The Assessment offers us a very sterile depiction of a dystopian future, where, like in Logan’s Run, certain remnants of humanity live in bliss and harmony housed in domes. There they enjoy a long life, clean air and food. But the best question this picture throws at the audience is, just because it’s called a utopia, doesn’t mean it’s not simply a fancy prison?

Elizabeth Olsen and Himesh Patel lead this intense and futuristic drama as married couple Mia and Aaryan. Both content and successful in their professional lives, they jointly now submit themselves via an application to the governmental body to be allowed to have a child, as population control is vital to the sustainability of this new societal structure.

Eagerly, they await their assessor, Virginia (Alicia Vikander), who is all formality and focused as she arrives. Yet, once the questionnaires and sample containers are all collected and accounted for, that’s when the real test begins. The assessment is designed to test the applicant’s ability to nurture and protect a child, and Virginia suddenly and shockingly adopts a demanding, impetuous, and infantile persona that not merely examines both Mia and Aaryan’s parenting abilities but pushes up to and past their breaking points.