Elizabeth Olsen

Himesh Patel

Alicia Vikander

Minnie Driver

Indira Varma

Charlotte Ritchie

Nicholas Pinnock

Leah Harvey

Benny O. Arthur

Thiago Braga de Oliveira

Malaya Stern Takeda

Anaya Rose

Suhayla Balli Al Soufi Del Diego

Angeline Padrón Filippova

Saida Fuentes

Ariya Shivnani

Illyassou Balde

Fleur Fortuné

Tom Brady

Riki Rushing

William Shockley

Sarah Blenkinsop

Allen Gilmer

Marino Darés

Urs Hirschbiegel

James Hyde

Olivia Hulme

Alexander Biehn

Steffi Hiller

Grant S. Johnson

Jonathan Saubach

Madeleine K. Rudin

Thomas K. Richards

Shivani Rawat

Rusta Mizani

Carlotta Löffelholz

Maximilian Leo

Jonas Katzenstein

Elizabeth Karlsen

William Bruce Johnson

Julie Goldstein

Connor Flanagan

Stephen Woolley

Magnus Nordenhof Jønck

Yorgos Lamprinos

Erik Seifert

Frank Kruse

Jan Houllevigue

Nell Garfath-Cox

Dave Thomas

Emilie Levienaise-Farrouch

John Donnelly

Alexander Wunsch

Science Fiction

Drama

Thriller

The Assessment

Augenschein Filmproduktion

Number 9 Films

Project Infinity

Shivhans Pictures

Woolley/Karlsen Productions

Tiki Tāne Pictures

Germany

United Kingdom

United States of America

Brent Marchant

It often feels like we’re constantly being assessed, evaluated on everything from our creditworthiness to our work performance to our scholastic achievements. But imagine what it might be like if we were scrutinized on highly personal matters, with intrusive investigations into our most highly intimate concerns. Such is life in director Fleur Fortune’s debut feature in a dystopian version of Earth of the future. With the planet devastated by environmental decline, human society has been drastically reorganized into the old world and the new world. The former is a pathetic wasteland where individuals struggle to live out short lives under horrific conditions. The latter, meanwhile, is a sanctuary for the fortunate, with clean air, clean water and a comfortable way of life, but there’s a trade-off: Residents must abide by litany of stringent laws, rules and regulations in which they’re under constant assessment, including in matters of their so-called private lives, where the risk of being reassigned to the old world looms for even the smallest of violations. This intensive surveillance involves essentially everything, including  such basic considerations as the ability to have children, a strictly regulated undertaking for which would-be parents are rigorously evaluated by government-appointed assessors on their qualifications to assume this role. So it is for Mia (Elizabeth Olsen) and Aaryan (Himesh Patel), a couple looking to become one of the privileged, who are placed under the microscope by their evaluator, Virginia (Alicia Vikander). The assessor takes up residence with the couple for a week to scrutinize their suitability, engaging in rounds of intensive questioning, role playing exercises and other unannounced tests to see if they meet the requisite standards. But are they up to it? The process pushes the limits of the couple’s coping abilities, exposes long-hidden secrets and pushes the envelope of their tolerance levels for their circumstances, all in the name (supposedly) of determining whether they would make acceptable parents. And, as the evaluation unfolds, it raises questions about whether the assessment is truly everything it appears to be. This inventive social sci-fi offering raises an array of probing, thoughtful questions, both for the characters, as well as audience members, particularly where matters of personal privacy and societal judgmentalism are concerned. The narrative is purposely designed to keep viewers guessing, placing them squarely in the shoes of the protagonists and nudging them to ask themselves what would they do under conditions like these. It’s an approach that generally keeps us hooked as the story plays out, despite some occasional lapses in pacing and a few sequences in which the action feels a little over the top (especially in the role playing segments). But the payoff is ultimately worth it, one that makes us question whether the constant evaluations to which we’re subjected in today’s society are everything they’re allegedly cracked up to be. This German production with dialogue in English is an intriguing examination of what we allow ourselves to be put through to see of we measure up to expectations that ultimately aren’t necessarily our own, particularly in matters that fundamentally aren’t anyone else’s business. Think about that the next time you feel you’re being unduly judged, a consideration that’s taken on new weight in today’s day and age – and that this cautionary tale might be giving us a preview of what could possibly lie ahead.

No idea if it could be a good film. Can't see what's going on. It's so incredibly dark. It's sunny, and a woman's swimming in the ocean, then walking on the beach. It's dark like if it were late evening, beginning of night. What the hell is going on with Hollywood? More and more films look like this. Completely unwatchable. Abandoning this garbage and switching to something else that can actually be watched.

English

Elizabeth Olsen and Alicia Vikander Play Tumbling Towers

Official Trailer

TIFF 2024 Q&A with Elizabeth Olsen, Alicia Vikander & Himesh Patel