The Pod Generation is a 2023 science fiction romantic comedy film written and directed by Sophie Barthes. The film was released at the Sundance Film Festival on 19 January 2023.

Plot

Set in the not-so-distant future in New York City, Rachel Novy is ensconced in a tranquil dream where she envisions herself embracing motherhood. However, her reality starkly contrasts this idyllic dream, as the demands of her life and job leave no room for a traditional pregnancy. Despite Rachel and her husband, Alvy, sharing a fervent desire to become parents, their lives are firmly under the sway of artificial intelligence both at work and at home. As a result of the advancements in technology, personal AI voice assistants choreograph people's daily routines including Rachel and Alvy's, and indoor artificial nature pods replace genuine outdoor experiences. Rachel works as a dedicated and accomplished employee at Pegazus, a prominent tech conglomerate, and her unwavering commitment earns her a well-deserved promotion, which comes with an intriguing offer: The company offers to bear the substantial expenses of childbirth through the innovative services of the Womb Center, a subsidiary of Pegazus, should Rachel choose to embrace this opportunity. The Womb Center itself stands as a cutting-edge research institution in the U.S. under the ownership and stewardship of Pegazus, with their overarching goal being to counter the global decline in birth rates caused by the immense physical and emotional tolls associated with childbirth. This decline likewise threatens global population stability. To alleviate the strain on prospective parents, particularly women, the Womb Center thus devised a groundbreaking technology: detachable remote wombs, which resemble large eggs. Upon receiving the offer from her company to cover the expenses of the program, Rachel is overwhelmed, and sees the opportunity as presenting an enticing chance, especially when she receives the long-awaited news from the Womb Center confirming her acceptance into their program. However Alvy, a botanist, ardently cherishes a life untainted by technological interventions. Due to these differing views, Rachel and Alvy end up grappling with their profound differences rooted in their contrasting attitudes toward technology; Rachel is more amenable to technological advancements and Alvy prefers to spend his time out caring for live trees and plants, which have become rare in the city. Upon learning of Rachel’s enrollment in the Womb Center program, Alvy is taken aback by her unilateral decision to pursue this unconventional path to parenthood. Beyond the rift in their understanding, Alvy is also deeply troubled by the prospect of altering the natural course of childbirth. Despite the efforts of Rachel’s friends and her AI therapist, Alvy remains unyielding in his resistance, but his love for Rachel and her unwavering desire to have a child ultimately leads him to reluctantly agree to proceed with the Pod-based childbirth. Over time, Alvy goes from being skeptical to becoming fascinated with the Pod, eventually growing affectionate towards it as the child within develops. This eventually results in him treating the Pod like a child and taking it everywhere with him, though he still retains his principles and attunement to nature. By comparison, Rachel grows more distant with the Pod, as she is plagued by doubts and dreams of being pregnant. She also ends up facing hypocrisy and disdain from her coworkers when she brings the Pod to work like Alvy does. Eventually, Rachel and Alvy begin to harbor growing doubts and apprehensions about the Womb Center when the company alters its agreement terms in response to a rising demand for its services; the company seeks to expedite the childbirth process, reducing it to a shorter 39 weeks so that it can swiftly empty the pods for the next couple in line. Rachel and Alvy, deeply concerned for the well-being of their baby, become wary of this accelerated timeline and desire to keep the Pod at home and manage the birth themselves. However, the Womb Center disapproves of this, forcing the couple to covertly steal the Pod from the Womb Center and take it to Alvy's residence in Shell Island, as they know the Center will search for it. As Alvy teaches Rachel the benefits of living in a more natural setting, the couple discovers the Womb Center has remotely withdrawn its support in retaliation for their choice, threatening the baby inside by preventing them from using the digital code provided to open the Pod. This results in them being forced to break open the Pod themselves with a screwdriver, allowing them to safely deliver their son. The morning after, as Alvy and their new baby lie sleeping, Rachel carefully packs up the broken Pod and sends it back to the Womb Center via the mail, ending its role in their lives in favor of a more natural life without technological enhancements before returning home to cradle her newborn son in bed. In a mid-credits scene, the Pegazus CEO is given a television interview, making perplexing claims about the company’s intentions to allow babies to choose their parents in the future, hinting at the possibility of Pegazus integrating AI more directly into human embryos to accelerate their development beyond the norm.

Cast

Emilia Clarke as Rachel Novy Chiwetel Ejiofor as Alvy Novy Megan Maczko as Elena; Novy Household "Cognitive Assistant" Vinette Robinson as Alice; Rachel's colleague and friend Jelle De Beule as Ben; Alice's Husband Eliza Butterworth as Masha; a new Generation of "Cognitive Assistants" Rosalie Craig as Womb Center Director Kathryn Hunter as post office clerk Jean-Marc Barr as Pegazus founder

Production

It was announced in October 2021 that Emilia Clarke and Chiwetel Ejiofor would star in the film, which was to be written and directed by Sophie Barthes. In May 2022, Rosalie Craig, Vinette Robinson and Kathryn Hunter were reported as added to the cast. Rita Bernard-Shaw and Megan Maczko were reported as part of the cast in November 2022. Filming took place in March 2022 in Belgium.

Release

The Pod Generation premiered at the Sundance Film Festival on 19 January 2023. In March 2023, Roadside Attractions and Vertical Entertainment acquired North America rights and released the film in limited cinemas on 11 August 2023.

Reception

On the review aggregator website Rotten Tomatoes, 41% of 76 critics' reviews are positive, with an average rating of 5.6/10. The website's consensus reads: "With its roundabout script undermining solid performances from Emilia Clarke and Chiwetel Ejiofor, The Pod Generation stimulates the mind but not much else." Metacritic, which uses a weighted average, assigned the film a score of 60 out of 100, based on 22 critics, indicating "mixed or average" reviews.

References

External links

The Pod Generation at IMDb