To the question of whether the world would end in fire or ice, Children of Men offers a different answer: Quietus. The film is a new take on the classic science fiction theme of approaching apocalypse. In this case, as mankind approaches its end, it would seem that despair and emptiness will be the crises that eventually kill humanity.
In the not-so-distant future, mankind is in the throes of death - no children have been born in 20 years and London's been reduced to a chaotic class war between refugees and citizens. Children follows Theo (Clive Owen) as he attempts to deliver a young, pregnant refugee to safe haven. The actor delivers a gem of a performance as a melancholy former activist who has lost all hope, but Michael Caine still manages to steal scenes from Owen with his hilarious offering as a hippie weed dealer.
The movie is a thought-provoking adrenaline rush with a twisting plot and enough action to keep the audience on the edge of its seat. With not-so-veiled references to Abu Ghraib and Guantanamo, Mexican director Alfonso Cuar¢n uses the film as a vehicle to cast a sharp light on the current state of the world, and does not spare the victims themselves, or more accurately, the fanatics amongst them.
The movie starts with a literal bang and builds up to an even more powerful crescendo in the final scene: rebel fighters battle Homeland Security soldiers in all-out urban warfare. The gripping scene is emblematic of Cuar¢n's ability as a visual storyteller. By the end of Children of Men, audiences will find themselves numbed, awed and exhausted from viewing this must-see film.
