Elizabeth Olsen and Alicia Vikander co-starring

The future, as depicted in Fleur Fortuné’s riveting but bumpy debut Evaluateenvironmental disasters have ravaged the earth. There is a border between the old world and the new world, and people like Mia (Elizabeth Olsen) and Aryan (Himesh Patel) live under strict rules. The house is encased in a atmospheric dome, which protects it from the more unpredictable elements. The government is an omnipresent surveillance state that monitors daily life: they provide vitamins to control life span, recruit people to develop technology and conduct research to ensure a sustainable future for society and dissidents who live in exile across borders. They also control citizens who want children through grueling seven-day assessments overseen by random state agents.

Details about the exam are scant (transparency is not the modus operandi), and everyone, including Mia and Arin, thinks they’ll make great parents. When their evaluator Virginia (the excellent Alicia Vikander) hears this, she bursts into amused laughter. This unsettled the high-achieving and well-prepared couple who, in their words, aspired to raise the next generation of society. Mia conducts research into sustainable food, while Aaryn tinkers with artificial intelligence in an attempt to create highly realistic pets. (His current hurdle is getting the texture of the fur just right.) They live in a tastefully appointed home—a minimalist abode befitting a creative couple in Marfa (Prod. Design by Jan Houllevigue)—and wear coveted linens and high-rises. The collared sweaters are designed by Silicon Valley’s wealthy technologists (costume design is by Sarah Blenkinsop).

EvaluateWhat’s most telling about the film, which premiered at the Toronto Film Festival, is that it focuses on the seemingly perfect couple trying to prove their worth to the country. Virginia’s presence changes the atmosphere in the home, giving it a more tense and sinister edge. Overly professional evaluators start the exam with basic biographical questions and then ease into the child’s role. Her performance confuses Mia and Aryan at first, but they soon embrace their roles.

In these moments, Evaluate Becomes a gripping psychological chamber drama about the self-abandonment of parenthood. It also cleverly reveals how one’s past and insecurities can influence parenting. When Virginia refuses breakfast in favor of a breakdown, Mia and Aryan’s reactions—discipline and surrender—tell us more about themselves than any quiz.

At home, Olsen, Patel, and Vikander are outstanding. Their performance requires them to balance two characters: Olsen and Patel are not only a couple studying power, but also new parents to Vikander, who is both “the child” and the arbiter of their fate. Vikander is particularly compelling in a role that requires her to wield and shift between different types of power. some of the most intense scenes EvaluateThe play, created by writing duo Thomas and playwright John Donnelly, follows Virginia, pretending to be a toddler, testing her parents’ wishes and battling their desire to win her affection. One dramatic incident involves an impromptu dinner party where Mia and Aryan must prepare to entertain their parents, friends, and acquaintances while balancing Virginia’s increasingly childish behavior. “Fortune” directs this scene with confidence, conveying the panic that arises when a parent must meet the demands of raising another human being and the social pressure to remain calm.

Over the course of seven days, Virginia finds new and unique ways to break Mia and Aryan’s will. The test became an all-consuming exercise that forced couples to reflect on themselves and their reasons for wanting children. Virginia, then, is like a mirror to Mia and Aryan, past and present. Through their interactions and performances, they confront painful memories and deep-seated anxieties. The results are both terrifying and fascinating.

In the best case scenario, Evaluate ably taps into and sustains the near-universal anxieties of parenting in a world increasingly uninhabitable due to overconsumption and climate change. But when the film broadens its scope and tries to incorporate last-minute world-building, it loses its way. Leaving Mia and Aryan’s home raises questions about their society that the film doesn’t have time to answer. When our attention turns to trying to understand the construction of the new world and its relationship to the old, our well-deserved attention disappears. The previously tense performances unraveled by this extension, and the story meandered to a conclusion with false depth. At the end, Evaluate It’s starting to feel like this story isn’t nearly as compelling as the one we’ve just spent an hour and a half engrossed in.