on and off the personas, scene to scene. Like Mia and Aaryan, sometimes it’s impossible to tell which version of Virginia they’re getting, minute to minute. Elizabeth Olsen and Himesh Patel give us the two different sides of the parenting coin as we dig deep: one wants a kid but might not be ready for it, and the other is more laid back and has an easier time at the onset. Those roles evolve and shift as each hits those natural breaking points parents run into: low sleep, tough balancing acts, invasion of privacy, etc. Olsen and Patel are up to the task, especially Olsen, delivering a wonderfully complex performance as a woman dealing with the tough hand she’s been dealt for the simple request to have a child.
Underneath the obvious parenting stuff, Fleur Fortuné’s tale adds in other layers into its own assessment of this situation. This is the literal “government in your bedroom” situation pro freedom advocates are terrified of. Mia, Aaryan, and Virginia accept that this isn’t ideal, and each of them chooses to navigate this raw deal in different ways. Some work on the fringes, content to build something close enough to reality without doing the real work, while others are ready to dig deep and find the real answers to burning questions inside of them. In short, do you want to believe the lies or the reality of your situation? What will make you happy? The smart script keeps these thoughts on people’s minds, until they can firmly go front and center for the final act of the film, providing solid enough answers to bury themselves deep into your brain for a hot minute.
So thanks a lot, dumb lawmakers! You’re short sighted bill making leads to weirdo situations like this one. I do recommend though taking a deep dive into the more funny weird state laws. Here’s a fun place to start: let’s have donkeys sleep in bathtubs again!