Starring Emilia Clarke and Chiwetel Ejiofor, the film The Pod Generation explores a near future world where babies are created now within women, but inside a pod. While the film presents interesting ideas, there is no plotline of the regular variety, and may leave its viewers with a feeling of, “wait. That’s it?”
The film makes it a point to discuss that the pods are meant to empower women and provide them with the freedom they need to have a family and their careers. The main character, Rachel, played by Clarke, is faced with the challenges of wanting to be a mother while also remaining an important figure at work, where her career is flourishing. Her husband, Alvy, played by Ejiofor is a botanist in a future world that prefers holograms of plants and has forgotten that fruit from trees can be eaten.
These ideas are not brought to a conclusion or even made to face any sort of true adversity. The film satirizes certain aspects of traditional motherhood and fatherhood, wherein the women sit and talk while the men carry the pods. Further, Rachel is stated to be the primary breadwinner for the family, as botany is not considered a real profession.
Even the central idea of children being grown in pods is not discussed or explored. I know the film wasn’t supposed to be the kind of story where a marketer and a botanist bring down a conglomerate, but it was odd that the company played such an antagonistic role. Another interesting theme that was not brought to a climax was the idea that Rachel dreams about motherhood, but the children born of the pods do not dream.
All in all, I think the film was inventive and interesting, and the acting was convincing and the world building was creative. The concept itself was fresh, and we expect nothing less from director Sophie Barthes. However, the lack of climactic conflict or otherwise resolution that felt any sort of cathartic left me frustrated and unsatisfied. I think that for most people, this movie is
YMMV.
You can watch The Pod Generation on Hulu.
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