The Pod Generation (2023)
While the dystopian future genre has existed since the birth of cinema, there is no mistaking the boom the genre has had since the debut of Black Mirror that introduced a whole generation to new ideals as far as how social commentary can be worked into warning tales about the future. Since then, numerous films have tried to craft their own unique stories and takes with the results ranging from masterful to disastrous. Screening as part of the 2023 Sundance Film Festival, Sophie Barthes' The Pod Generation looks to define its own dystopian tale with a specific focus on questions regarding reproduction and pregnancy. Set in a futuristic New York which has allowed AI and technology to assist in nearly every aspect of life, The Pod Generation follows a young couple who decide to have a pregnancy via a new detachable artificial womb method that allows the couple to have more freedom and autonomy during the baby's development.
With modern developments in visual effects and overall production design, it should come as no shock that the production value of The Pod Generation is arguably one of its biggest highlights. While most dystopian films tend to lean towards more clinical worlds, the film spins this idea to create fresh iconography that isn't afraid to incorporate limited displays of nature and color. Rather than being a fully dystopian future, The Pod Generation clearly tries to achieve a feeling of a more near future where things are not quite alien to the world that exists now. Even compared to the work within Black Mirror, The Pod Generation stands tall with a unique visual identity and world that can be rewarding to explore and discover. This also thematically makes the film more connected to the audiences of today with small conversations such as the need to replace real plants with holographic plants giving more direct warning signs to the process that would transform our world to one of a dystopia.
While this world is fun to explore, it unfortunately does struggle as a foundation for the story The Pod Generation is telling. Without getting into spoilers, The Pod Generation is a film that never feels quite ready to take the next venomous or twisted step to find the truly shocking narrative that feels like the logical conclusion for a story like this. There is a clear voice within the film condemning the ways the world is changing within the film, but there is very little substance to actually explain or communicate why these advancements are bad. The therapy provided by the AI system seems to work fine and the darker turns of the pod program is incredibly lackluster. Had the style been less tense, there is a world where The Pod Generation could have been a genuinely nuanced conversation surrounding the future of reproduction, but that nuance is replaced by blind judgment that never lands how it clearly wants to.
In its place, the film decides to straw man its own world with seemingly random side conversations that can be more easy to disagree with and ridicule. The largest of these is the conversation surrounding nature. Alvy (Chiwetel Ejiofor) works as a botanist and clearly values nature, causing him to become frustrated at the consistent attacks surrounding its place in the world. His wife, Rachel (Emilia Clarke), is more open to holographic replacements and confusingly decides to be the voice for the technology and even argue against having a living tree in their future nursery. This doesn't make sense considering Rachel is shown to have a clear understanding for the power of nature and the couple even owns a second house outside of the city in a less technology-based area that more resembles the society of today. Still, Rachel plays her part and Alvy plays his part within this conversation, both showing conviction within their performances, this discussion still leaves logic and relevancy to the side to give the film a cleaner argument of judgment against the future world it has built.
This lack of logic and complexity is a common theme for The Pod Generation which also struggles with its center debate surrounding pregnancy. Outside of just asking if it is right for a couple to have a child develop in a pod rather than a human body, the film begins to have some interesting examinations such as the evolution of gender roles within a pregnancy if the child is no longer connected to that of the mother. The film, however, ends up doing very little with these conversations and the focus is almost entirely too narrow. No consideration is given to how the film's world or narrative would react with people of color or those affected by poverty who face disproportionately more complications with birth. The same can be applied to same sex couples and women who simply cannot get pregnant. These are simple ways to expand the film's thoughts and narratives to be more worthwhile and holistic, but instead, the film decides to keep the basic idea it starts with and never expand beyond that.
While The Pod Generation does everything in its technical power to seem like some grand and needed statement, the film ends up feeling like a rather hollow first draft in practice. While the film is far from bad, the iconography is still strong and there are legitimately strong conversations being started, the film never finds the next step needed to not only really get to the meat of its debate, but also to simply justify its 109-minute runtime that can struggle with pacing and substance.
With modern developments in visual effects and overall production design, it should come as no shock that the production value of The Pod Generation is arguably one of its biggest highlights. While most dystopian films tend to lean towards more clinical worlds, the film spins this idea to create fresh iconography that isn't afraid to incorporate limited displays of nature and color. Rather than being a fully dystopian future, The Pod Generation clearly tries to achieve a feeling of a more near future where things are not quite alien to the world that exists now. Even compared to the work within Black Mirror, The Pod Generation stands tall with a unique visual identity and world that can be rewarding to explore and discover. This also thematically makes the film more connected to the audiences of today with small conversations such as the need to replace real plants with holographic plants giving more direct warning signs to the process that would transform our world to one of a dystopia.
While this world is fun to explore, it unfortunately does struggle as a foundation for the story The Pod Generation is telling. Without getting into spoilers, The Pod Generation is a film that never feels quite ready to take the next venomous or twisted step to find the truly shocking narrative that feels like the logical conclusion for a story like this. There is a clear voice within the film condemning the ways the world is changing within the film, but there is very little substance to actually explain or communicate why these advancements are bad. The therapy provided by the AI system seems to work fine and the darker turns of the pod program is incredibly lackluster. Had the style been less tense, there is a world where The Pod Generation could have been a genuinely nuanced conversation surrounding the future of reproduction, but that nuance is replaced by blind judgment that never lands how it clearly wants to.
In its place, the film decides to straw man its own world with seemingly random side conversations that can be more easy to disagree with and ridicule. The largest of these is the conversation surrounding nature. Alvy (Chiwetel Ejiofor) works as a botanist and clearly values nature, causing him to become frustrated at the consistent attacks surrounding its place in the world. His wife, Rachel (Emilia Clarke), is more open to holographic replacements and confusingly decides to be the voice for the technology and even argue against having a living tree in their future nursery. This doesn't make sense considering Rachel is shown to have a clear understanding for the power of nature and the couple even owns a second house outside of the city in a less technology-based area that more resembles the society of today. Still, Rachel plays her part and Alvy plays his part within this conversation, both showing conviction within their performances, this discussion still leaves logic and relevancy to the side to give the film a cleaner argument of judgment against the future world it has built.
This lack of logic and complexity is a common theme for The Pod Generation which also struggles with its center debate surrounding pregnancy. Outside of just asking if it is right for a couple to have a child develop in a pod rather than a human body, the film begins to have some interesting examinations such as the evolution of gender roles within a pregnancy if the child is no longer connected to that of the mother. The film, however, ends up doing very little with these conversations and the focus is almost entirely too narrow. No consideration is given to how the film's world or narrative would react with people of color or those affected by poverty who face disproportionately more complications with birth. The same can be applied to same sex couples and women who simply cannot get pregnant. These are simple ways to expand the film's thoughts and narratives to be more worthwhile and holistic, but instead, the film decides to keep the basic idea it starts with and never expand beyond that.
While The Pod Generation does everything in its technical power to seem like some grand and needed statement, the film ends up feeling like a rather hollow first draft in practice. While the film is far from bad, the iconography is still strong and there are legitimately strong conversations being started, the film never finds the next step needed to not only really get to the meat of its debate, but also to simply justify its 109-minute runtime that can struggle with pacing and substance.