Children of Men

Children of Men demands patience up front and pays it back with one of the most convincing dystopian moods in modern film. By our assessment, its real strength is the physical texture of the world: cramped cars, damaged streets, and long takes that make every movement feel risky and immediate. The downside is that it is not interested in easy comfort, and its tense, worn-out atmosphere can be draining if someone wants a lighter science-fiction ride. In practice the film feels close, dirty, and alert, with the camera keeping you inside the panic instead of standing back to admire the scenery. Against other dystopian dramas, it is less about explaining a future system than about making that future seem lived in and exhausted. Children of Men is the kind of drama that stays with its setting so completely that the world itself becomes the main argument.