I think this movie did pretty poorly at the box office because Dystopian films tend to fail when they’re released between Thanksgiving and New Year’s Day. Can’t even remember why I didn’t see it sooner but it popped up on one of the three streaming services we subscribe to.
Loosely based upon a novel written some years before the movie, both interpretations of Children contain the same urgent message that is being ignored now…if the dozen or so civilizations on Earth don’t get their shit together, nature will solve the problem for us. In the case of Children, it’s sterilization. Unlike The Handmaid’s Tale, everyone is incapable of reproduction and has been for almost two decades. When the story opens, the youngest person in the world (about 18) has died from his injuries in a bar fight. It’s all over the news in London as our hero Theo watches on a TV in a cafe. He then goes about his day as a low-level bureaucrat as you see how the UK has become a police state due to other countries falling apart during the biological crisis. The big boogeymen (and -women) are immigrants so you hear constant reminders about turning them in to Homeland Security for deportation.
Sometime later, Theo is kidnapped by a group called the Fishes. The government has labelled them a terrorist group. Others say they’re an immigrants’ rights organization. Theo is puzzled why they want him until he discovers their local leader is his ex-wife, Julian. She needs his help in getting a young African woman named Kee, safely out of the UK. Turns out Theo has connections to more powerful people who may have the means needed. He reluctantly agrees until he finds out why; the Fishes are protecting the first pregnant woman in 18 years. They want Kee to give birth elsewhere so the UK government can’t use the baby for propaganda purposes; namely, lie about the mother being citizen and from the upper socio-economic class.
So Theo dedicates his all to Kee’s exodus after Julian is killed and he discovers there’s treachery within the Fishes. Does he succeed? You have to see Children of Men to find out.
What I loved about Children was its attention to detail. London is even dirtier than today and it’s rapidly deteriorating since the majority have given up, the human is heading toward extinction, why bother. However, the wealthy continue to live in denial and their walled-off sections are well maintained as they go on with their posh lives. Others haven’t given up hope. You see a special building acting as a vault for future generations containing famous artwork the UK has “liberating” from other countries before it could be destroyed. The most horrifying part was the immigrant/refugee detention city on the coast. There, thousands of people are fenced off and they’ve made their own society but when the army has to step in to capture Kee and Theo, the army doesn’t bother discerning who is a non-combatant. Drawing on possible parallels to the never-ending wars in Iraq and Afghanistan.
The movie may seem like a downer yet I disagree, especially if you watch it. Besides, not everything should have a happy ending. For me, movies should make you feel something. Meanwhile, I’m glad to add Children of Men to my short list of great Dystopian Movies, it is now in the company the greats: The Omega Man, Soylent Green, Mad Max, Logan’s Run and Silent Running.