Last week, the Women’s Wednesday Watch & Wine Society met for the second time, this time for a sci-fi flick, The Assessment. Going into the movie, I knew little of the film other than it was female directed (Fleur Fortune) and that the plot involved a future society in which human reproduction is very tightly controlled.
Our small group (women are busy, yo!) met in the lobby of the Spectrum and we were in our seats for the 4:30 showing, ignoring the temptations at the greatly improved concession stand in favor of a post-theater bite next door at The Delaware.
For the next nearly 2 hours I alternated between squinting at the screen (the film is poorly lit, an intentional device, I’m sure), cringing and, eventually, nodding my head. What I watched was dark, uncomfortable to observe, yet ultimately, vaguely familiar.
Basically, the movie tells the story of a future society in which resources are extremely scarce.The terrain where the film is set is arid, without grass or greenery. The lack of readily available food means, for instance, that there are no longer pets or animals in this future world. In fact, the primary couple in this film, Mia and Aaryan, are both scientists working to develop alternative food sources and lab made animals to overcome this deficit.
What Mia and Aaryan are not allowed to create is a child, at least not without being evaluated by an assessor. This assessor, named Virginia, moves in with the couple for an intensive, seven day examination of their fitness to become parents.
And then, things get weird.
I’m not going to give anything away, but Virginia takes her job very seriously. As she conducted her extremely thorough examination of the prospective parents, she prompted a strong response from Mia and Aaryan – and me. As in ick.
The Assessment confirmed for me, and the other WWW&WS representatives present, that sci fi is not our first choice in genres. While the performances were terrific, the plot, and visual impact of the movie was simply too dark for me. That being said, there was a genuine quality to one of the film’s pivotal moments that rang absolutely true to me.
The scene I’m referencing involved Mia requesting a little time for herself to clear her head and get some exercise. Rather than devote himself to monitoring Virginia and her frequently toddler-esque behavior, he instead becomes even more involved with a professional task. The consequences of his lapse in attention are absolutely life changing.
Even though the circumstances depicted on the screen are extreme, there was a familiarity to a woman asking for what they needed (some time for herself), yet paying a high price for the “self indulgence” and returning home to a disaster.
Ultimately, the movie was thought provoking, but these days I’m looking for films that are a little less dystopian. We’ve got plenty of that in our lives outside of fictional stories, don’t we?
Now, if you want to laugh (and cry), stream A Real Pain. It isn’t often that a movie centered on a cousins’ trip to Poland to see their Holocaust survivor grandmother’s childhood home, can prompt peals of laughter, but Jesse Eisenberg knocked it out of the park with this one. In fact, this might be my favorite movie of the last year.
The film featured serious issues, even beyond the Holocaust, such as depression, self realization and suicide, yet somehow managed to shine light. Kieran Caulkin was incredible and I think I need to watch again just to witness his Oscar winning performance. Highly recommending this one!
As is our way, the Women’s Wednesday Watch & Wine Society wrapped up the evening with $9 glasses of wine and a delicious meal at The Delaware. Already looking forward to our next meeting!
DelSo 