When the world is on the brink of destruction due to climate change,The Assessmentintroduces one unorthodox method to ensure Earth doesn’t get destroyed by overpopulation. Set in a dystopian future where the government controls who can have kids, Mia (Elizabeth Olsen) and Aaryan (Himesh Patel) seem like the perfect couple-slash-candidates. She’s a botanical scientist, he’s a genetic researcher, and they have a house to call their own. But before they can start a family, they’re required to pass an assessment that determines whether they’re eligible to have a child or not.
With their assigned assessor, Virginia (Alicia Vikander), breathing down their necks, the couple has seven days to convince her that they’re worthy of bringing a baby into the world. What starts out as a simple test soon transforms into something unsettling and sinister.
Making its world premiere at theToronto International Film Festival 2024, Collider’s ownSteven Weintraubhad the opportunity to talk more in-depth aboutThe Assessmentwith directorFleur Fortunéand cast members Olsen, Patel, and Vikander at the Collider interview studio at TIFF 2024, held at the Cinema Center. During this interview, which you can watch in the video above or read in the transcript below, they discuss the film’s twists and turns and future projects likeThe FranchiseandNa Hong-jin’sHope.
‘The Assessment’ Review: Alicia Vikander Puts Elizabeth Olsen and Himesh Patel Through a Nightmare | TIFF 2024
Fleur Fortuné’s feature debut offers a poignant take on parenting and climate change.
COLLIDER:I really want to start with congratulations. This is my kind of movie because it’s one of those where you watch it the first time, and if you watch it again, you will get so much more out of it. There’s so much going on. No one’s seen it yet, so how have you been describing it to people?
FLEUR FORTUNÉ: It’s in a future world that’s so far from us today, in a society where you are not allowed to have kids without naturalization from the States. We have a couple that’s Lizzie and Himesh, Mia and Aaryan, who are going to be assessed for a week. The assessor is played by Alicia, and she’s going to be there for a week with them to check and test them and see if they are able to be good parents.
For the three of you, what was it like reading the script for this one for the first time? What made all three of you say, “Oh yes, I need to be in this”?
ELIZABETH OLSEN: I think it’s a really elegant way of telling a story about this specifically. I think it’s cinematic. There’s no very obvious clear agenda, and it’s a story about these people who desperately want to be parents and are questioning why that is throughout the film. They’re in a world that gets to control how we live our lives to live longer while these people are trying to bring new life into the world. I think telling that story through this absurd situational humor was really exciting. The way it was being told I found refreshing.
ALICIA VIKANDER: [Elizabeth was] attached when I actually read the script, and I knew Fleur’s work and yours. So that was a big part, too.
OLSEN: We both are fangirls of Fleur’s so much.
VIKANDER: Her music videos and what she’s done. When I read the script and saw the plays with genre in this world, and trying to figure out what that looks like, I was so intrigued to know that Fleur was going to make this her debut feature. That was a big part of why I wanted to do it. The script itself was a page-turner. You said it’s your type of film, it’s kind of my type of film. It’s entertaining. It kept me on my toes. I didn’t know what was going to happen next. I was like, “Where is this going?” If I thought it was one type of film, it quickly turned out to be something else, and that happened a few times throughout the script. The role of the assessor has a kind of mystery to her. There were definitely things there that drew me to wanting to try and play her.
HIMESH PATEL: I agree with you about the script. I couldn’t stop reading it. I thought it was amazing, and the world was so clear to me on the page. Then, when I saw Fleur’s work, I could just see it being cinematically stunning. These two were attached, so that was a huge pull for me because I think they’re pretty good at acting.
Let’s not build them up too much!
PATEL: Okay, okay, sorry. But that was a very big pull for me, and I loved the role. I was excited to dive into that world.
‘The Assessment’ Was Filmed on the Volcanic Island of Tenerife
This is your directorial debut. How much did you debate what kind of film you wanted to make for your debut feature?
FORTUNÉ I wanted to do a movie that was, because it was my first, a bit special and a bit offbeat, but at the same time, very entertaining. I worked for years on the script to work on the characters to make them with a lot of depth and complexity, and also to make the situations, as Alicia said, keep you on the edge of your seat, but at the same time, with that dark humorthat is a bit awkward, making you uncomfortable, and then you’re crying, and you’re laughing. Today, we are allowed to do movies that are a mix of genres, and I love that. If there’s a bit of sci-fi, I don’t want to make it obvious. I try to be off the road but at the same time create a universe that you can relate to, so it’s still emotional. That’s what I was trying to do.
The other thing is, you have the challenge of filming a lot in one location in that house. Talk a little bit about the challenges of filming there and trying to make it cinematic while keeping the audience off balance.
FORTUNÉ: Yeah, exactly. That was a big challenge having one set. It was almost like a piece of theater. So I was like, “Whoa, it has to be all about the performance.” That’s why we talked, and I worked so much on that. But then the universe in the background, the house, is so important. That’s when I scoutedTenerife, which is very volcanic and windy with a weird energy. The constant wind felt like a kind of threat. It set the tone for the universe.We decided with the production designer, Jan [Houllevigue], that there would be no woods because there’s no forest left. So it’s all concrete. The windows are stained glass, which gives you an intention for what you see. After I knew I didn’t want to do the obvious sci-fi look — white, minimal, very clinical — I was more into a ’70s retro feel, but at the same time, more grounded. So it feels like it could be our world, but slightly different.
Completely. For all of you, what day did you have circled on the shoot in terms of, “I can’t wait to film this,” and what day was circled in terms of, “How the F are we going to film this?”
VIKANDER: It’s a scene that takes place in a kitchen, which is kind of a pivotal moment for my character when she reveals a different side to her.
I know exactly what you’re talking about. I understand why you would say that.
PATEL: I couldn’t wait to shoot, there’s a dinner scene where things expand from just being the three of us. I was very excited for that. And there’s another scene that I can’t really talk about that I was a bit like, “How are we going to shoot that?” It was a dark moment.
OLSEN: I was really curious if we were going to shoot a scene that happens outside with natural elements. Because that was all real, and I was very curious to see. You can only do it once, and we did it, and that was really wild to do. [Laughs]
VIKANDER: It’s interesting. The elements, the weather, it’s like having dogs or children on a set. It can give you so much, and it can make something incredible, but it’s also like you never know what you’re gonna get..
This is a tricky one to talk about because there’s so much that you don’t want to ruin for the audience.
OLSEN: That’s why I really stumbled with your first question. I was like, “What am I doing? I’m getting lost.”
VIKANDER: You really want to go into the theater not knowing. Hopefully, the audience will have a grander experience like the one I had when I read the script the first time, that thing of just not knowing what was going to happen on the next page. In a way, they’re on the journey that Lizzie and Himesh’s characters are on; they’re going into this blindly. So in the future, these couples know that other friends of theirs who have children have had to go through this, but no one is allowed to talk about their experiences. So, hopefully, the audience will be on the same kind of mysterious journey.
You guys have all seen the finished film?
VIKANDER: Yes, but not with music and special effects.
The premiere is later today?
OLSEN: Yes
Oh, you’re going to have an experience. I can’t imagine what it’s going to be like when you’re sitting through it with the audience.
VIKANDER: I’m really excited to see it with an audience.
It’s going to be an experience, especially because, as I said at the beginning, when you watch this for the second time or when you finish the movie, you will start thinking back, and it will make you talk about it.
OLSEN: I think, also, no one really knows what we made. We didn’t make any big announcements. It’s just ours right now and really private.
VIKANDER: It’s like no one knows we made this film. [Laughs]
OLSEN: It’s really exciting.
PATEL: I’m also just excited to watch it in a cinema with an audience, which is a diminishing experience, sadly. I’m just excited to see what we did on a big screen with people.
OLSEN: Unless you’re a childless, out-of-work actor. [Laughs] Then it’s your activity four times a week!
Himesh Patel’s ‘The Franchise’ Is Coming Out This Fall
The fan base of Collider is a fan of all three of you. I have individual questions if you don’t mind. I’m incredibly excited forThe Franchise.
PATEL: Thank you.
VIKANDER: Me too. I am so excited. I’ve been asking about it since we were shooting.
PATEL: I just shot the pilot.
So for people who don’t know, what can you say about it? [To VIKANDER] What can you say aboutHope? Which is something I’m very curious about. [To OLSEN] And, of course, I have to ask you, I know you’re not going to answer me: Has anyone named the Russo Brothers called and asked you to save any dates next year?
OLSEN: I know none of those things.
VIKANDER: Hong-jin Na,I’m the biggest fan of his films. The Busan Film Festival in Korea was my first international film festival that I ever went to when I was 21 or something, and kind of discovered Korean cinema. So Hong-jin Na I had followed, andThe Wailingthat he did I thought was absolutely incredible. So then I was invited to come and join him on this film,Hope. I was very intrigued.
Michael Fassbender & Alicia Vikander Join Mystery Thriller ‘Hope’ From Director Na Hong-Jin
This will be the real-life husband and wife duo’s first time on the big screen together since 2016’s ‘The Light Between Oceans.’
Can you tell people what it’s about?
VIKANDER: I don’t think so.
Oh, then don’t. I don’t want to get you in trouble.
VIKANDER: And it’s also like his film. Have you seenThe Wailing?
VIKANDER: That’s also one of those films where I had no clue what was going to happen, and it becomes quite a journey and ride, too. I kind of think that this film should have the same effect.
Yeah, I definitely don’t want to get anyone in trouble or ruin a movie likeThe Assessment.
PATEL:The Franchise, I’m very excited. It’s coming up in about a month or so, something like that.
It can’t be coming out in a month.
PATEL: It’s coming out pretty soon. It’s coming out in the fall.
I honestly didn’t know, wow.
PATEL: It’s coming out very soon. I’m excited.
OLSEN: [To PATEL] It’s fun to have my question, and you have your question because we’re related. But I genuinely know nothing, and I’m never filled in with things. I wonder how much that is a part of your show.
PATEL: Yeah, there’s a bit of that.
OLSEN: I found out about Downey being in the movie…
PATEL: …when it happened.
OLSEN: Because people were like, “Did you hear about that?” I was like, “No.”
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PATEL: Well, this is about the inside of the making of the movie — which, of course, I know you’re very experienced in — while you’re finding stuff out like that, and it’s affecting your movie at every turn. I play the first AD who’s just trying to keep everything together.
VIKANDER: Wow, first AD. Trying to hold it all together.
PATEL: God bless all first ADs.
Also, you should mention the talent of the people who are writing and creating the show because it’s incredible.
PATEL: Armando Iannucci produced it,John Brown is our showrunner, and this up-and-coming director, Sam Mendes, directed the pilot. Look out for that guy.
OLSEN: He’s got some heat behind him right now.
Fleur, my individual question for you: you clearly know what you’re doing behind the camera. Are you already looking at other scripts and thinking about what you might do for another feature?
FORTUNÉ: I do have another feature. Hopefully, I’ll shoot it next year. I don’t know how much I can say, but it’s an adaptation of a book by Italian writer Ilaria Bernardini. It’s all Italian.
I don’t want to get you in trouble by revealing too much, but I’m just going to say that I’m looking forward to what you’re doing next.
The Assessment
In the near future where parenthood is strictly controlled, a couple’s seven-day assessment for the right to have a child unravels into a psychological nightmare.
