Children of Men

In an apocalyptic future Britain, a civil servant is unexpectedly entrusted with the fate of humanity in Alfonso Cuarón’s gripping and thoughtful sci-fi.

In 2027 the human race is on the brink of extinction due to infertility and societal collapse, and civil servant Theo (Clive Owen) is just trying to survive when he becomes entrusted with a momentous duty – providing safe passage for the first woman to fall pregnant in 18 years.

Based on P. D. James’ 1992 novel, Alfonso Cuarón’s chilling dystopian vision is both thematically complex – encompassing ideas about environmental destruction, immigration and spirituality – and also a visceral, immediate and hard-hitting thriller. Punctuated by a series of virtuoso single-shot set-pieces (a tactic Cuarón would develop for his next film, Gravity) and enhanced by a top-tier supporting cast including Michael Caine, Chiwetel Ejiofor and Julianne Moore, Children of Men is one of the key sci-fi films of its decade and a worthy upholder of Britain’s fine dystopian traditions.