Tags:
Film: Children of Men
Year: 2006
Director: Alfonso Cuarón
Writer: Alfonso Cuarón, Timothy J. Sexton, David Arata, Mark Fergus and Hawk Ostby
Starring: Julianne Moore, Clive Owen and Chiwetel Ejiofor
Review:
In this film, we begin with a man, played by Clive Owen, getting coffee from a small shop. Everyone in there is entranced by the television, where the youngest individual in the world was just murdered. The television also gives us backstory as to what is happening in the world. Everyone is infertile; the world has had a financial and political collapse. Britain is considered the best place to live, but despite that, it is still practically in shambles.
After Owen leaves, the shop is bombed. It is blamed on a guerilla group that is fighting for rights of the refugees. That is something else in this film; the government has camps all-around of illegal refugees. They round them up and keep them in different areas.
Owen goes to his dad’s house to visit, played by Michael Caine. From there we learn that he was married to Julianne Moore, who works with the resistance group and that they had a child together who died.
Back in the city he is kidnapped by Moore and her group. They tell him they need papers to move a girl to the coast and need his help to get them. He agrees, but he seems reluctant. The only way he can get them is to get one for him as well so he has to escort her to the coast. On the way, Moore is killed by gunfire and they end up at a farm. Here the girl who needs to be escorted reveals why she is important, she is pregnant with the first child in 18 years.
It is now Owen’s goal to get her safely to the human rights group with her child, all of mankind could depend on it.
This film is dark, gritty and I believe because of that makes it great. No one knows why everyone is infertile, but it will lead to the end of mankind if no one does. Owen’s character is a former activist, but he’s given up to just living life. This film is story driven and it doesn’t disappoint.
I am adding this one to the horror film research, because we have the human race being unable to reproduce. It is scary that we would die out. There is one glimmer of hope with this young pregnant woman. Owen must do what he can to keep her alive to ensure our race. The other thing is that the people in the film do not know why everyone is infertile, so they do not know have a way of preventing it.
I would recommend this film. It is post-apocalyptic, the story is great and the acting is solid. Sometimes it can be hard to understand if you don’t understand British English, but that is really the only drawback I see. This film has humor, action and a sense of dread that continues on the whole film. I don’t think you’ll be disappointed here.
My Rating: 7 out of 10