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Children of Men (2006)

tomatometer

93

Average Rating: 8/10
Reviews Counted: 208
Fresh: 193 | Rotten: 15

Children of Men works on every level: as a violent chase thriller, a fantastical cautionary tale, and a sophisticated human drama about societies struggling to live. This taut and thought-provoking tale may not have the showy special effects normally found in movies of this genre, but you won't care one bit after the story kicks in, about a dystopic future where women can no longer conceive and hope lies within one woman who holds the key to humanity's survival. It will have you riveted.

90

Average Rating: 7.9/10
Critic Reviews: 42
Fresh: 38 | Rotten: 4

Children of Men works on every level: as a violent chase thriller, a fantastical cautionary tale, and a sophisticated human drama about societies struggling to live. This taut and thought-provoking tale may not have the showy special effects normally found in movies of this genre, but you won't care one bit after the story kicks in, about a dystopic future where women can no longer conceive and hope lies within one woman who holds the key to humanity's survival. It will have you riveted.

audience

81

liked it
Average Rating: 3.7/5
User Ratings: 485,212

My Rating

Movie Info

Y Tu Mamá También and Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban director Alfonso Cuarón returns to the helm to tell this futuristic tale in which society is without hope since humankind lost its ability to procreate. The year is 2027, and women can no longer give birth. The youngest inhabitant of the planet has just died at the age of 18, and all hope for humanity has been lost. As civilization descends into chaos, a dying world finds one last chance for survival in the form of a woman who has

Mar 27, 2007

$35.3M

Universal Pictures

Cast

All Critics (208) | Top Critics (42) | Fresh (200) | Rotten (16) | DVD (37)

Cuaron fulfills the promise of futuristic fiction; characters do not wear strange costumes or visit the moon, and the cities are not plastic hallucinations, but look just like today, except tired and shabby.

October 5, 2007 Full Review Source: Chicago Sun-Times | Comment (1)
Chicago Sun-Times
Top Critic IconTop Critic

What I find particularly irksome about it is its pseudo-humanism and its calculating political correctness.

January 17, 2007 Full Review Source: New York Observer | Comments (10)
New York Observer
Top Critic IconTop Critic

It's a wow.

January 6, 2007 Full Review Source: New York Magazine | Comment
New York Magazine
Top Critic IconTop Critic

A superior sci-fi thriller and the best doomsday drama since 28 Days Later.

January 5, 2007 Full Review Source: Orlando Sentinel | Comment
Orlando Sentinel
Top Critic IconTop Critic

Cuarón does lowdown takes on high concept better than anyone; no matter what genre he touches, he brings grit and loose-limbed humor along with the hand-held camera jangles.

January 5, 2007 Full Review Source: Houston Chronicle | Comment
Houston Chronicle
Top Critic IconTop Critic

Darkly poetic throughout, the film starts with an explosion and ends drifting in fog with no clear resolution in sight. How brave and oddly satisfying.

January 5, 2007 Full Review Source: Detroit News | Comment
Detroit News
Top Critic IconTop Critic

Gripping, violent look at the future. Adults only.

January 1, 2011 Full Review Source: Common Sense Media | Comment (1)
Common Sense Media

For all its dystopian, violent fury, "Children of Men's" grace distinguishes itself the most - an all-encompassing embrace of humanity, community and perseverance and an optimistic ending that doesn't feel at all like a cheat.

September 25, 2010 Full Review Source: Suite101.com | Comment
Suite101.com

A special film by a gifted filmmaker.

July 6, 2010 Full Review Source: Film School Rejects | Comment
Film School Rejects

Few recent films have so stunned me in segments, and so frustrated me as a whole

August 28, 2009 Full Review Source: CinePassion | Comments (13)
CinePassion

Cuaron asks us to find hope in a grim nativity story where a reluctant hero and scared would-be mother try to find shelter in a land that desperately needs a newborn savior.

May 15, 2009 Full Review Source: I.E. Weekly | Comment
I.E. Weekly

[Includes] the most exciting and emotionally exhausting car chase since The French Connection.

April 23, 2009 Full Review Source: Boston Phoenix | Comment
Boston Phoenix

Children of Men is a glorious mess. It's a Frankenstein monster of a movie. Part sci-fi, part thriller, part action genre, part religious allegory, it flays and lumbers after meaning-- sending off occasional sparks of style.

February 2, 2009 Full Review Source: Fayetteville Free Weekly | Comment
Fayetteville Free Weekly

Children of Men succeeds as a downbeat dystopian thriller with some intriguing themes.

October 29, 2008 Full Review Source: Decent Films Guide | Comment
Decent Films Guide

Cuarón delights in marshaling his showpieces, like the finer details of Jim Clay and Geoffrey Kirkland's just-futuristic-enough production design, or, especially, camera operator George Richmond's agile enactment of Emmanuel Lubezki's moody cinematography

August 7, 2008 Full Review Source: Sacramento News & Review | Comment
Sacramento News & Review

This is an astounding piece of work - easily one of the best films of 2006.

July 7, 2008 Full Review Source: ESplatter | Comment
ESplatter

I was entranced by this movie. Hypnotized. Spellbound. In a thrall. The final quarter of the film is nothing short of an evolutionary leap forward in filmmaking.

February 28, 2008 Full Review Source: BrandonFibbs.com | Comment
BrandonFibbs.com

A compelling and haunting look at a dystopian England.

January 15, 2008 Full Review Source: Dark Horizons | Comment
Dark Horizons

It does the job, it does it well, and the fact that it's being called a masterpiece for doing so speaks unwell of the current state of movies.

September 24, 2007 Full Review Source: eFilmCritic.com | Comment
eFilmCritic.com

The DVD provides an excellent set of special features.

July 16, 2007 Full Review Source: Apollo Guide | Comment
Apollo Guide

There are enough ideas here that the film's never boring, and Mr. Cuarón's bravura direction is thrilling from start to finish.

July 14, 2007 Full Review Source: Big Picture Big Sound | Comment
Big Picture Big Sound

Top-notch suspense, intense action and totally believable sci-fi combine to make Children of Men gripping and a big winner.

July 13, 2007 Full Review Source: Apollo Guide | Comment
Apollo Guide

I'm inclined to say 2006 was a bad year for film, but Cuarón proves me wrong...

July 10, 2007 Full Review Source: Cinema Crazed | Comment
Cinema Crazed

The very soul of the film scoffs at the expectation of being conventional or formulaic.

July 9, 2007 Full Review Source: Cinemaphile.org | Comment
Cinemaphile.org
More Critic Reviews

Audience Reviews for Children of Men

Nope, I didn't like it. And yes, the elaborate single takes annoyed and distracted me to no end. I thought the film was a murky mess. Pull my finger. Exactly

June 18, 2007
brooklynspo

Super Reviewer

"Children of Men" has breathtaking cinematography; the camerawork is reminiscent to "Saving Private Ryan" and the attention to detail reveals how colorful - though it is a world coming to its end - the world is. This is an incredible tense-filled thriller. This movie may not answer many of the questions it brings up

September 29, 2010
Albert Kim

Super Reviewer

    1. Theo Faron: Same as every other day. Woke up, felt like shit. Went to work, felt like shit.
    – Submitted by Alejandro O (2 months ago)
    1. Miriam: As the sound of the playgrounds faded, the despair set in. Very odd, what happens in a world without children's voices.
    – Submitted by Chris P (9 months ago)
    1. Theo Faron: I can't really remember when I last had any hope, and I certainly can't remember when anyone else did either. Because really, since women stopped being able to have babies, what's left to hope for?
    – Submitted by Chris P (9 months ago)

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Foreign Titles

  • Les Fils de l'homme (FR)
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