'The Pod Generation' Director Sophie Barthes Says New Film Is Based on Her 'Strange Dreams' (Exclusive)

The film The Pod Generation is out in theatres now and is the third project directed by Sophie Barthes. In this satire, Barthes takes a look at what it's like to be pregnant in a world where AI is a part of everyday life. PopCulture.com spoke exclusively to Barthes about how she came up with the idea for The Pod Generation. 

"I had a lot of dreams when I was expecting my child, who's now 13," Barthes exclusively told PopCulture. "I had very strange dreams and I think it happens to a lot of pregnant women that something opens up, communication opens up in your psyche and you start to have very strange, beautiful dreams and I was writing them down. So I always wanted to do something around those dreams. Then I'm interested in the subject of the commodification of everything, which my first film was about the extraction of souls and the commodification of the soul. So I think it's always when you have an idea for a script, it's not one decisive moment. It's like a succession of things that made me want to write this about a couple. First, it was a very big movie that I wanted to make like Brave New World, very ambitious budget-wise and then I thought this is never going to get made."

"Then I made it simpler and just about a couple in New York and that technology. But it's been many years and it evolved. It changed a lot as the years were going. Then I was very interested in artificial intelligence too for the last four years, so there's also that aspect of the story that I wanted to put in there."

The Pod Generation stars Emilia Clarke and Chiwetel Ejiofor, who play a couple from New York who are ready to start a family. Clarke's character, Rachel, lands a spot at the Womb Center, which offers couples the opportunity to share pregnancy by way of mobile artificial wombs, or pods. Ejiofor's character, Alvy, has doubts, but his love for Rachel motivates him to join her on the journey. 

"The minute they were on set together, they had such a great chemistry and relationship," Barthes said when asked about working with Clarke and Ejiofor. "They're laughing constantly and fooling around. It was a very joyful shoot. This was still during the pandemic, so we all had masks and we couldn't really hang out that much socially after shooting. But despite all those conditions, I think they had a great time on set and they enjoyed playing that couple. You could feel it. You can sense it in how they played. They're just wonderful to work with."

For Clarke, this movie is special for her since she's also a producer, which is a first for the Game of Thrones star. "The moment she said she was going to make this film happen, she was relentless to get on Zooms, knock at all the doors to get the financing, because it's a small independent movie," Barthes explained. "It looks big on screen, but it's a small movie and she made it happen. I think without her commitment and dedication and the energy, I don't know if you've ever met her, but she is so much incredibly positive energy. She's really funny too. She really helped to convince financiers to put the money in. The determination to make this movie made was certainly a game changer for me to see the movie come to life."

While The Pod Generation is a satire, Barthes believes the world could see something like an artificial womb in the foreseeable future. "For sure, it's going to happen," she stated. "That's the thing of the film and that's why I made it as a satire, but it's just an allegory for me. It's the womb, but it could be any technology and it's just a question of why don't we regulate those things before they happen because they're going to happen and once they happen, we're not going to know what to do with it. That's what happened with social media. That's what's happening with artificial intelligence right now. Scientists and inventors and creators do those things because they can and there's no regulation. Then once we have it in our hands, it creates this entire debate and question, ethical debate, philosophical debate."