Director: Fleur Fortuné
Starring: Elizabeth Olsen, Alicia Vikander, Himesh Patel
Running Time: 114 minutes
Synopsis: In a dystopian future, parenthood is strictly controlled due to environmental limitations and mastery of life-prolongation. Couple Mia and Aaryan (Elizabeth Olsen and Himesh Patel) apply to become parents and qualify for an "assessment" to be conducted by stern government worker Virginia (Alicia Vikander). She arrives to live with them for seven days and observe all their behaviours and interactions, but also to test their limits.
What Works Well: The imaginative premise is intriguing, and the plot reveals it's environmental details with practiced patience. Yielding control of the human yearning to procreate is an ultimate manifestation of the destruction unleashed on nature, and the couple's professions reflect the dystopia: Aaryan creates virtual pets for a world no longer able to sustain the real critters; and Mia grows food in living compost. Virginia exposes their readiness (or not) to care for a child, posing universal questions about selflessness and sacrifice, and challenging the tensions hiding behind every couple's facade.
What Does Not Work As Well: The suffocating aesthetic is almost impenetrably muddy, bathing the drama in orange/brown near-darkness. The final few scenes contain a sudden torrent of context-setting revelations. Rather than adding value, all the new information is unquestionably late, including Aaryan graduating from simulating pets, the attempts to round Virginia into a person worth caring about, and Mia's commitment to a journey into the known unknown.
Key Quote:
Mia: What if we're not good enough?
Aaryan: If we're not who is?
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I just heard about this film today. I'm interested in seeing it--I am a fan of Elizabeth Olsen--but maybe now I'm not in a huge rush to get there.
ReplyDeleteIt's interesting and worth a watch - but does not fulfill its promise. Elizabeth Olsen is good as usual, Alicia Vikander alternates between ice cold and (as dictated by the script) over-the-top.
DeleteI get where the movie is trying to go, but I felt the path was contrived. I guess it helps that it is a futuristic setting, but still.
ReplyDeleteVikander's character is so over the top that I cannot follow it.
Yes, it contains good ideas, but overall it's a missed opportunity.
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