In “The Assessment,” the climate change-fueled psychological thriller from Fleur Fortuné, Oscar winner Alicia Vikander plays a government assessor in a dystopian future where resources are so scarce that couples must be approved to have children.
The irony is that while shooting the film, Vikander herself was four months pregnant.
“What I kind of went through, you know, between takes obviously brought a lot to it… I did definitely have, like, a quite profound emotional balance to how I portrayed that character due to that,” Vikander told TheWrap editor-in-chief Sharon Waxman at TheWrap’s 2024 TIFF Studio sponsored by Moët & Chandon and Boss Design.
Vikander said she was transfixed by the assessor while reading the script for the film, calling the story a “page turner” as it was unclear what sort of cruel tests she would inflict next on a couple played by Elizabeth Olsen and Himesh Patel. Many of the twists in “The Assessment” are rooted in Vikander’s performance, and she says she loved the opportunity to work with Fortuné to bring them out.
“You are trying to kind of figure out what she is about to do next, what she’s really up to, what she’s putting this poor couple through. There were definitely unknowns to how I would tackle that character,” she said. “I was very nervous, to be honest. The first day I came on set, it felt like everyone had the same feeling I had when I read it. ‘What is this going to turn out?’”
At a time when bodily autonomy is a hot button issue once again in the U.S. with the overturning of Roe v. Wade and the climate crisis leading to escalating disasters worldwide, Fortuné said that directing “The Assessment” was an opportunity for her to explore how those and other issues intersect, leading to a push-and-pull between individual freedom and the sacrifices needed to keep a sustainable future.
“It’s actually a hard decision, a hard process. I’ve been through years of IVF and it is not an easy thing, and at the same time, we are kind of not making the right sacrifice for the planet,” she said.
While a release date for “The Assessment” has not yet been released, Amazon MGM has acquired the global rights. Watch the full interview above.
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