::Children of Men (2006)::


Children of Men is a 2006 British dystopian science fiction film co-written and directed by Alfonso Cuarón. The Strike Entertainment production was loosely adapted from P. D. James's 1992 novel of the same name by Cuarón and Timothy J. Sexton with help from David Arata, Mark Fergus and Hawk Ostby. It stars Clive Owen, Julianne Moore, Pam Ferris, Claire-Hope Ashitey, Chiwetel Ejiofor, and Michael Caine.

Set in the United Kingdom of 2027, the film explores a grim world in which two decades of global human infertility have left humanity with less than a century to survive. Societal collapse, terrorism, and environmental destruction accompany the impending extinction. Meanwhile, the United Kingdom—perhaps the last functioning government—persecutes a seemingly endless wave of illegal immigrant refugees seeking sanctuary. In the midst of this chaos, Thelonious "Theo" Faron (Clive Owen) must find safe transit for Kee (Claire-Hope Ashitey), a pregnant African "fugee" (refugee).[3]

The film was released on 22 September 2006 in the UK, 19 October 2006 in Australia and on December 25, 2006 in the U.S., critics noting the relationship between the Christmas opening and the film's themes of hope, redemption, and faith.

In 2027, no human children have been born in any part of the world for eighteen years. The world has descended into chaos with most governments in the world collapsing, leaving the United Kingdom as one of the only remaining organised societies. Millions of refugees have entered the United Kingdom seeking asylum. As a result of the influx, Britain has become a militarised police state. The British Army occupies the streets and forcefully detains all illegal immigrants and suspected sympathisers.

Theo, an activist turned apathetic bureaucrat, learns that the world's youngest human, an eighteen-year-old Argentine, has been stabbed to death in Buenos Aires. Theo narrowly avoids a café bomb explosion, attributed to the Fishes—an underground resistance group advocating equal rights for all immigrants in Great Britain. Desperate to recuperate, Theo visits his friend, Jasper Palmer, a former political cartoonist and aging hippie. Jasper lives in a secluded hideaway in the countryside and spends his time growing marijuana and caring for his catatonic wife, who was supposedly tortured by MI5.



Upon his return to London, Theo is kidnapped by the Fishes, who are led by his estranged wife Julian Taylor. Theo is surprised and happy to see her as they parted ways shortly after their young son died during a flu pandemic in 2008. Julian offers Theo money in exchange for his help in obtaining a travel permit for a young refugee girl named Kee. Initially ambivalent, Theo decides to obtain the permits from his cousin Nigel, a government minister. Nigel arranges for the papers which carry a stipulation that Theo must accompany Kee. Theo decides to escort Kee in exchange for more money.

The trip begins, and Luke, a member of the Fishes, drives Theo, Kee, Julian, and Miriam, a midwife, towards the first security checkpoint. They are ambushed by a group of renegades before they arrive, and Julian is fatally shot. The police come to investigate, and Luke kills two officers who stop their car. The group buries Julian in the forest, then escapes to a safe house. With Julian dead, Luke becomes the new leader of the Fishes.

Kee reveals to Theo that she is pregnant, telling him that Julian told her that she should only trust Theo. She also tells him that Julian had intended to take Kee to the Human Project, a group of scientists dedicated to curing infertility who are supposedly based in the Azores. However, with the police after them following the shooting, Luke proposes keeping Kee with the Fishes, and she chooses to stay until after the baby is born. Theo suggests that they go public with the information about Kee's baby, but the Fishes argue that Kee's baby will be taken by the government and used for its benefit.

Theo awakens to overhear Luke and other high-ranking members of the Fishes discussing the incident that killed Julian. Theo sees the broken motorcycle that was ridden by Julian's killers, and realises that her death was the work of the Fishes, who plan to use Kee's baby as a political tool. Theo wakes Kee and Miriam and they steal a car (a thinly veiled Renault Avantime) and escape to Jasper's house. At Jasper's, Miriam explains that the Human Project's ship Tomorrow is scheduled to arrive at a buoy offshore from the Bexhill detention centre for refugees. Jasper proposes a plan to smuggle them into the camp with the help of his friend, Syd, a guard at Bexhill.

After the Fishes discover Jasper's hideout, Theo, Miriam, and Kee escape. Realising that his end is near, Jasper gives Quietus to his wife and dog. He refuses to reveal where Theo, Miriam, and Kee are, and is murdered by the Fishes. Theo and the group meet Syd, and he drives them to Bexhill as faux-prisoners. When Kee begins having contractions while they are loaded onto a refugee bus, Miriam distracts a suspicious guard from noticing Kee's condition by faking religious mania, and is dragged off the bus and executed.

Theo and Kee enter Bexhill, and they meet Syd's contact, Marichka. She provides them a room where Kee gives birth to a girl. Syd reappears the next day and alerts Theo and Kee to the fact that a full-scale uprising among the refugees has broken out. The Fishes have also broken into Bexhill and the British Army is being mobilised to crush the rebellion. When Syd discovers the baby, he attempts to take them hostage in order to collect a bounty. With Marichka's help, they manage to kill him and escape. Marichka then attempts to procure Theo and Kee a boat so they can rendezvous with the Tomorrow.

The Fishes recapture Kee, but before they can withdraw with her, they come under fire from British troops supported by tanks and armoured vehicles; amid the chaos, Theo tracks Kee and her baby to an apartment building and frees them. Luke shoots at Theo as they make their escape but is killed by a tank shell. When the soldiers and the armed insurgents hear the baby crying, the fighting stops and the combatants look on in awe. Theo, Kee, and the baby leave the building, walking past the astonished soldiers and refugees.

As the fighting resumes, they join Marichka who leads them to a sewer and to a boat which will take them to the rendezvous point. However, when Theo and Kee enter the boat, Marichka refuses to get in, and she pushes the boat away and begins singing to her dog. British fighter planes fly in and destroy Bexhill as Theo rows away. Kee learns that Theo was shot by Luke during their escape. Kee then says she will name her baby "Dylan", after Theo's deceased son (Kee deciding on the name of her baby is a recurring theme in the film). As Theo loses consciousness and slumps to the side of the boat, the Tomorrow emerges from the thick fog and Kee tells baby Dylan that "we're safe now".

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