After premiering at the most recent Sundance Film Festival, director/writer Sophie Barthes' (Cold Souls, Madame Bovary) The Pod Generation will make its North American theatrical debut on August 11.
To promote its release, a new clip has been released featuring Emilia Clarke's (Game of Thrones, Secret Invasion) Rachel and Chiwetel Ejiofor's (Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness, The Old Guard) Alvy.
Set in futuristic New York, the film puts a high sci-fi, yet comedic spin on artificial conception, where AI becomes your surrogate mother. Complicating matters further in this scenario is the difference in philosophical approach to procreation between a tech executive and a botanist.
While promoting the film at Sundance, Barthes had the following to say about the film:
"I love science fiction, but it takes itself very seriously—for a good cause because it’s trying to say important things about human beings. As a filmmaker, it’s interesting to tackle subjects that have political resonance, [but] I think you have more impact with laughter [because] no one likes to be lectured. For me, I always feel laughter is the most powerful tool."
"But the film also has some poetic and dreamlike moments. I feel the experience of life is, we go through this rollercoaster of emotions. In one day, we can cry, we can laugh, we can be extremely depressed or elated. It’s difficult to pull off in a film because I think it’s easier for an audience to dive into one specific tone. The beauty of films is, they come together at one point and have their own tonality. That’s a discovery you make as you work on the film."
Joining Clarke and Ejiofor in the film are Rosalie Craig (Lovesick, The Queen's Gambit), Vinette Robinson (Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker, The Lazarus Project), Kathryn Hunter (Andor, Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix), Jean-Marc Barr (Nymphomaniac), and Rita Bernard-Shaw (The Machine, The Power).
The Pod Generation is rated PG-13 and has a run time of 109 minutes.
The Pod Generation Official Synopsis: A New York couple, Rachel (Emilia Clarke) and Alvy (Chiwetel Ejiofor) live in a not-so-distant future where technology provides ever-more convenient living. A rising tech company executive, Rachel lands a coveted spot at the Womb Center, which offers couples a convenient (and shareable) maternity by way of detachable artificial wombs, or pods. But Alvy, a botanist with an affection for nature, prefers a natural pregnancy. And yet, as Rachel’s AI therapist puts it, why is that “natural”? So begins the tech-paved path to parenthood.
A social satire of detachment parenting, Sophie Barthes’ third feature delves into the fraught, comedically tantalizing relationship between technology, nature, and society. In her imaginative world, AIs make coffee, print toast, track productivity, and measure people’s “bliss index.” But at what cost? Even nature is no longer natural (there are “nature pods”). Barthes brings a funny, philosophical sensibility to her questioning of society’s giddy pursuit of convenience, tech’s intrusion in our lives, womb envy, and the commodification of… everything. And Clarke and Ejiofor’s wry touch and emotional depth lend it a deep resonance and romance.