Children of Men in an Era of Apocalyptic Anxiety

This chapter looks at Alfonso Cuarón's Children of Men in terms of one of the Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse — Pestilence. It explains how Children of Men is described between apocalyptic and dystopian, two concepts that are often used interchangeably, but are actually different. It points out that dystopia suggests the perfection of a pernicious order, such as the rise of a dictatorial regime and oppression of minorities, while the apocalypse suggests the End-of-the-World. The chapter discusses the End-of-the-World fiction that exploded in the wake of 9/11 as it revealed breaches in security. It mentions Kirsten M. Thompson, who states that apocalypticism has a close connection to the science-fiction genre.

Documenting the Future: Visual Design

This chapter details how Alfonso Cuarón's Children of Men eschews the glamorous production values of the standard Hollywood film and moves into the transgressive realm of simulated reportage. It elaborates Children of Men's realism by Cuarón's incorporation of the handheld camera with uninterrupted long takes, complex compositions with multiple planes of action, and an emphasis on medium and long-distance shots rather than close-ups. It also analyses Children of Men's visual style that reflects the aesthetic of French film theorist Andre Bazin. The chapter discusses how Cuarón takes a 'present-in-the-future' approach to the mise-en-scène and insistently cross-references the nightmarish state-of-siege future with staged versions of historical, politically charged imagery. It examines Children of Men as a transhistorical critique.

Tyranny in the UK

This chapter discusses Alfonso Cuarón's method of layering richly detailed background information that serves as exposition of the Children of Men's totalitarian and xenophobic social landscape as well as articulation of its political and technological critique. It details how Children of Men compels the viewer to recognize how a tyrannical system dehumanizes and ostracizes people. It also analyses Children of Men's connection of the rise of British fascism to nationalism, xenophobia, and the public's complacency. The chapter explores the biological apocalypse that provokes geopolitical fracturing in Children of Men. It describes the Middle East wars and European immigration crisis portrayed in Children of Men.

The Resistance

This chapter talks about the underground cadre of militant freedom fighters called the Fishes as the mostconspicuous organized resistance group portrayed in Alfonso Cuarón's Children of Men. It discusses how Children of Men disparages the Fishes and their mirage of revolution as the film condemns the fascistic actions of Britain — a modern democratic state turned savage. It also analyses how Children of Men rejects the Fishes as a treacherous goon squad, even though their political goal — the liberation of oppressed migrants — is worthy. The chapter examines Children of Men's main protagonist Theo Faron, who resembles the central character Meursault in Albert Camus'most famous novel The Stranger (1942). It mentions how no organized political groups are championed in Children of Men except for the vaguely defined Human Project, noting that the only source of hope for the future is Theo.

Conclusion: State of Emergency

This chapter reviews Alfonso Cuarón's Children of Men as a radical film that centralizes criticism of racism, xenophobia, white nationalism, and corporate technology. It examines how Children of Men subverts the conservative politics of the global capitalist entertainment industry by co-opting and castigating the system that produced it. It also points out how Children of Men does not derive its politics from its production context, but rather from the values it urges through its story and style. The chapter discusses Alfonso Cuarón's exploitation of mainstream mechanisms of the multinational entertainment machine by acceding to some mass audience expectations. It analyses the political importance and human value of Cuarón's artistry that is fortified through the vision of Albert Camus and his conception of fascism.