Children of Man

1. Plot

In 2027, after human activities have produced an ecocide with widespread

deleterious effects on the environment; eighteen years of total human infertility,
war and global depression threaten the collapse of human civilizations. The
United Kingdom is one of the few remaining nations with a functioning
government and has become a police state in which immigrants are arrested and
either imprisoned or executed.
Theo Faron, a former activist turned cynical bureaucrat, is kidnapped by the
Fishes, a militant immigrant-rights group led by Theo's estranged wife, Julian
Taylor; the pair separated after their son's death during a 2008 flu pandemic.
Julian offers Theo money to acquire transit papers for a young refugee woman
named Kee. Theo obtains the documents from his cousin, a government
minister, and agrees to escort Kee in exchange for a larger sum of money. Luke,
a Fishes leader, drives Theo, Kee, Julian, and former midwife Miriam
towards Canterbury, but an armed gang ambushes them and kills Julian. Two
police officers later stop their car; Luke kills them, and the group hides Julian's
body before heading to a safe house.
Kee reveals to Theo that she is pregnant, making her the only known pregnant
woman in the world. Julian had intended to take her to the Human Project, a
scientific research group in the Azores dedicated to curing humanity's infertility,
which Theo believes does not exist. Luke becomes the new leader of the Fishes,
and that night, Theo eavesdrops on a discussion and learns that the Fishes
orchestrated Julian's death so that Luke could become their leader, and that they
intend to kill him and use Kee's baby as a political tool. Theo wakes Kee and
Miriam, and they escape to the secluded hideaway of Theo's reclusive,
aging hippie friend Jasper Palmer, a former political cartoonist whose wife
was tortured into catatonia by the British government for her activism.
The group plans to reach the Human Project ship, the Tomorrow, scheduled to
arrive offshore at Bexhill, a notorious immigrant detention centre. Jasper plans
to use Syd, an immigration officer to whom Jasper sells cannabis, to smuggle
them into Bexhill as refugees, from where they can take a rowing boat to
rendezvous with the Tomorrow. The next day, the Fishes discover Jasper's
house, and the group is forced to flee. Jasper stays behind to stall them and is
murdered by Luke as Theo watches. Theo, Kee, and Miriam meet with Syd, who
helps them board a bus into the camp. When Kee begins
experiencing contractions, Miriam distracts a guard by feigning religious mania
and is taken away.
Inside the camp, Theo and Kee meet a Gypsy woman, Marichka, who provides a
room where Kee gives birth to a baby girl. The next day, Syd tells Theo and Kee
that war has broken out between the British military and the refugees, and that
the Fishes have infiltrated the camp; he then reveals that Theo and Kee have a
bounty on their heads and attempts to capture them. Theo subdues Syd with
Marichka's help; they escape but are ambushed by the Fishes, who capture Kee
and the baby. Theo tracks them to an apartment building that is under heavy fire.
Theo confronts Luke, who is killed in an explosion, and Theo escorts Kee and
the baby out. Awed by the baby, the British soldiers and Fishes temporarily stop
fighting and allow the trio to leave. Marichka leads them to the boat but chooses
to stay behind as they depart.
As British fighter jets conduct airstrikes on Bexhill, Theo and Kee row to the
rendezvous point in heavy fog. Theo reveals that he was shot and wounded by
Luke earlier; he teaches Kee how to burp her baby, and she tells him she will
name the baby girl Dylan, after Theo's and Julian's lost son. Theo smiles weakly,
then loses consciousness as the Tomorrow approaches. As the screen cuts to
black, children's laughter is heard.
The film’s concept, too, might seem far-fetched until you consider recent
science. Male sperm counts have declined by nearly 55 percent in the last 40
years. In a recent studyabout male fertility in the western world published in the
journal Human Reproduction Update, researchers noted that human-made
factors have led to hormone disruption and declining sperm counts. “Sperm
count and other semen parameters have been plausibly associated with multiple
environmental influences, including endocrine disrupting chemicals, pesticides,
heat and lifestyle factors, including diet, stress, smoking and body-mass index,”
wrote researchers from around the world. Sperm count rates will only continue
to decrease, the report concluded. It’s undoubtedly a factor in the decline of U.S.
birth rates as well, which according to a Brookings report, have decreased by 20
percent in just over ten years.
 2. Despair and hope

The film presents a world on the brink of collapse, where humanity has lost
hope for the future. The discovery of Kee's pregnancy brings a glimmer of
hope to a world engulfed in despair. The two protagonist are representing the
two sides: hope and despair.

Despair :
- Children of Men’s protagonist, Theodore Faron
- He looks worn and beaten.
- “I can’t really remember when I last had any hope,” he explains, “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?

Hope:
- The other protagonist, Kee
- She looks young and energetic
- “Your baby is the miracle the whole world has been waiting for,”
- Her name suggests with a homonym that she’s the solution
- The director doubles down her symbolic import when he frames the nude
Kee similarly to Botticelli’s The Birth of Venus to reveal her pregnancy.

3. Immigration and refugees

- refugees are "hunted down like cockroaches"

- Children of Men" presents a dark portrayal of immigration and refugee
crises. The film depicts refugee camps, detention centres, and militarized
borders, highlighting the plight of those seeking safety and sanctuary.
- Orchestrated by the government : fear of the otherness and also people
won’t pay attention the real problems
- It makes no effort to explain how British society has become so
oppressive. Repression of immigrants appears to have little or no
connection to generalized economic difficulty.
- The parallels to today are astonishing. Of course, the tangible cause of the
rampant xenophobia we’re seeing in the US and the UK today isn’t a
catastrophic world event like in “Children of Men”. However, the root of
 the issue in both the film and real life is fear. In the film, it’s the fear of
extinction.
references:
- in the scene where British government agents strip and assault refugees;
the song "Arbeit Macht Frei" by The Libertines, from Arbeit macht frei,
plays in the background. "The visual allusions to the Nazi round-ups are
unnerving", writes Richard A. Blake. "It shows what people can become
when the government orchestrates their fears for its own advantage.

- Without the ability to reproduce, the human race will eventually go

extinct. In our current climate, xenophobia isn’t just fear of immigrants,
it’s the fear of a certain population’s way of life being threatened. Director
Alfonso Cuarón was tapping into the 2000s wave of anti-immigrant
sentiment in the shadow of 9/11. Little did he know he was foretelling
actual action on the sentiment in the form of Brexit and Donald Trump.
- Today it’s even more impactful when the US has separated over 20,000
migrant children from their parents and held them in detention camps
across the country.

4. Government control
- The government in the film maintains a totalitarian power through
surveillance, propaganda, and oppressive policies. It seeks to maintain
control over the population by suppressing dissent and exploiting the
crisis for its own ends.

- Totalitarianism: The government in "Children of Men" is depicted as

authoritarian and totalitarian. The state exerts tight control over its
citizens, using propaganda, surveillance, and brute force to maintain
power. The government's control extends to all aspects of life, from
 curfews and strict immigration policies to the manipulation of media
narratives.
- Propaganda and Manipulation: Throughout the film, the government
uses propaganda to maintain its grip on power and control public
perception. News broadcasts depict a skewed version of reality,
emphasizing the government's strength and downplaying the chaos and
unrest in society. This manipulation of information helps the government
maintain its authority and suppress dissent.
- Surveillance State: Surveillance plays a significant role in maintaining
control. Citizens are constantly monitored by security cameras, drones,
and checkpoints. This pervasive surveillance infringes on individual
privacy and freedom, creating an atmosphere of fear and paranoia.
- Militarization and Police Brutality: The government maintains control
through militarization and police brutality. Security forces are heavily
armed and ruthless in their enforcement of government policies. Dissent is
met with violence, as seen in the brutal crackdowns on protests and
resistance movements throughout the film.

5. Resistance and Redemption

- Despite the bleakness of the world portrayed in the film, there are
elements of resistance and redemption. The protagonist, Theo, undergoes
a personal transformation as he becomes involved in the quest to protect
and transport the pregnant woman, Kee, to safety. This theme highlights
the capacity for individual agency and moral courage in the face of
injustice.

- The protagonist, Theo Faron, played by Clive Owen, starts the film as a
cynical and detached individual, indifferent to the plight of the world
around him. However, as the story progresses and he becomes involved in
the mission to protect the pregnant woman, Kee, he begins to rediscover
 his humanity. His journey towards protecting Kee and the unborn child
becomes a symbol of redemption, as he finds purpose and hope in a
seemingly hopeless world.

- Theo sanitizes his hands with the last of his Scotch, a clear sign that he’s
giving up his selfish lifestyle and returning to his former idealism.