Format: Streaming video from Hulu on Fire!
I’ve said before that horror movies are going to be more and more about environmental issues. The same is true of science fiction. Some science fiction will be specifically about environmental issues, and then there will be films like The Assessment, where the environmental problems are tangential.
We’re looking at a world in this case where some environmental disaster has happened. The environment has collapsed and resources have become rare, which means that the powers that be have put huge restrictions on parenthood. This is not just because of the scarcity of resources but also because human life expectancy has been dramatically increased through a variety of pharmaceuticals, drugs that also prevent fertility. In this world, people who want to be parents must be assessed for fitness.
This is the source of the name of the film. Mia (Elizabeth Olsen) and Aaryan (Himesh Patel) have decided to be assessed for parenthood. The two live in a secluded dome. Mia works as a botanist and Aaryan creates virtual pets to replace animals that were wiped out in the environmental collapse. When the film starts, they are visited by Virginia (Alica Vikander), their assessor. Virgina tells them that she will spend the next seven days with them, determining their suitability to be parents. The decision of the assessor is final, and none of the tests will be explained.
It’s soon evident that Virginia’s method of assessing Mia and Aaryan is to essentially become a child. This means playing her “parents” against each other, making messes, destroying things around the house, getting into things that she shouldn’t, and even breaking into Mia’s and Aaryan’s bedroom and observing them have sex. There are also tests that show up along the way, like putting together a small structure for Virginia to live in and hosting a dinner party that becomes increasingly hostile and in which Virginia acts in ways that are increasingly disruptive.
These disruptions include things like specifically putting herself in danger, wandering off outside, and more. She also specifically antagonizes Mia, trying to get her to become jealous of her relationship with Aaryan. Both Mia and Aaryan work as much as they can to remain patient and deal with Virginia as if she were a child capable of understanding what was going on around them.
The Assessment is specifically a frustrating film, and it is because Virginia is specifically a frustrating character. She is not merely someone who is going to act like a child, but like a very angry, mischievous, and aggressive child. Tuned a couple of degrees in a different direction, The Assessment would be a comedy where the frustrations of the couple would become something entertaining rather than enraging. This is also true with the dinner party that is forced on them. The people invited are colleagues, neighbors, and Aaryan’s mother (Minnie Driver) who have conflicting personalities and difficult pasts with both Mia and Aaryan.
The Assessment is one of those movies that is all about the premise. It’s well cast (Elizabeth Olsen is never a bad choice and the same is true of Alicia Vikander), but this is a movie that lives and dies based on the story that is being told. We have to buy into that as the audience for us to truly accept what is going on. It’s also a film that, despite being truly based in the narrative, goes in some directions that feel obvious. These are important for getting us to the ending that we get, but it also feels like there were some other ways to get to the same place that might have been a lot more interesting.
The Assessment is a film that is worth seeing, but it’s also not an easy film to recommend. I do recommend it, but it’s difficult specifically because of what happens in it. The story is a good one, though, and worth seeing. In short, it’s kind of a hard movie to like or enjoy, but it’s definitely one that is worth locating. I would like it to have taken some different paths in the end of the second/start of the third act, but you can’t have everything.
Why to watch The Assessment: It’s a unique story.
Why not to watch: It’s intentionally infuriating.
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