The Assessment drops us into a future world where parenting is no longer a natural progression but a process. Couples must be approved—assessed—for their readiness to raise a child, and embryos are developed externally. It's a confronting premise, but the core question it raises is all too familiar: What if we’re not good enough?
The assessment process is shrouded in secrecy. And honestly, isn’t that just like real parenting? There’s so much you don’t get told—some of it because no one knows how to explain it, some of it because you have to live through it to understand. The film plays in this unsettling space. The weirdness begins when the assessor assigned to test the couple acts like a child. A strange setup—but also strangely accurate.
What unfolds is an exaggerated but recognizable series of parenting scenarios, from the funny to the cringeworthy. So many of the experiences hit close to home. The character Virginia seems to cycle through stages of development—baby, toddler, young child—and her clothing becomes a kind of code for the role she’s playing. She pushes every emotional button, just like children do. The couple is constantly tested, made to question themselves, even deny their own pain for the sake of the task. It’s extreme, but in many ways, it’s real.
But there’s more going on here than just a critique of parenting. The Assessment seems to be asking a bigger question: What kind of world are we bringing our kids into? The film opens, climaxes, and ends with a focus on breathing—a motif that becomes hard to ignore. Is it the literal air that’s toxic? Or is it the emotional weight of parenting, of survival, that feels suffocating?
There’s also an eerie subplot: adults take stamp-like tablets that keep them youthful. Is this about longevity, selfishness, denial of aging? It quietly questions whether we’re making room for the next generation—or trying to outlast them.
Minnie Driver delivers a monologue that cuts to the heart of the film’s message. One line stood out: “Having children is an indulgence. Are we willing to die so the kids can live?” It’s a radical statement, but one that demands reflection. Have we really thought about the world we’re handing over? Are we willing to move aside so our children can inherit what’s left—and will that world even be liveable?
The Assessment is uncomfortable, unsettling, even devastating—but it’s also deeply thought-provoking. It cleverly takes a common social experience—parenting—and uses it to open up questions about the future of humanity. That’s no small achievement.