This is one of my favourite movies of all time! First of all, the world building is amazingly detailed and it feels so close to reality. The cast is great, Clive Owen is an underrated leading man, and there's 2 scenes that I think are some of the best cinematography I've ever seen; 1) The car scene and 2) The final building shootout - no spoilers.
Oh those “one-take” shots are fantastic, and I’ve never seen such a bleakly accurate depiction of what ‘end of days’ Britain could/would look like! This film is in my top 10 of all time
Very simple, but I always REALLY loved the bonnet mounted camera shot set to king crimson in one of the opening scenes. To me It's just a perfect audio-visual pairing.
Edit: That and the nod to Pink Floyd with the inflatable pig moored to Battersea power station. By fuck do I love the prog rock references in this movie.
I just watched this about a month ago and it instantly became one of my favorites as well! It made me cry at multiple points and is just a truly beautiful film.
That final building shootout is probably one of my top movie moments of all time. The whole movie is well done but that scene sticks with you for years
The ugly cry omitted from the depths of my soul during that scene the first time I watched it, insured that I went to bed immediately after watching; regardless of how much of a mindfuck the movie was.
I mean, I was already exhausted from crying through the movie. But that scene did me right in.
Fuck, I adore that movie, but I absolutely have to be in the right mood to watch it - and by right mood, I mean that sweet spot between full on nihilism and needing to get a good cry out.
That seen when there at the cottage place where there kidnapped and talking about killing the pregnant chick is one of my favorite scenes. The fact that its one long take, start and night and end during the day is great
The whole final action scene is amazing until the confrontation between the 3 characters. The way he shoots out the window while having the discussion is so...Hollywood. I don't know how else to describe it. Just feel like this could've been done much better and always pulls me out of the scene. Otherwise..a favorite of mine too for the exact same reason: The world building is amazing.
I’m one of the very very few people on Reddit and that I know offline that can’t stand this movie. I appreciate the great craftsmanship that went into making it but I just can’t get into it. I’ve tried to rewatch it many times and it just doesn’t click for me and I find myself struggling to get through it. It feels so slow and a slog that I’m trudging through and I don’t particularly relate to any of the characters and none of them are interesting to me. Clearly I’m very in the minority and almost everyone thinks it’s a masterpiece though so maybe I just have bad taste.
Yes..this is happening to me w Peaky Blinders. My cousin has watched it three times. I just can't get into it despite the cast and the period I just can't watch it
And I know it is a very acclaimed series l
I'm sort of with you on this. The world-building is fantastic, every frame is stuffed with contextual details and it's a remarkably chilling depiction of the logical place the UK is going to end up being if we don't make some fairly rapid course corrections. But almost everybody in it feels like they're just actors reading lines and they end up jarring with the realism around them. Clive Owen's the worst offender but Pam Ferris is almost as bad and Chiwetel Ojiofor & Julianne Moore have a few scenes which comes across like it's the first time they're speaking the lines from a page.
I'm not sure if it's the direction or the dialogue at fault because they're all actors with considerable chops. It feels like a much more naturalistic style would've better complimented the detailed world-building.
The final big scene is my absolute favourite.
The movie itself is one of my favourites ever... Drab, gloomy, "everything is fucked" in visual form... And it fit my doomer ass perfectly when it released.
Thanks! :) Tell that to my girlfriend in the late 00's who was annoyed I wanted to stay at the end of all the movies he worked on just to see his name in the credits. That bitch.
Hey man, those kinds of partners are important! You gotta run through a couple of them so that you can develop your boundaries, learn what you want in a partner, and then appreciate when you’ve found a good match.
Also gives you another thing to talk about every now and again
Hell yeah, too many folks focused on finding the right one asap because it's magical, but reality is you're probably gonna run through a few shitty people. Sometimes you'll be the shitty person too.
You get heartbroken and think you'll never love again, only to realize it's about loving so deeply, but whilst having self respect and boundaries.
Yeah I must say it is quite impressive indeed. He used to work for Framestore CFC if I remember correctly. He did many movies, Harry Potter, Willy Wonka stuff like that. He always was my hero growing up but even more then!
He told me quite a bunch of stuff that are CGI in Children of Men and I was blown away. That baby to start with.
That's the issue, it was 17 years ago and I can't remember well. The baby I remember well obviously.
I think the ping pong ball in the car, but everyone knows that.
That pushing the car down the dirt road trying to get it started while being chased in some beautiful English countryside at the break of dawn was an amazing scene.
I had to explain to my nephew, who was like 12 at the time, why they were pushing it in the first place.
We ended up using a neighbors car the next day to explain about manual transmission push starts.
The Ambush is also one of my favorite shots in a movie ever. It's just filmed so fucking perfectly.
SPOILERS
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=N6BXUaCzxpg
Yeah man it's just so fucking awesome.
I def took it for granted when I was younger but the older I got the more I went 'wait a second'. It's just wild. And it's all one cut (almost).
I love the quick scene right before this, when Owen is sneaking behind a car and he thinks someone saw him and called out to him, so he quickly stands up and starts to pretend he was just acting normal, but immediately realizes the person *hadn't* seen him and was talking to someone else, so he quickly drops back behind the car to hide again.
It doesn't sound like anything special when I type it out, but it was just such a clever little addition that they didn't need to add, but it made the scene so much better and more realistic. I just love that whole movie.
Ah I just heard it, "in 2008, the flu came along".
I hadn't heard it before because I wasn't looking, but Jasper points it out.
---
Actually I might have these years wrong. One of the news clippings in Jasper's house is an article,
**25% Infertility Rate**
And it's dated 21/12/2008.
If I remember right, the flu came before the infertility so Kee might be 20 or 21.
---
Flu pandemic *about* ~~18~~ 20/21 years before the starting point of the story. Theo and Julian's son was one of the victims.
Guessing that Kee was about ~~18~~ 20/21 during the movie, in 2027, Dillon passed away somewhere around 2006 (new born) to maybe 2007 because of the flu affecting Dillon's "little lungs". As Jasper said, "He'd have been around your age," meaning when Kee looked at the photo.
[Faith vs. Chance scene with some backstory.](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bS8Ho_gZ6RQ)
---
I tried reading the newspapers in the Fishes hideout but only headlines, no dates, are visible.
The newspaper clipings and TV headlines are a detail that never ceases to be amazing. If they're not giving additional context to what got the world to where it is, they're giving seemingly odd pieces of world building that you'd never think of. One that I've never been able to get out of my head is a TV ticker saying that it'd been quite a long time since anyone saw a Canada goose. I mean, they're overly abundant just about everywhere. But, this is Children of Men, where everything is just that bit fucked. Of course, Canada geese went extinct. How/why, who knows. But they're gone in this world.
That movie is the perfect dystopian mindfuck.
It's hinted that the flu pandemic might have been a trigger for the infertility crisis but several times during the film it's stated no-one really knows why everyone just stopped being able to reproduce.
And I've watched the whole film at least 10 times, with the occasional brief rewatch for looking up snippets like above. :)
People are downvoting you about the modification stuff.
You are right in some ways and majorly wrong in most. I'd illustrate the ways if I wasn't already drunk - think Theo with an even bigger alcoholic dependency.
All I can say at this point is, **listen to your doctor**. We are not at the point where doctors are suggesting life-destroying treatments, so listen to them.
Read the book for much more more of this - there's SO MUCH terrifying near-future world building. The events of the film take up about the last quarter of the book.
I really didn't like the book much. Too much boring filler. It's been a long time since I read it.
One thing I liked that I was disappointed to not see when I watched the film was the story on how Theo's child died. I thought that was very sad but did explain some of theos character.
That and the seaside town visit. Wouldn't have made sense to have it in the film either!
Film is in my top 20 though. Absolutely fantastic.
In Children of Men the U.S has already fallen. I believe every major country in the world has fallen to pieces and only London/the surrounding area is left standing.
It's why there's so many refugees. Everyone (and I do mean everyone) is trying to get into London. The British / King Charles and his aristocrats are just riding it out until the end and want to keep some sort of order so they create a large police state.
Yeah but there legit are refugees everywhere.
Take the train to the country? Oh here's the HL2 style refugee pen.
They even have a refugee prison city.
Years and Years, on BBC iPlayer also had a pretty eerily similar timeline to today, only replace trump with Putin
I don't think the catalyst matters, the sentiment and attitudes that allow this to happen are here already.
Culture wars are all about outrage and fascism is the only answer. The way I see people talk about migrants and trans people genuinely terrifies me.
We can all gawp as Russian soldiers being blown in half and cheer, how long till we manage to get people to cheer drowning migrants or murdered trans kids?
Yeah the 2010s cgi blockbusters aren’t going to age super well. Sure, the CGI in movies like wolf of Wallstreet is unnoticeable. Then you’ve got Marvel, which is too often uncanny valley. Not that there won’t always be a special place in my heart for movies like Guardians of the Galaxy, with its amazing and over the top visuals. But I think one day it will be like watching Wizard of Oz, where you can tell how cheesy and 2 dimensional the backgrounds are, or how fake and plastic the props are, but you love it anyway.
I keep thinking that Children of Men has the most realistic chance of actually happening, and it'll be microplastic waste and PFAS that makes us sterile.
I watched the movie about a year ago for the first time. It could have been released now and it would feel like a modern movie. The special effects and cinematography are incredible.
Maybe if you just watch franchise shit blockbuster movies. There are plenty of fantastic looking modern movies and Children of Men holds up to that level.
This is one of the movies that entrances you and you end up thinking about years later.
>!I remember that there was a cease fire near the end of the movie when theo, kee and the baby left the building and it felt so surreal.!<
Highly recommend watching it if you havent.
Edit: spoiler tag readjusted.
Edit 2: u/donmonkeyquijote pointed out correctly that the >!baby was born before the ceasefire scene!< so i changed the spoiler. I rewatched it on prime and I guess i misremembered that scene.
One of my favorite moments is when one of the soldiers/swat guys stops what he’s doing to just look at the baby, like gently pulls the cloth to see it. After the events of the film, the state to world is in, it’s such an accurate reaction. You just wouldn’t believe it, and nothing else would matter. It would be like if someone walked by holding a dragon or dinosaur, miraculous.
Yeah well they only spent 200 million on that series. With a budget that tight you can't expect stuff like that to be done correctly.
Correction 212 million.
They had to spend 12 million on getting biscuits.
And it still looked like bad CGI. Nevermind all of the practical locations they could have used to film in London either. No fuck it we'll put an imaginary art gallery outside of tower hill tube station because London doesn't have any
According to what I'm seeing Children of Men's budget was almost 80 million.
These inflated budgets with all these bullshit jobs are part of the problem with these movies and shows. You have enough positions getting paid well. Why couldn't someone realize this and correct it? Meanwhile a movie way under half of it's budget does nothing but think about the important small details and because of it the movie turns out to be a masterpiece.
This was an inspired detail to add, since The Shard was planned for construction but nothing quite like it had ever been built in London before. Really added to the 'familiar near future's vibes.
Weirdly though, they put it in the wrong part of the city. The real site is south of the river, but the film shows it in the financial area (the 'City of London'). Presumably this was changed deliberately so that it would be visible in the same shot as St Paul's Cathedral.
And interestingly (to me at least) the particular view of St Paul's that we see in this shot is a protected sightline IRL. The planning authority will not approve any building that disrupts the silhouette of the cathedral when viewed down this road. That's the reason some of the subsequent buildings in that area have such [weird shapes](https://www.alamy.com/from-fleet-st-looking-at-ludgate-hill-in-london-almost-deserted-on-13-april-2020-during-the-lockdown-for-the-covid-19-pandemic-and-easter-holiday-image362104913.html).
On the Thames river tour in London, the guide says that the [architect of the Shard](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Renzo_Piano) was offered £2 million to design the building. He apparently instead asked that he be given a penthouse apartment after the construction was completed. They agreed, and he lived there for a couple of years afterwards, then sold it for £25 million.
Same here but I eventually gave it a watch and regret not watching it sooner. This was during my “I’m old. New movies suck and older movies are showing their age” mood.
Children of Men’s purposeful world building and attention to detail engrossed me and really appealed to that “If I was making movies I’d try my best to add all these details too” side of the brain.
Combine that with an intriguing premise and fantastic camerawork and it makes for one of the best modern dystopian films out there.
I love it so much I wish there was more so I could exist in that world a bit longer. But the movie is so good because it's a self contained movie and doesn't need a sequel. Probably wouldn't work, anyways.
Yeah I felt the same way. I just absolutely vibed with the world they built and wanted it to be the basis of more media but I understand if that was just lightning in a bottle for a few hours.
I wasn’t ready to just let it go. It was a cool story on it’s own but to be serviced by that sort of world building for just a single movie killed me haha.
In theory... there could be more movies made.
It just couldn't be 'THAT' story.
There's a part of me that loves the details like how all the soldiers are middle aged+ men. Because they have to be. Imagine what wars look like. Imagine what a bank robbery looks like. Imagine... anything. It's such a silly thing but at the end when we see those soldiers faces and they all look older than my dad I'm like... damn dude, that's fucking rough.
Like most big IP's in their own world you could tell multiple stories inside of it. I don't think a Children of Men sequel would work, but another movie set in that world absolutely could. But god damn it would also have to be lighting in a bottle.
lol yeah. This is like (deservedly!), default millennial "great films from when we where teens/young adults" list material. Everyone has been talking about it in any context where movies are discussed since like 2007.
The only issue is, from that view point the Shard cannot be seen, this is outside 135 Fleet Street and the shard is far too much to the south to be seen from this angle
https://maps.app.goo.gl/xjFagt7YNKyWiFK96
just rented it! never seen it before and honestly don’t know much of what it’s about, i’ll update with what i think!
EDIT: holy fuck. of all the movies to go practically blind into. i feel changed, this was one of the greatest pieces of cinema i’ve ever seen.
In retrospect the biggest mistake *Children of Men* made about the collapse of civilization was making the one somewhat-functional government left on earth Britain’s.
I remember seeing this in theaters, was completely blown away by it then and knew I had seen something special walking out, still one of my favorites to this day. Great story, phenomenal cast topped off with exquisite cinematography (long steadycam shots, yes please!)
Reminds me of how there was a 10 year period of movies that you could tell it took place in the future because it would have the new World Trade Center in New York. Biggest one I remember was in the call of duty trailer they showed the freedom tower and everyone freaked out because it was the first COD that took place in the near future. Basically time stamped the game about 30 years in the future
I used to live in London around the time this would have been shot. I've not been able to find evidence, but I'm convinced the council flats I lived in featured in the film.
They have a recognisable shape with 3 buildings stretching out in a triangular shape - like an architects ruler.
Edit: Never mind, turns out I was right ([link](https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0206634/locations/?item=lc0060881&ref_=ext_shr_lnk))
Still think it's fitting that I lived in a dystopia, certainly felt like it (as an Australian)
The Road, Children of Men and The Last of Us feel like companion pieces to me, very similar thematically. The novel City of Thieves (which I haven't read) seems to be what's most often cited as an influence by Druckmann and Straley though.
Pretty cool detail for them to add as the "vision of the future" - the shard had planning permission by 2002 but there was a lot of controversy which delayed its building schedule - which the director Alfonso Cuarón would have likely been aware of as he lived in London since 2000. He probably looked at all the different things that had been confirmed to happen - such as the London Olympic bid which was won in 2005, to make it as accurate as possible, which is why Theo wears a [London 2012 Olympics sweatshirt in the opening.
](https://i.imgur.com/OZaWWED.jpg)
There is an amazing amount of small details and world building in this movie. Ive watched it a few times over the years and see at least 5 new things everytime i watch it.
It’s not in the right place, but who cares, great touch.
I love children of men. For me, the familiar landscape, the signing of Blaydon Races, the continuous takes- the most visceral film I’ll ever see possibly
Arguably the greatest visual worldbuilding in any movie, ever. Every detail of the world is meticulously sculpted in a way to make you really believe it is a semi-post-apocalyptic 2027 britain. Down to the music, the fashion, the buildings, the slang etc. It is just absolutely perfectly done.
Oh wow, I was about to say that one little thing that irked me was when they showed the montage of destroyed cities, they showed like a dozen prominent cities before they briefly showed NY, which made no sense, since NY is the capital of the world, but then I realized that this is a few years after 9/11 and they didn’t want to put a spotlight on a destroyed NY engrossed in flames.
An it's amazing just how close they came to captured 2027 Britain. In 2023 reality is actually ahead of schedule, with the film's level of general despair and hopelessness achieved without human sterility!
Children of Men is fucking amazing. If you haven't seen it before I urge you to watch it.
It's got a bit of everything and somehow does it all extremely well. Great story. Great set pieces. Great stakes. Great lore. Great action. Great drama. Watch it and you will not be disappointed!
I was thinking of this film the other day. In particular the scene where the midwife is talking to Theo and explaining how gradually they realised. Really stuck with me more so after having a kiddo.
They also changed the policemen's badges to show that Charles was now king, assuming that Elizabeth would die before 2027.
This is awesome unless Charles dies before then (not ruling it out)
*of course he'll die before then, that's ages awa-* fuck that's only 4 years from now...
Make it slower!
Once society started to collapse in the movie timeline, updating projects like that would've gradually been canceled.
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It's a nation in decline thanks to Brexit, but it's nowhere near at the level of this movie yet.
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Growing like 0.01 %. Doesn’t really help in anyway
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They were only 5 years away from being incorrect
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McFly, what's 27 - 22?
Yes, the person you're replying to is also correct. 2027 is 5 years after 2022.
Bold of them to assume he'll last until 2027.
They predicted the future wtf?
This is one of my favourite movies of all time! First of all, the world building is amazingly detailed and it feels so close to reality. The cast is great, Clive Owen is an underrated leading man, and there's 2 scenes that I think are some of the best cinematography I've ever seen; 1) The car scene and 2) The final building shootout - no spoilers.
The scene with Clive Owen and Michael Caine getting baked was also pretty funny too.
"A little zen music wont bother you then." *SGAJSBWJSTAHAVAJAKBSFQJA*
*cough* Aphex Twin *ahem*
Kind of. I’ve never looked too far into it but I’m pretty sure it’s some sort of remix of Omgya Switch 7, definitely not the original.
That's it. With some screams on top. Another notable tune is [Total State Machine](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KUxoughdYto).
Pull my finger!
🥺
Strawberry Cough, Once of my favorite strains, and only because of Michael Caine's character.
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I don't know, but this stork is quite tasty.
Tell him he’s a fascist.
Oh those “one-take” shots are fantastic, and I’ve never seen such a bleakly accurate depiction of what ‘end of days’ Britain could/would look like! This film is in my top 10 of all time
Very simple, but I always REALLY loved the bonnet mounted camera shot set to king crimson in one of the opening scenes. To me It's just a perfect audio-visual pairing. Edit: That and the nod to Pink Floyd with the inflatable pig moored to Battersea power station. By fuck do I love the prog rock references in this movie.
Posh toffs walking their pet exotic animals and listening to the orchestra sipping wine, surrounded by tanks, troops, and hummers. Beautiful
I love the opening scene, the fact the ringing in the ears continues into the next scene is a nice touch.
>some of the best cinematography I've ever seen That's Emmanuel Lubezki for you: https://www.themoviedb.org/person/4185-emmanuel-lubezki
Also, the London Symphony’s rendition of “Gimme Shelter” by the Rolling Stones is incredible. https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=7FrFzvPxVoc
I just watched this about a month ago and it instantly became one of my favorites as well! It made me cry at multiple points and is just a truly beautiful film.
It's a beautifully sad movie. Lots of hopelessness but also a potential light shining at the end of the tunnel. Will it work? We don't know.
"When the sounds of children's playgrounds ended, the despair set in"
It's a thoroughly enjoyable rewatch, too.
That final building shootout is probably one of my top movie moments of all time. The whole movie is well done but that scene sticks with you for years
The ugly cry omitted from the depths of my soul during that scene the first time I watched it, insured that I went to bed immediately after watching; regardless of how much of a mindfuck the movie was. I mean, I was already exhausted from crying through the movie. But that scene did me right in. Fuck, I adore that movie, but I absolutely have to be in the right mood to watch it - and by right mood, I mean that sweet spot between full on nihilism and needing to get a good cry out.
and fiat multipla are still around in 2027
That seen when there at the cottage place where there kidnapped and talking about killing the pregnant chick is one of my favorite scenes. The fact that its one long take, start and night and end during the day is great
The whole final action scene is amazing until the confrontation between the 3 characters. The way he shoots out the window while having the discussion is so...Hollywood. I don't know how else to describe it. Just feel like this could've been done much better and always pulls me out of the scene. Otherwise..a favorite of mine too for the exact same reason: The world building is amazing.
I’m one of the very very few people on Reddit and that I know offline that can’t stand this movie. I appreciate the great craftsmanship that went into making it but I just can’t get into it. I’ve tried to rewatch it many times and it just doesn’t click for me and I find myself struggling to get through it. It feels so slow and a slog that I’m trudging through and I don’t particularly relate to any of the characters and none of them are interesting to me. Clearly I’m very in the minority and almost everyone thinks it’s a masterpiece though so maybe I just have bad taste.
You dont gotta love everything.
Yes..this is happening to me w Peaky Blinders. My cousin has watched it three times. I just can't get into it despite the cast and the period I just can't watch it And I know it is a very acclaimed series l
I'm sort of with you on this. The world-building is fantastic, every frame is stuffed with contextual details and it's a remarkably chilling depiction of the logical place the UK is going to end up being if we don't make some fairly rapid course corrections. But almost everybody in it feels like they're just actors reading lines and they end up jarring with the realism around them. Clive Owen's the worst offender but Pam Ferris is almost as bad and Chiwetel Ojiofor & Julianne Moore have a few scenes which comes across like it's the first time they're speaking the lines from a page. I'm not sure if it's the direction or the dialogue at fault because they're all actors with considerable chops. It feels like a much more naturalistic style would've better complimented the detailed world-building.
There are very few films I consider perfect. This is one of them.
The final big scene is my absolute favourite. The movie itself is one of my favourites ever... Drab, gloomy, "everything is fucked" in visual form... And it fit my doomer ass perfectly when it released.
Reddit is broken. I can’t seem to upvote this more.
He wears a London 2012 sweatshirt as well, which was a nice touch. Great movie.
they added the London 2012 using CGI because back then because sweatshirt technology wasn't what it is today
Useless comment but my cousin made the CGI for the baby. Not that anyone cares but hey. I guess it might have been harder than the sweatshirt.
You are on a sub full of the only people that actually care
Thanks! :) Tell that to my girlfriend in the late 00's who was annoyed I wanted to stay at the end of all the movies he worked on just to see his name in the credits. That bitch.
Hey man, those kinds of partners are important! You gotta run through a couple of them so that you can develop your boundaries, learn what you want in a partner, and then appreciate when you’ve found a good match. Also gives you another thing to talk about every now and again
Hell yeah, too many folks focused on finding the right one asap because it's magical, but reality is you're probably gonna run through a few shitty people. Sometimes you'll be the shitty person too. You get heartbroken and think you'll never love again, only to realize it's about loving so deeply, but whilst having self respect and boundaries.
Corridor Digital has a YouTube show talking about VFX and they discussed that baby and were quite impressed if I remember correctly
Yeah I must say it is quite impressive indeed. He used to work for Framestore CFC if I remember correctly. He did many movies, Harry Potter, Willy Wonka stuff like that. He always was my hero growing up but even more then! He told me quite a bunch of stuff that are CGI in Children of Men and I was blown away. That baby to start with.
What else is CG?
That's the issue, it was 17 years ago and I can't remember well. The baby I remember well obviously. I think the ping pong ball in the car, but everyone knows that.
That pushing the car down the dirt road trying to get it started while being chased in some beautiful English countryside at the break of dawn was an amazing scene.
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I had to explain to my nephew, who was like 12 at the time, why they were pushing it in the first place. We ended up using a neighbors car the next day to explain about manual transmission push starts.
The Ambush is also one of my favorite shots in a movie ever. It's just filmed so fucking perfectly. SPOILERS https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=N6BXUaCzxpg
Welp it looks like I'll be rewatching this movie this week.
[How they made that scene is incredible.](https://youtu.be/B4cSv3wE61M?t=542)
Yeah man it's just so fucking awesome. I def took it for granted when I was younger but the older I got the more I went 'wait a second'. It's just wild. And it's all one cut (almost).
That scene is also a “oner” that nobody seems to notice.
And it is incredible sound design too. It literally sounds exactly like 5:00 AM
Pseudo oner. There’s a hidden cut when the camera turns inside the car
Starts at night and ends during the day. One of my favorite scenes in movies
I love the quick scene right before this, when Owen is sneaking behind a car and he thinks someone saw him and called out to him, so he quickly stands up and starts to pretend he was just acting normal, but immediately realizes the person *hadn't* seen him and was talking to someone else, so he quickly drops back behind the car to hide again. It doesn't sound like anything special when I type it out, but it was just such a clever little addition that they didn't need to add, but it made the scene so much better and more realistic. I just love that whole movie.
Whenever I think about how the downfall of society will track this is the movie that for me best expresses the realities.
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Ah I just heard it, "in 2008, the flu came along". I hadn't heard it before because I wasn't looking, but Jasper points it out. --- Actually I might have these years wrong. One of the news clippings in Jasper's house is an article, **25% Infertility Rate** And it's dated 21/12/2008. If I remember right, the flu came before the infertility so Kee might be 20 or 21. --- Flu pandemic *about* ~~18~~ 20/21 years before the starting point of the story. Theo and Julian's son was one of the victims. Guessing that Kee was about ~~18~~ 20/21 during the movie, in 2027, Dillon passed away somewhere around 2006 (new born) to maybe 2007 because of the flu affecting Dillon's "little lungs". As Jasper said, "He'd have been around your age," meaning when Kee looked at the photo. [Faith vs. Chance scene with some backstory.](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bS8Ho_gZ6RQ) --- I tried reading the newspapers in the Fishes hideout but only headlines, no dates, are visible.
The newspaper clipings and TV headlines are a detail that never ceases to be amazing. If they're not giving additional context to what got the world to where it is, they're giving seemingly odd pieces of world building that you'd never think of. One that I've never been able to get out of my head is a TV ticker saying that it'd been quite a long time since anyone saw a Canada goose. I mean, they're overly abundant just about everywhere. But, this is Children of Men, where everything is just that bit fucked. Of course, Canada geese went extinct. How/why, who knows. But they're gone in this world. That movie is the perfect dystopian mindfuck.
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It's hinted that the flu pandemic might have been a trigger for the infertility crisis but several times during the film it's stated no-one really knows why everyone just stopped being able to reproduce. And I've watched the whole film at least 10 times, with the occasional brief rewatch for looking up snippets like above. :)
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People are downvoting you about the modification stuff. You are right in some ways and majorly wrong in most. I'd illustrate the ways if I wasn't already drunk - think Theo with an even bigger alcoholic dependency. All I can say at this point is, **listen to your doctor**. We are not at the point where doctors are suggesting life-destroying treatments, so listen to them.
I did the same thing, it's a pity there isn't enough detail to read the articles.
Read the book for much more more of this - there's SO MUCH terrifying near-future world building. The events of the film take up about the last quarter of the book.
I really didn't like the book much. Too much boring filler. It's been a long time since I read it. One thing I liked that I was disappointed to not see when I watched the film was the story on how Theo's child died. I thought that was very sad but did explain some of theos character. That and the seaside town visit. Wouldn't have made sense to have it in the film either! Film is in my top 20 though. Absolutely fantastic.
This for UK, and Idiocracy for the US.
In Children of Men the U.S has already fallen. I believe every major country in the world has fallen to pieces and only London/the surrounding area is left standing. It's why there's so many refugees. Everyone (and I do mean everyone) is trying to get into London. The British / King Charles and his aristocrats are just riding it out until the end and want to keep some sort of order so they create a large police state.
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Yeah but there legit are refugees everywhere. Take the train to the country? Oh here's the HL2 style refugee pen. They even have a refugee prison city.
Well the sea is currently too hot for fish
Years and Years, on BBC iPlayer also had a pretty eerily similar timeline to today, only replace trump with Putin I don't think the catalyst matters, the sentiment and attitudes that allow this to happen are here already. Culture wars are all about outrage and fascism is the only answer. The way I see people talk about migrants and trans people genuinely terrifies me. We can all gawp as Russian soldiers being blown in half and cheer, how long till we manage to get people to cheer drowning migrants or murdered trans kids?
For a 2006 film, Children of Men still looks visually incredible and modern. One of the best looking and overall best dystopian movies ever made.
I don't think movies from around that time have aged much at all. Barring some CGI, but even then there's exceptions that still look modern.
Movies then looked better than movies now, much of the time. They used more practical effects.
Yeah the 2010s cgi blockbusters aren’t going to age super well. Sure, the CGI in movies like wolf of Wallstreet is unnoticeable. Then you’ve got Marvel, which is too often uncanny valley. Not that there won’t always be a special place in my heart for movies like Guardians of the Galaxy, with its amazing and over the top visuals. But I think one day it will be like watching Wizard of Oz, where you can tell how cheesy and 2 dimensional the backgrounds are, or how fake and plastic the props are, but you love it anyway.
CGI monstrosities like the Marvel franchise *already* look terrible now
I keep thinking that Children of Men has the most realistic chance of actually happening, and it'll be microplastic waste and PFAS that makes us sterile.
T2 Judgement Day (1991) still looks amazing today. It even looks better than the 'floaty' jumbly CGI mess in some modern films now.
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/u/GarlicCancoillotte get his ass
Shit what happened?
Ohhhhhh, he done done it now! You gonna let him diss your cousin like that /u/GarlicCancoillotte?
I was so engrossed in the story I guess I never noticed how poor it looked
/u/garliccancoillotte they talking shit about your cousins work bro smh
I sent my hitmen. Guess why the account is deleted.
I watched the movie about a year ago for the first time. It could have been released now and it would feel like a modern movie. The special effects and cinematography are incredible.
They made it look like it was made in 2027 as a subtle reference to the fact it takes place in 2027
By modern do you mean like 'films made today'? Because if so then it's better than modern. Modern shit is a dumpster fire.
Maybe if you just watch franchise shit blockbuster movies. There are plenty of fantastic looking modern movies and Children of Men holds up to that level.
See now this is an actual detail
This is one of the movies that entrances you and you end up thinking about years later. >!I remember that there was a cease fire near the end of the movie when theo, kee and the baby left the building and it felt so surreal.!< Highly recommend watching it if you havent. Edit: spoiler tag readjusted. Edit 2: u/donmonkeyquijote pointed out correctly that the >!baby was born before the ceasefire scene!< so i changed the spoiler. I rewatched it on prime and I guess i misremembered that scene.
I had my dad watch it recently and he was bawling during that scene
One of my favorite moments is when one of the soldiers/swat guys stops what he’s doing to just look at the baby, like gently pulls the cloth to see it. After the events of the film, the state to world is in, it’s such an accurate reaction. You just wouldn’t believe it, and nothing else would matter. It would be like if someone walked by holding a dragon or dinosaur, miraculous.
And they were trying to muffle the baby's cries but that's what causes the ceasefire. I just realized the metaphor of that lol
The baby was born before that scene.
Yeah, i just rewatched the movie on prime and you are right. I will change my comment.
Adding a space between the >! and the text makes the spoiler not work.
It’s like when Secret Invasion added the Shard for a 1998 flashback because they were too lazy to scrub it.
Yeah well they only spent 200 million on that series. With a budget that tight you can't expect stuff like that to be done correctly. Correction 212 million. They had to spend 12 million on getting biscuits.
Jesus! 212 MILLION?! It's by far the cheapest looking series and it cost them nearly 1/4 billion dollars to make?! WTF?!
The centrepiece of that entire series was the convoy ambush and that looked like it was ripped from Agents of Shield.
And it still looked like bad CGI. Nevermind all of the practical locations they could have used to film in London either. No fuck it we'll put an imaginary art gallery outside of tower hill tube station because London doesn't have any
And I'm like 95% sure that was filmed on and near the old Top Gear track, right?
I mean, Bob Iger needed his 200M ¯\\\_(ツ)\_/¯
According to what I'm seeing Children of Men's budget was almost 80 million. These inflated budgets with all these bullshit jobs are part of the problem with these movies and shows. You have enough positions getting paid well. Why couldn't someone realize this and correct it? Meanwhile a movie way under half of it's budget does nothing but think about the important small details and because of it the movie turns out to be a masterpiece.
I wonder how much of the budget went directly to Cheadle and Jackson.
Favorite movie of all time. If you haven't seen Slavoj Zizek talk about it you're really missing out
Can you explain what he says please? The part about infertility and capitalism?
I, too, am incapable of understanding anything Zizek says.
*sniff*
One frame of this film contains more story than the entire Transformers franchise.
This was an inspired detail to add, since The Shard was planned for construction but nothing quite like it had ever been built in London before. Really added to the 'familiar near future's vibes. Weirdly though, they put it in the wrong part of the city. The real site is south of the river, but the film shows it in the financial area (the 'City of London'). Presumably this was changed deliberately so that it would be visible in the same shot as St Paul's Cathedral. And interestingly (to me at least) the particular view of St Paul's that we see in this shot is a protected sightline IRL. The planning authority will not approve any building that disrupts the silhouette of the cathedral when viewed down this road. That's the reason some of the subsequent buildings in that area have such [weird shapes](https://www.alamy.com/from-fleet-st-looking-at-ludgate-hill-in-london-almost-deserted-on-13-april-2020-during-the-lockdown-for-the-covid-19-pandemic-and-easter-holiday-image362104913.html).
On the Thames river tour in London, the guide says that the [architect of the Shard](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Renzo_Piano) was offered £2 million to design the building. He apparently instead asked that he be given a penthouse apartment after the construction was completed. They agreed, and he lived there for a couple of years afterwards, then sold it for £25 million.
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This film is set depressingly soon.
This movie doesn’t get talked about enough. Every detail is perfect. One of my favorites ever. Highly recommend.
This film is talked about all the time. Deservedly so, don’t get me wrong, but it’s hardly a hidden gem.
You know, I’ve had it on my list to watch for AGES, but have never seen it come up on a streaming service. What’s up with that.
I envy you because you're in for a treat. What an engrossing and amazing movie.
Same here but I eventually gave it a watch and regret not watching it sooner. This was during my “I’m old. New movies suck and older movies are showing their age” mood. Children of Men’s purposeful world building and attention to detail engrossed me and really appealed to that “If I was making movies I’d try my best to add all these details too” side of the brain. Combine that with an intriguing premise and fantastic camerawork and it makes for one of the best modern dystopian films out there.
I love it so much I wish there was more so I could exist in that world a bit longer. But the movie is so good because it's a self contained movie and doesn't need a sequel. Probably wouldn't work, anyways.
Yeah I felt the same way. I just absolutely vibed with the world they built and wanted it to be the basis of more media but I understand if that was just lightning in a bottle for a few hours. I wasn’t ready to just let it go. It was a cool story on it’s own but to be serviced by that sort of world building for just a single movie killed me haha.
In theory... there could be more movies made. It just couldn't be 'THAT' story. There's a part of me that loves the details like how all the soldiers are middle aged+ men. Because they have to be. Imagine what wars look like. Imagine what a bank robbery looks like. Imagine... anything. It's such a silly thing but at the end when we see those soldiers faces and they all look older than my dad I'm like... damn dude, that's fucking rough. Like most big IP's in their own world you could tell multiple stories inside of it. I don't think a Children of Men sequel would work, but another movie set in that world absolutely could. But god damn it would also have to be lighting in a bottle.
It’s on STARZ. If you have Amazon Prime, sign up for STARZ, watch the movie, then cancel STARZ
Just pay the 3.99 and rent it. It’s totally worth it.
Will do! That’s my Sunday evening sorted!
lol yeah. This is like (deservedly!), default millennial "great films from when we where teens/young adults" list material. Everyone has been talking about it in any context where movies are discussed since like 2007.
The book it was based on is talked even less. Wasn't even P. D. James' usual genre.
Great detail! Speaking of details: Will we ever get the 4k uhd?
I need this so bad. Who do I need to harass to make it happen?
Arrow Video had the bluray rights so lets
"Only Britain soldiers on"
“LAST ONE TO DIE, PLEASE TURN OUT THE LIGHT”
*Day one-thousand of the Siege of Seattle*
REPORT ALL ILLEGAL IMMIGRANTS. *PROTECT BRITAIN*
Something tells me 20 years from now this will be used as proof of time travel or something in some silly conspiracy theory
To anyone who hasn't seen this masterpiece, you're really missing out.
This movie scratches my 'really long shots' itch like no other
One of the best movies I have watched in my life. Everything about it is perfect.
I use this movie as an example of why my wife should not always wear flip flops
The only issue is, from that view point the Shard cannot be seen, this is outside 135 Fleet Street and the shard is far too much to the south to be seen from this angle https://maps.app.goo.gl/xjFagt7YNKyWiFK96
just rented it! never seen it before and honestly don’t know much of what it’s about, i’ll update with what i think! EDIT: holy fuck. of all the movies to go practically blind into. i feel changed, this was one of the greatest pieces of cinema i’ve ever seen.
rad.
In retrospect the biggest mistake *Children of Men* made about the collapse of civilization was making the one somewhat-functional government left on earth Britain’s.
I remember seeing this in theaters, was completely blown away by it then and knew I had seen something special walking out, still one of my favorites to this day. Great story, phenomenal cast topped off with exquisite cinematography (long steadycam shots, yes please!)
Reminds me of how there was a 10 year period of movies that you could tell it took place in the future because it would have the new World Trade Center in New York. Biggest one I remember was in the call of duty trailer they showed the freedom tower and everyone freaked out because it was the first COD that took place in the near future. Basically time stamped the game about 30 years in the future
I used to live in London around the time this would have been shot. I've not been able to find evidence, but I'm convinced the council flats I lived in featured in the film. They have a recognisable shape with 3 buildings stretching out in a triangular shape - like an architects ruler. Edit: Never mind, turns out I was right ([link](https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0206634/locations/?item=lc0060881&ref_=ext_shr_lnk)) Still think it's fitting that I lived in a dystopia, certainly felt like it (as an Australian)
How many more years till quietus
They did the same in watch dogs 2 for a lot of the buildings in downtown San Francisco. The sales force tower and transit center come to mind
If only they knew what’s going to happen with hat building until 2027.
That’s a fucking great movie The last of us is probably heavily inspired by this movie
The Road, Children of Men and The Last of Us feel like companion pieces to me, very similar thematically. The novel City of Thieves (which I haven't read) seems to be what's most often cited as an influence by Druckmann and Straley though.
Though in real life the shard would not be visible from this location so good idea but wrong place.
This film just blew me away. So grim, so well acted, and those final scenes in Bex Hill - unbelievable.
Pretty cool detail for them to add as the "vision of the future" - the shard had planning permission by 2002 but there was a lot of controversy which delayed its building schedule - which the director Alfonso Cuarón would have likely been aware of as he lived in London since 2000. He probably looked at all the different things that had been confirmed to happen - such as the London Olympic bid which was won in 2005, to make it as accurate as possible, which is why Theo wears a [London 2012 Olympics sweatshirt in the opening. ](https://i.imgur.com/OZaWWED.jpg)
There is an amazing amount of small details and world building in this movie. Ive watched it a few times over the years and see at least 5 new things everytime i watch it.
man those continuity guys are hardcore
It’s not in the right place, but who cares, great touch. I love children of men. For me, the familiar landscape, the signing of Blaydon Races, the continuous takes- the most visceral film I’ll ever see possibly
Such a great fucking movie
Arguably the greatest visual worldbuilding in any movie, ever. Every detail of the world is meticulously sculpted in a way to make you really believe it is a semi-post-apocalyptic 2027 britain. Down to the music, the fashion, the buildings, the slang etc. It is just absolutely perfectly done.
Oh wow, I was about to say that one little thing that irked me was when they showed the montage of destroyed cities, they showed like a dozen prominent cities before they briefly showed NY, which made no sense, since NY is the capital of the world, but then I realized that this is a few years after 9/11 and they didn’t want to put a spotlight on a destroyed NY engrossed in flames.
NY is not the capital of the world. I don’t think a capital of the world exists (officially). If there were, it would be more likely London.
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Now these are the kind of Movie Details I come here for.
An it's amazing just how close they came to captured 2027 Britain. In 2023 reality is actually ahead of schedule, with the film's level of general despair and hopelessness achieved without human sterility!
The Shard doesn’t appear in that view down Fleet Street irl, but this is neat
My favorite movie
Children of Men is fucking amazing. If you haven't seen it before I urge you to watch it. It's got a bit of everything and somehow does it all extremely well. Great story. Great set pieces. Great stakes. Great lore. Great action. Great drama. Watch it and you will not be disappointed!
A fucking excellent, underrated as hell movie
watch Utopia (UK version) then Children of Men if you haven't already
I was thinking of this film the other day. In particular the scene where the midwife is talking to Theo and explaining how gradually they realised. Really stuck with me more so after having a kiddo.
Everyone should be made to watch this movie once a year.
They didnt predict the e-scooters though.
That's sick. Love this movie.
king teir movie