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Clive Owen in CHILDREN OF MEN (2006).
© Universal Pictures

Mania Grade: A-
Maniac Grade: A+
Reviewed Format: Theatrical Release
Rated: R
Stars: Clive Owen, Julianne Moore, Claire-Hope Ashitey, Chiwetel Ejiofor, Michael Caine
Writers: Alfonso Cuaron & Timothy J. Sexton and David Arata and Mark Fergus & Hawk Ostby, based on the novel by P.D. James
Director: Alfonso Cuaron
Distributor: Universal Pictures

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"Children of Men"

In Children of Men, the foreseeable future is bleak and horrible. This isn’t a new concept – in fiction (or real-life concerns) – but director Alfonso Cuaron gives it a compelling, absorbing texture that draws us into what’s happening with a blend of you-are-there realism and growing compassion.

At the time Children of Men begins, the women of the world have been totally infertile for going on two decades; the world’s youngest person, an 18-year-old celebrity, has just been stabbed to death by an angry fan. Chaos spans the globe. (where the film is set) touts itself as the last bastion of civilization, though most of it is a war zone, with a government cracking down ferociously on immigrants and bomb-throwing zealots showing their objection in tangibly bloody terms. Theo (Clive Owen) is a bureaucrat who at present doesn’t care much about anything. However, when he’s kidnapped by a Fish (as the rebels call themselves) resistance cell headed by his ex-love Julian (Julianne Moore), Theo winds up agreeing to help them spirit a young immigrant named Kee (Claire-Hope Ashitey) to safety. Kee is pregnant, which makes her valuable to all sides and Theo’s basic decency – which Julian has counted on – puts him in the center of events as all hell breaks loose.

If the concept sounds vaguely familiar, Cuaron and his co-writers Timothy J. Sexton and David Arata and Mark Fergus & Hawk Ostby, adapting P.D. James’ novel, make it feel urgent, new and thoughtful in its handling. Conviction and style are everything here. Because Cuaron and Co. believe in the tale they tell, they make the world believable. There are domestic animals everywhere, as there would be in a world seeking child substitutes, but it’s never exaggerated or discussed, simply a fact of life. Likewise, in the midst of a war zone, nobody comments on the brutality – they simply run, cope or die. Theo’s actions are engrossing not because they are extraordinary, but because we’re made as scared as he is, so that anything other than simply ducking for cover becomes a moral choice with weight to it.

Cuaron has compassion for his characters, even the ones who make ghastly choices, and he fills his frames with detailed life from edge to edge. He also makes some splendid casting choices – Chiwetel Ejiofor as Julian’s dedicated second in command, Ashitey as the strong-minded but understandably wary pregnant woman and Michael Caine as Theo’s best friend, a free spirit in spite of the times.

Although the tone is fairly bleak, by the finale, it’s easy to understand thematically why someone decided Children of Men should open on Christmas Day. There is hope here, and goodwill – and excellent filmmaking, too.