Children of Men (2006)

 

Children of Men (2006)

 

8/10

Starring

Clive Owen

Julianne Moore

Michael Caine

Chiwetel Ejiofor

Charlie Hunnam

 

Directed by Alfonso Cuarón

 

It was nominated for three Academy Awards: Best Adapted Screenplay, Best Cinematography, and Best Film Editing, and watching it now, I can see why. How come the actors did not receive as much accolades as the screenplay? The cinematography goes over my head, because the performances were fantastic all around, especially Clive Owen.

The movie is so well written that I can tell you from the very first shot, the way the scenery is placed, you are captivated by what is happening and you do not want to move. When we get to the scene where Theo and Jasper sit and talk, the whole cinematic shot of the newspaper cutouts and pictures tells a whole different story of what has happened. That also grips you, and you now have more questions, like what is that? What led to that? I am amazed by this screenplay mastery by director Alfonso Cuarón and co.

Many times, we get upset when movies play too many tunes like faith, religion, politics, and hope and that is because we worry that there would be no balance. But this movie does a good job balancing these themes in a way that, now seeing it for the first time in 2025, it still feels relevant, like it was written based on what is happening now.

So the plot is this: in 2027, the world has suffered from two decades of human infertility, and this has caused global civilization to collapse. But as the chaos and war of this situation consume much of the planet, the United Kingdom emerges as a heavily militarized police state. It seems Britain has managed to make itself stand out as "controlled-balance" in this craziness. But it does so in such a cruel way, it tracks down and captures refugees and asylum seekers, detaining, deporting, and sometimes executing them.

Clive Owen plays Theo Faron, a former activist. After visiting his friend Jasper, he is kidnapped by the Fishes, a militant pro-refugee group led by his estranged wife, Julian. From the scenes in Jasper's house, we can see that Theo and Julian were together with a child. The death of that child is what fractured their marriage. Julian asks Theo for help with transit papers for a young refugee woman named Kee. In this infertile world, the surprise is that Kee is pregnant and this is the first pregnancy in like two decades. The introduction of Theo to Kee by Julian started easy, then it became violent quick and the action-thrilling chase/running starts.

The movie has this way of coasting in the start, as we sit waiting for some big bang to happen. Then it does, and this movie becomes an action-thrilling chase that feels like you, the viewer, are invested in a situation that is way above your pay grade. You’re trapped, just holding your breath, hoping everything will work out well in the end.

The movie is based on a book, The Children of Men, published in 1992 and set in 2021. This movie is set in 2027. I haven’t read the book, so I can’t list other differences between the two, but as much as I love this movie, I have to say some characters don’t have good development or backstory. Now, a book has the space to do that, but in a movie it can be hard to give a backstory to everyone. Still, I didn’t like the fact that some of the more prominent people didn’t have a good enough backstory.

Also, the movie can feel a bit emotionally cold. That may be the whole idea, based on the way the world is, but you the viewer can definitely feel it. I liked the way the world-building happens right in front of you, with many things left as mysteries, which some people may not like.

Will I recommend this movie? Hell yeah. It is one of the best movies of the 2000s, for sure.