A One Mann’s Movies review of “The Assessment” (2024) (From the 2024 London Film Festival).
Is AlexGarlandy an adjective? If not, it should be. For “The Assessment”, a brilliantly polished debut feature from the memorably named Fleur Fortune, is one of the most AlexGarlandy films I’ve seen in a while.
Bob the Movie Man Rating:
“The Assessment” Plot Summary:
It’s the near future and society everywhere, other than the inhospitable “Old World”, is strictly controlled. This particularly applies to procreation since medical advances, through the taking of a daily drug, means that lifespans have been extended to potentially hundreds of years. To have a child, candidates have to be put through a rigorous 7-day assessment which they can only get one try at. So the pressure is on for the couple Mia (Elizabeth Olsen) and Aaryan (Himesh Patel) when their frosty and aloof assessor Virginia (Alicia Vikander) comes to call.
Certification:
UK: NR; US: NR. (At the time of writing, the film has not been reviewed by the BBFC but I would expect it to be a 15 based on sexual content and language.)
Talent:
Starring: Elizabeth Olsen, Alicia Vikander, Himesh Patel, Minnie Driver, Indira Varma, Charlotte Ritchie.
Directed by: Fleur Fortune.
Written by: John Donnelly, Nell Garfath Cox (as “Mrs Thomas”!) & Dave Thomas (as “Mr Thomas”!)
Running Time: 1h 49m.
“The Assessment” Summary:
Positives:
- A really fascinating story that keeps you guessing (as much as Mia and Aaryan are).
- Fabulous location and world-building with a cliff-top modern house and greenhouse in Tenerife.
- Superb performances from the three leading cast.
Negatives:
- I wasn’t convinced about Virginia’s more extreme actions at the end of the film.
- As dystopian Sci-Fi, it’s not a very happy film!
Review of “The Assessment”:
Fabulous story.
This film is really in my wheelhouse. A drama, with lots of mystery, set in a dystopian future world that’s not so unlike our world to be unbelievable. There are no flying cars here. But there is a sort of Star Trek Holodeck where Aaryan, with his job as a development genius, can continue his work designing realistic holographic virtual pets.
When Virginia arrives, the couple have no idea how the assessment will proceed but they, and we, are astounded when Virginia keeps reverting into the role of a 3 year old to try to push their buttons. And any parent in the audience will know what that feels like! There’s a sense of “Oh no” when the first “Fuck!” and “Shit!” come out of the parent’s mouths (Virginia keeps banging her table shouting “Fuck Shit Fuck Shit”) and you feel yourself marking your own internal scoresheet!
This of course is just the start of the testing, and the assessment gets more extreme still as the seven days go on.
It all reminded me very much of a Alex Garland type of vision.
Dinner party from hell
It’s mostly a three-hander film for most of the running time, but this is shaken up in the middle of the film by a dinner party from hell that Virginia has organised. Among the guests are an entertaining Minnie Driver, the UK comedienne Charlotte Ritchie and the brilliant Indira Varma playing Aaryan’s mother. As you might expect, a lot of dirty washing is aired that the couple wish was left in the basket!
Great location and world-building.
Hats off to the location team for finding the perfect house in which to drive the plot from. I see similar futuristic properties on the tops of the cliffs in our favourite holiday haunt in Portugal and I was wondering “Portugal? Spain?” as the film went on. But it’s actually Tenerife. The interiors are studio-based in Cologne, but are modern and very Ken-Adams-like. The special effects for the ‘Holo-room’ are also very good.
Top-notch performances.
I got very excited when I saw that Elizabeth Olsen and Alicia Vikander were in this film together: two of my favourite actresses and they don’t disappoint. I’m surprised that Elizabeth Olsen has never got more awards buzz at the Oscars and BAFTAs (she was one of the BAFTA “EE Rising Star” nominees back in 2013). Perhaps she is too much associated with Marvel Scarlett-Witchyness, but she is just superb in this and I would definitely put her name into the awards frame.
Alicia Vikander is giving off cold and calculating “Ex Machina” vibes as ‘The Assessor’ when she first enters the house (adding to the whole AlexGarlandiness of it for me). The ability of her to switch from her one persona to her toddler persona is superb. “Which one are you now” asks Aaryan in bafflement. “I’m me, I’m always me” she replies coldly.
Himesh Patel is also great in this and as a male viewer I really felt for his sense of confusion in not knowing what to do (particularly at one point!)
Is Virginia unhinged?
I wasn’t sure by the end of the film if Virginia was running a playbook here or whether she was to a greater or lesser extent unhinged and suffering a mental breakdown. The actions are just so extreme and upsetting, that surely can’t be state policy can it?
“Father Ted” required!
This is not a very happy film, even though there is some sort of enlightenment at the end of the piece. Overall, for many people, this will be a “Father Ted film“.
Music
A final nod to the music by Emilie Levienaise-Farrouch, here follow up to her fantastic work on “All of Us Strangers“, and its just as perfect in settling the beats and mood of the film.
Summary Thoughts on “The Assessment”
This is a terrific film that I enjoyed immensely. I never quite knew where it was going to go. After its showing at TIFF, Deadline.com report that Amazon has scooped it up and quite rightly. I just hope it ends up getting a proper cinema release, which I guess will probably be some time in 2025.
Where to Watch it (Powered by Justwatch)
Trailer for “The Assessment”:
At the time of writing, there is no trailer yet available for the film.
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