Alicia Vikander, Anaya Thorley, Charlotte Ritchie, drama, Elizabeth Olsen, film festivals, Himesh Patel, Indira Varma, Leah Harvey, Minnie Driver, movies, Nicholas Pinnock, reviews, TIFF, Toronto International Film Festival
April 13, 2025
by Carla Hay
Directed by Fleur Fortuné
Culture Representation: Taking place in an unnamed society in an unspecified period of time, the sci-fi drama film “The Assessment” features a predominantly white group of people (with a few South Asian and black people) representing the working-class, middle-class and wealthy.
Culture Clash: A married couple must past a rigorous seven-day assessment test, conducted by a government assessor, in order to determine if the couple will be approved to have a child.
Culture Audience: “The Assessment” will appeal primarily to people who are fans of the movie’s headliners and sci-fi dramas about futuristic worlds where the governments are oppressive and the protagonists have to make difficult decisions about compliance versus rebellion.
“The Assessment” is an emotionally somber but visually stylish drama that shows a post-apocalyptic society where people have to pass a government evaluation test for approval to become parents. The principal cast members give memorable performances. This movie seems intentionally set in an unspecified time and place because the underlying message is that what happens in the movie could happen in some variation at any time, in any place.
Fleur Fortuné, who has a background in directing music videos and short films, makes her feature-film directorial debut with “The Assessment.” The movie was written by Dave Thomas (under the alias Mr. Thomas), Nell Garfath Cox (under the alias Mrs. Thomas) and John Donnelly. “The Assessment’ (which was filmed in Spain) had its world premiere at the 2024 Toronto International Film Festival.
“The Assessment” begins by showing a scene of a girl name Mia (played by Suhayla Balli Al Soufi Del Diego), who’s about 12 or 13 years old, swimming in an ocean. Her mother is on the rocky shore and calls out to her: “Mia, come back!” It’s a flashback memory to a period of time when Mia last saw her mother. What happened to Mia’s mother is revealed in bits and pieces of conversations. Mia also had a sister, who is mentioned in the movie.
What is revealed is that this is a relatively new society that has left its “old world” behind because the “old world” became too polluted. Certain people who were considered “undesirable” or too rebellious were left behind in the “old world.” Those who made it to this new world are considered to be worthy of procreating so future generations can live in this new world.
But even among these “elite” survivors, there’s a hierarchy. Only a small percentage of people are chosen by the government to become parents. Those who are chosen have t go through a rigorous seven-day assessment test. During these seven days, the assessor lives with the prospective parents. The assessor’s decision is final on whether or not to approve the application.
When viewers first see adult Mia (played by Elizabeth Olsen) and her husband Aaryan (played by Himesh Patel), all of this background information is not revealed right away. What is shown early on in the movie is that Mia and Aaryan are happily married, but this upcoming visit from the assessor has caused tension in their marriage. In bed, Mia says to Aaryan: “What if we’re not good enough? I’m just nervous. It’s just all so secretive.”
Mia and Aaryan live in a modern-yet-retro-looking home on a rocky beach area. Mia is a sculptor who makes her art in a converted greenhouse. Aaryan works for the government as an artificial intelligence (A.I.) designer. The government has exterminated all real pets, so Aaryan is developing a secretive project that creates lifelike pets powered by artificial intelligence. The idea for these robot pets is so people can have a safe alternative to real pets. Aaryan has already built an A.I. cat as a beta test.
Artificial intelligence is an everyday and accepted part of life in this society. Mia and Himesh have an A.I. assistant that’s very similar to Amazon’s Alexa. The device’s owner can program the A.I. assistant to have different voices. Aaryan lets Mia know that he has changed their A.I. assistant’s voice to sound like his mother. Mia is okay with this change.
The couple’s assessor shows up fairly early on in the movie. Her name is Virginia (played by Alicia Vikander), who is a calm professional but very aloof and clinical. Virginia informs Mia and Aaryan that the couple made it into the top 1% of couples who are chosen for this assessment. Virginia tells Mia and Aaryan that they have the right to end the assessment at any time but warns that if they choose to end the assessment before it concludes, they won’t be given another chance to apply for another assessment.
Mia and Aaryan are also expected to give samples of their bodily fluids to Virginia, such as blood, mucus, semen and vaginal secretions. Virginia also says that Mia and Aaryan will be evaluated on their mental and emotional stability. And they are required to keep confidential everything that happens during this assessment visit. Needless to say, it’s a high-pressure situation for Mia and Aaryan to have one person (Virginia) decide whether or not Aaryan and Mia are fit to be parents.
At first, Mia and Aaryan are overly accommodating and polite because they want to do everything they can to impress Mia. But over time, Mia becomes very uncomfortable with the process and openly questions Virginia’s tactics. Mia’s discomfort starts on the first day, when Virginia asks for explicit details on the couple’s sex life. Virginia writes everything down in a notebook.
Later that evening, when Mia and Aaryan are in their bedroom and getting sexually intimate, they are shocked to see that Virginia has opened the door to watch them in the hallway. Mia and Aaryan are embarrassed and stop what they’re doing. But Virginia orders them to keep doing what they’re doing and to pretend that she’s not there. Mia is much more reluctant than Aaryan to go along with this order.
Another major test comes when Virginia does some Method acting and pretends that she is a misbehaving and cranky toddler, 24 hours a day. The idea is to test the parental patience of Aaryan and Mia. You can easily predict which of the spouses will get frustrated and lose patience first.
What isn’t so easy to predict are some of the mind games that Virginia plays with this couple. These mind games have nothing to do with their skills as a parent but have to do with testing how strong the couple’s marriage is and their trust in each other. Viewers will start to wonder about Virginia’s manipulations: “Is this really part of the assessment, or is this something that Virginia that is doing that’s separate from the assessment?”
Although there’s friction between Mia and Virginia, there are a few moments where Mia opens up to Virginia. When Mia is asked why she wants to become a parent, Mia says: “I want to give a child what I never had: a sense of belonging.” Mia is the character who is the most likely to be an independent thinker, which is why Olsen gives the movie’s standout performance. Vikander’s performance becomes more layered as more things are revealed about Virginia.
Most of “The Assessment” features scenes only with Mia, Aaryan and Virginia. However, there’s a pivotal scene during Day 4 of the assessment’s when Virginia has invited six guests over to the couple’s house for a dinner party on short notice, without the consent of Mia and Aaryan. It’s another one of Virginia’s tests.
The six people invited to the party are Aayran’s accomplished mother Ambika (played by Indira Varma); a prominent scientist named Walter (played by Nicholas Pinnock); Walter’s snobbish wife Evie (played by Minnie Driver); and a friendly lesbian couple named Serena (played by Charlotte Ritchie) and Holly (played by Leah Harvey) with their daughter Amelia (played by Anaya Thorley), who’s about 5 or 6 years old. Serena and Holly, who are strangers to Mia and Aaryan, reassure Mia and Aaryan because they say that Amelia was the result of Serena and Holly getting an approved assessment. There’s tension between Mia and Evie because Mia used to be Walter’s lab assistant before Mia was marred and might or might not have had an affair with Walter.
“The Assessment” is meant to make viewers ponder just how far they would be willing to go to take this type of test. The test isn’t just about getting “approval” to become parents. It’s also about how much control people will allow a government to have in their lives and how much people will choose to go along with outrageous orders without questions or criticism.
Some viewers might not like how the movie ends. However, the conclusion of the movie can be effectively intepreted as a sign of despair or sign of hope. Viewers are free to decide, based on their personal opinions and perspectives.
Magnolia Pictures released “The Assessment” in select U.S. cinemas on March 21, 2025. The movie was released on digital and VOD on April 8, 2025.