Love letters to worse worlds, #2: Children of Men
A love letter to the best feature-length dystopian film ever made (imo)
“Very odd, what happens in a world without children's voices.”
Children of Men (2006), Dir. Alfonso Cuarón | UK, US. When I first saw this movie in theaters in 2006, I sobbed at the scene where they descend the staircase with a crying baby. And every time I’ve watched it since, I sob at the scene where they descend the staircase with a crying baby. In this world, a child has not been born in 18 years, due to reasons not yet fully determined, and the fabric of society is almost done ripping itself to shreds. I fucking love this movie. I love how raw yet poetic it is. How the subject matter is frighteningly relevant and timely, no matter when you watch it. How war, the collapse of civilization, human relationships, jokes, despair and hope all somehow exist simultaneously. How Clare-Hope Ashitey plays Kee - brave yet chill, funny and light yet strong. How Clive Owen plays Theo, the ultimate reluctant hero, a former activist – capturing how disillusionment takes form in a person who’s seen too much and simply gets tired of fighting. How animals are ready to attack him in the first half of the film when he’s still curmudgeonly and jaded, but flock to him like a shepherd in the second half as he softens and finds reason to fight and hope again. How ultimately human this film is by showing us the worst and best parts of them at the edge of the end of the world. Because in the end, that will be all that’s left.
(And in case you were keeping track, yes, we are only two years away from the “Children of Men year,” which is 2027…)