Everyone knows about the test.
Everyone has to take the test.
Everyone knows the consequence of the test.
‘The Test’ is set in a dystopian society where everyone, once they reach eighteen, must take the test.
No one actually knows what it tests, but at the end, you either pass, or fail.
If you pass, you are invited into society. If you fail, you are excommunicated, destined to live with the rejects until death comes.
The narrative follows one particular girl as she is about to take the test. She is lead to a small empty room, and she sits and waits.
A series of objects start appearing, each with instructions on what she must do. One of the tasks includes cutting open a teddy bear, which has a beating heart in it.
The final task is choosing between three people – a young girl, a convict, and a homeless person – and deciding who must die. The final task has her shaken, but she finally decides on the convict.
And is then forced to watch moments from his life – raising two children as a single dad, being wrongly accused, taking the sentence for his son who would otherwise be put to death.
She breaks down, and is condemned to be an outcast.