The Children of Men (2006)

Starring Clive Owen and Julianne Moore; Directed by Alfonso Cuaron

The Children of Men is a gripping account of a terrible future, one in which every woman in the world has been rendered infertile by an unknown cause. As the film opens the last child was born 18 years ago. The world has devolved into a chaotic, depressing mess; we see Great Britain under a totalitarian regime, and learn that it is the last functioning society. Various wars and acts of terrorism have rendered all other countries unsafe.

Clive Owen plays Theo Faron, a faceless bureaucrat working at an anonymous office job. His trip into London is punctuated by random violence, and he must walk past riot-clad policemen from “Homeland Security”, and cages holding captured foreigners.

Then his world is turned upside down. He’s reunited with a former lover, Julian Taylor, played by Julianne Moore. She’s head of an underground organization fighting the repressive government. She needs a favor from Theo, and he finds himself involved almost in spite of himself.

The favor involves accompanying a mysterious woman on a harrowing journey. They travel from danger to danger, trusting changeable allies, with violence shadowing their every move, and with no guarantee of safety save an illusive rendezvous point they’re trying to reach.

This movie is reminiscent of Blade Runner. Both depict a dystopian future, a future that we would do well to avoid. The disturbing thing about The Children of Men is that this future seems a lot closer to our current situation than the high-tech world of Blade Runner. The movie is based on the novel of the same name by P.D. James.

England under totalitarian rule, with xenophobic reactions to foreigners and brutal actions by a Homeland Security agency, seem plausible outgrowths of affairs in our own world.

The movie’s message is chilling: a world lacking in children is a world lacking in laughter, happiness, compassion, and empathy. It is a world in which brutal, violent actions seem the only way to cope. It is a world without hope.

But a hope does arise in the movie, and the major characters in the film stake their lives on it. There is one transcendent moment in the film (near the end) which almost redeems all of the characters and all of the terrible things we’ve witnessed. It doesn’t last long, and the significance may be fleeting, but it is one of the most beautiful movie scenes I’ve ever seen.

This is not a film for the faint of heart. The violence is constant and horrific. I don’t recommend this movie for most children, and only for adults who can look past the violence to the important messages it imparts.