A Test For Future Parents

            The state of the movies this year has been bleak. I have watched thirty-eights 2025 releases so far, and none of them have been over 3.5 stars. In fact, I have only given one movie 3.5 stars this year, and that is terrible. At this point last year, Dune Part 2 came out, and that was the best movie of the year last year. Hopefully nothing that has been released so far this year is in contention for the best movie when the time comes, but there was some light in the dark finally this week with The Assessment. The first 3.5-star movie of the year.

            The Assessment takes place in a slightly dystopic future where the government has a say in whether people can have a baby or not. The citizens actively have to take a pill to make sure that this does not happen. To be able to have a baby, the government sends out a representative to the couple’s house to interview them and to put them through a few tests. Mia and Aaryan have put in their application, and it was good enough for them to have Virginia come test them for a week.

            Initially, it just seems like Viriginia is there to ask them questions, some more uncomfortable than others, and to observe them at appropriate and inappropriate times, but by the second day, it became apparent that she is not just an observer, she is a test child, despite being an adult. So Virginia tests Mia and Aaryan by throwing a fit at breakfast, running away at the beach, and making a complete mess of their house. There is also a weird connection between her and Aaryan, which makes Mia jealous and uncomfortable. This whole conflict boils over when Mia must leave to go and check on her sister for the night, and Aaryn and Viriginia are left home alone, but is that what effected the final decision on if they could have a kid or not?

            This movie was so stressful. Many of the behaviors that Virginia exhibited are behaviors that I see on a regular basis at work, but there is something so off putting about them, when a full-grown adult is doing them. They seem so much worse this way. Also it does not help that there is the stress of how the couple responds to the behaviors, because if they respond poorly, it will effect their score negatively, and there were multiple times when I cringed, because I feel like the situation was handled poorly.

            To be fair, they were put in the worst-case scenario so many times. Virginia almost drowned herself, she caught a greenhouse on fire, she ran away from home, and she invited enemies over for a dinner party. It would be hard for anyone to stay very levelheaded in any of these situations, but also many of them were avoidable. There was a lack of supervision for their pretend child, and that is what led to the problems. The reason that I am on Mia and Aaryan’s side for this though is that at the end of the day Virginia is an adult visibly, so it is hard to believe that she would actually put herself in these life threatening situations, where as if it was a child, it is pretty easy to convince yourself that they need constant supervision.

            One aspect of the movie that I am unsure of is what it was trying to say about how having a child will affect a couple’s relationship. At times, it seemed like it was trying to say that it would tear the relationship apart, but other times, it seemed to be slightly less harsh of a vibe, but it never seemed like it helped to make their relationship stronger, which seems like a bleak outlook on having a child. Obviously, it is not easy, but to portray that it will only negatively effect a relationship seems a bit much. Although another possible read could be that their relationship just was not strong enough to handle the stressors that were being placed upon them, and that a couple should be fully prepared before taking on the responsibility. I don’t know.

            The idea of the government being in control of reproduction can be related to what actually happened in China, when for 35 years, from 1979 to 2015, families were limited to only having one child. A dystopic idea that was actually implemented in the real world, but as the population continues to grow, resources will grow scarcer, and this will lead to problems, so I see it as a possibility that places will try to place a limit on children in the future, but hopefully that is a long way off, but each passing day seems like we get closer to a dystopic future instead of a utopic one. It also reminded me of Mickey 17, when they were on the spaceship, and they were banned from having sex because of the potential for adding another mouth to feed on the ship, and that it burned too many calories to engage in that. So this is not the only movie that has addressed this issue recently.

The conclusion of the movie was ultimately bleak. Virginia said that they did not pass the assessment, and that there would be no child. The only problem is that she did not give a reason as to why they did not pass, and this angered Mia. So Mia found Viriginia’s apartment and demanded answers, and that is when she found out that no one had passed the assessment in six years, because the government did not want there to be any more children, so no matter what they did, they were never going to have a kid, so basically Viriginia gave them the hardest test possible for no reason. In Virginia’s defense though, she was told by the government that she would be given a child if she continued to do her job well.

Mia pointed out to Viriginia that the government was probably never going to actually give her a child, and Virginia came to terms with this, and on her next assignment, she jumped off the balcony to her death, and she also traumatized two people that wanted to be parents. (I guess the takeaway is do not live in a high rise with a balcony with a child.) Also, there was an exile area, where people have more control over their bodies, but it is a much worse place to live, but Mia chooses to go there, so she can decide to live her life how she wants to, and so she can have a child if she wants to, which is hopeful in a way. Even if it is hard, it is worth doing and having autonomy over one’s body. Aaryn was a technology developer, and he designed a virtual reality child that felt real, and he created a replica of Mia. So he chose to live with something fake to fill the hole.

I am interested to know how many people would end up having a child if they had to go through a test like this. I think it would eliminate some candidates, but at the end of the day, I think if you want to have a kid, you will probably have a kid, even if you know it is going to be hard. Overall, despite its stressful nature and depressing subject matter. I found this to be a really good movie, and it was really engaging, and it made me think. All signs of a good movie. 3.5 stars, best movie I have seen so far this year.