So much attentions were put into the details of the film. From the surveillance streets of London with its Orwellian "Please Report Suspicious Activity" poster to the Bexhill of refugee where the unfortunate multiculturals are dumped in to the slums, marking their presence with graffiti. Released in 2006, it's as if the has already foresaw what happens a decade later with its take on the issue of refugee, the age pyramid problem, while still being a film of its age, characterized by post-9/11 distrust of the government, represented excellently by the most likely state nearing authoritarianism, Great Britain.

I admit, however, that the film can be a bit tedious to watch at times. Character relationship gets a build-up just a moment prior their death. There were rather trivial shots; like of Theo wearing sandals, crossing the forests, etc where it spends quite a few seconds, kinda making the film runs longer than it should. These might be references to specific real-life events or arts, as it does reference a lot of things from Auscwhitz-inspired detainment camp to Michelangelo's La Pietas, but I didn't get it.

Still, Children of Men manages to build a convincing world, and watching it as the events unfold was intense.

It's been eighteen years since the birth of the last human child and civilization is barely hanging on by a thread. Clive Owen and Julianne Moore, members of a violent resistance movement, find themselves escorting the holy grail - a miraculously pregnant woman - through the dregs of a dystopian badland.

It's a great encapsulation of all the best elements of dark, future-gazing science fiction, hauntingly recognizable despite the distant timeframe. Owen is fantastic in a demanding leading role: part jaded worker-bee, part helpless victim, shattered widower, problem solver and action hero. The film moves incredibly quickly, delighting in its chances to shatter the illusion of tranquility with a jolting change of tone and fortune. One long, jaw-dropping shot in particular has stuck with me for years, even as details of the rest of the plot faded. If you've seen the film even once, you know exactly what I'm talking about.

And despite that breakneck tempo, it still somehow manages to work in a wealth of world-building details and delicate character moments. The action scenes are intense and vivid, the moral quandaries deeply disturbing, and its tenor is right on the mark. Epic, powerful sci-fi that teases a post-9/11 distrust of the government without overdoing it.

Cuarón demonstrates prime command of his lens and script to pull off a poignant balancing act of raw optimism, cautionary tale, and religious fable. And as with all great art, his story’s content commands its form. Cuarón channels our empathy towards Theo, a pessimistic everyman suddenly thrust into a crusade to protect a pregnant woman from the grasps of an now-infertile Earth. As we witness his existential growth into a more faithful guardian, the director ensures we are never detached from the violent social unrest, making use of long tracking shots and an emphasis on closed spaces to encapsulate us in this detailed dystopia as well as provide a continuous aura of uncertainty and quiet melancholia...not without a quip or two to spare.

By relying on a simplistic narrative framework to communicate its more complex themes, the film is beautifully Aesopian in its storytelling. It’s through Theo’s passing interactions with both sides of the populace, rather than exposition, that provide further enlightenment on the oppressive society and its immoral attitudes. With this also comes Biblical enlightenment, with Cuarón making figurative, sometimes ironic, use of classic fable archetypes to provide musings on the power of faith over mere chance and ultimately use the mother’s journey as a powerful allegory of the coming of Christ: a savior that will bring forth hope, justice, and peace. And without Theo, his own savior, what would’ve been the fate of children of men?

One of the bleakest, most magnificently crafted films of all time. The dialogue is one-of-a-kind in actually capturing realism.

A strong premise and great cast prompted my interest, but the movie falls short of its promise. Clive Owens gives a great performance and a few of the scenes are remarkably memorable and resonant. However, there are very long stretches where the movie simply stagnates and the plot drifts away, especially towards the end. Overall, it's rather melancholy and despite the "action" scenes, not especially thrilling. If you like sci-fi movies set in dystopian futures, or are a big Clive Owen fan, you may still find it worth watching despite its flaws.

An aside: One of the "extras" on the DVD has some heavily accented academic trilling at length about the movie's philosophical meaning. It's entertainingly over-the-top and almost unintelligible: jargon piled into a Dagwood sandwich of contradictory abstractions. Anyway, if you don't watch too much of it, its good for a laugh.