Set in 22nd century New York, The Pod Generation tells the story of Rachel (Emilia Clarke) and Alvy (Chiwetel Ejiofor), a happy couple who live in a future where technology has become overabundant in terms of efficiency and convenience. Rachel is a rising executive at the Womb Center and Alvy is a botanist with a passion for nature. Without the latter’s knowledge, Rachel books a spot at the Womb Center to undergo a revolutionary process of childbirth through artificial wombs that look like pods. Seeing as Alvy prefers the natural order of things and Rachel thriving on functionality, the path to parenthood for the lead couple will become more than a tad askew.
The premise of The Pod Generation sounds promising as it is jam-packed with potential. It is ripe with many ideas that feel real and are easy to send up (the overuse of technology, gender bias, parenting) and thought-provoking discussions (How and why are things considered natural?) that if told with a cinematic touch, it can deliver an entertaining and engaging narrative.
On the positive side, the world-building is efficient, vivid and realistic. Even on a modest budget, the production values of the film do a marvellous job in establishing the world. It makes the not-too-distant future look appropriately sleek, surprisingly believable and eerily sterile. Even the nature aspect of the environment feels suspiciously off-kilter, like in a scene where Alvy lectures his students into trying out a fig that was grown from a tree (as opposed to being synthetically manufactured).
In terms of storytelling, writer/director Sophie Barthes relies on a light touch on the comedic and dramatic side of the film and it is a good choice that benefits the satire as well as the mood of the story. The humour and pathos are both shrewd (especially with the world striving to be pensive and peaceful that the characters would resort to breathing air from plants via oxygen mask) and shocking in its implication (how abstraction like art and dreams can be commodified and quantified).
The performances from both Clarke and Ejiofor are stellar, as they both provide dramatic backbone to the proceedings as well as solid comedic timing that makes the humour work. Clarke is very good as the naïve and open Rachel as she puts her expressive face to very good use as her character undergoes a dilemma that often has to be hidden not only from her co-workers but also from her partner; while Ejiofor is enjoyable as the taciturn and slightly conceited Alvy whose shell on nature begins to crumble when he becomes open to the pod.
On the negative side, the ideas that Barthes presents in the film are not examined in a thorough manner. At best, the ideas come off as amusing comedic asides or stirring questions that provide food-for-thought for the audience and yet are not followed through on a narrative standpoint. The lack of introspection also makes the ending (which should have been a pinnacle for our lead characters) feel anti-climactic.
Overall, The Pod Generation is an amusing and initially thought-provoking sci-fi piece on the nature of childbirth and parenting through the prism of overriding technology. While the film presents many ideas that are prime for satire and drama, the execution is inconsistent and ultimately lacking.
THREE STARS (OUT OF FIVE)
The Pod Generation is playing as part of this year’s Sundance Film Festival, taking place between January 19th and 29th, 2023, both in person and online. For more information head to the official Sundance page.
