The Pod Generation
Roadside Attractions | Release Date: August 11, 2023 CRITIC SCORE DISTRIBUTION
60
METASCORE
Mixed or average reviews based on 23 Critic Reviews
Positive:
14
Mixed:
8
Negative:
1
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Critic Reviews

Critic scorePublicationBy date
80
Film ThreatAlan NgJan 26, 2023
The Pod Generation is a science-fiction film with something to say and forces us to confront our future by asking questions. Just because we can screw around with biology, should we? Sophie Barthes’ futuristic tale is worth watching just for the conversation that’s bound to happen afterward. Read full review
80
VarietyOwen GleibermanJan 23, 2023
The Pod Generation is very much about our flesh, and the forces that are only too happy to take it away from us. Read full review
75
Entertainment WeeklyLeah GreenblattFeb 2, 2023
Ejiofor is eminently relatable as an analog man who can't seem to understand where it all went wrong, and Clarke's eyebrows knit with such pained expressiveness, it's as if they're having their own wriggling monologue throughout the movie. Read full review
75
The Film StageJohn FinkJan 26, 2023
Smart and perceptive, The Pod Generation is more than a one-note big-tech satire. Read full review
75
IndieWireKate ErblandJan 23, 2023
Strong performances by both Clarke and Chiwetel Ejiofor, plus compelling production design from Clem Price Thomas (the pods and the wider world around them are instantly credible) recommend the feature, even if some of Barthes’ biggest ideas (she also wrote the film’s script) sometimes feel under-explored by the time the film reaches its conclusion. Read full review
74
Paste MagazineAndrew CrumpAug 10, 2023
Like many of the bright suggestions The Pod Generation offers, it would have been better left trimmed from the story, not because the outcomes and repercussions of the tech shouldn’t be explored but because there isn’t room to explore them all in under two hours. Read full review
72
PolygonTasha RobinsonSep 14, 2023
The Pod Generation isn’t going to leave anyone with the dread and emotional impetus of a hard-hitting, scary sci-fi future, or the uplift and catharsis of a well-observed satisfying one. It’s more of a placid puzzler than a moving experience, though there’s certainly plenty to see on screen, and plenty to recognize in the commercialization it lampoons. Read full review
70
The New York TimesBrandon YuAug 14, 2023
While its heady themes yield commentary that is ultimately just a tad thin, Barthes’s satire is best enjoyed the way it’s made — without taking itself too seriously. Read full review
70
VoxAlissa WilkinsonFeb 2, 2023
The Pod Generation foregrounds Rachel and Alvy’s relationship, exploring how technologies change our most intimate connections and raising questions from a world not so unlike our own. Read full review
70
Screen RantPatrice WitherspoonFeb 2, 2023
Barthes’ thought-provoking script is backed by phenomenal performances from Clark and Ejiofor. And despite its longer-than-needed runtime, the feature is sure to keep audiences entertained from start to finish. Read full review
70
Screen DailyAmber WilkinsonJan 23, 2023
The Pod Generation blends its tech parody with more quirky observations of the anxieties of impending parenthood and, if Barthes doesn’t always sink the satire’s talons in quite as far as she might, the film’s sweet-natured hopefulness and charming central couple should see it win over distributors and audiences. Read full review
67
ConsequenceLiz Shannon MillerJan 31, 2023
The resulting film is lacking in subtlety at times, but the world-building offered up some fascinating details, especially in a time when we’re seeing real-life human professions be reconsidered as potential tasks for artificial intelligence. Read full review
67
The PlaylistJason BaileyJan 23, 2023
Barthes’ screenplay is clean; for the most part, it’s brainy but not didactic, and thoughtful but not dull. Read full review
61
TheWrapSteve PondJan 23, 2023
There’s an austerity to the film, but also a sense that this interesting couple in this interesting environment is going over the same territory with only minor changes. Read full review
60
The Hollywood ReporterDavid RooneyJan 23, 2023
For all the movie’s quite credible conjecture about technology rendering nature obsolete and procreation becoming the privilege of the wealthy, The Pod Generation never fully hatches. Read full review
50
Los Angeles TimesRobert AbeleAug 14, 2023
In Barthes’ curiously distanced, muted handling, we only sense points being made, not lives being lived. Read full review
50
Movie NationRoger MooreAug 9, 2023
Barthes has given us an immaculate, vividly-believable future to be dreaded and avoided. But she’s put it in a movie so unemotional that we can’t invest ourselves in taking a stand to prevent it, even if the script ordains that the under-motivated Rachel and Alvy do. Read full review
50
New York PostJohnny OleksinskiFeb 2, 2023
A movie needs more than a smart idea and an impressively visualized concept of the future to run smoothly. Two-thirds of the way through, “The Pod Generation’s” battery is already at 1%. Read full review
50
ColliderRoss BonaimeJan 23, 2023
The Pod Generation ends with a thud, leaving the audience to question what the purpose of this endeavor even was. Read full review
50
SlashfilmChris EvangelistaJan 23, 2023
What The Pod Generation lacks in cohesion it (mostly) makes up for in laughs. Read full review
40
IGNSiddhant AdlakhaAug 17, 2023
Part sci-fi satire, part futuristic dramedy, and almost entirely sterile, The Pod Generation seeks to make lofty comments about our world, and the politics of women’s and workers’ autonomy. However, it scarcely has anything to offer beyond the sleek technological designs it tries and fails to critique. Read full review
40
The Daily BeastNick Schager
Neither as scary nor as funny as its premise might be, The Pod Generation instead coasts along on a placid, self-satisfied wavelength. Read full review
38
RogerEbert.comPeyton RobinsonAug 11, 2023
The Pod Generation is thoughtful and timely but flat, an opaque expression of an overly simple thesis. Read full review
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