Children of Men Alfonso Cuarón

Critical response

Children of Men received critical acclaim; on the review aggregator website Rotten Tomatoes, the film received a 92% approval rating based on 252 reviews from critics, with an average rating of 8.10/10. The site's critical consensus states: "Children of Men works on every level: as a violent chase thriller, a fantastical cautionary tale, and a sophisticated human drama about societies struggling to live."[93] On Metacritic, the film has a score of 84 out of 100, based on 38 reviews, indicating "universal acclaim".[94] Audiences polled by CinemaScore gave the film an average grade "B−" on an A+ to F scale.[95]

Roger Ebert of the Chicago Sun-Times gave the film four stars out of four, writing, "Cuarón fulfills the promise of futuristic fiction; characters do not wear strange costumes or visit the moon, and the cities are not plastic hallucinations, but look just like today, except tired and shabby. Here is certainly a world ending not with a bang but a whimper, and the film serves as a cautionary warning."[96] Dana Stevens of Slate called it "the herald of another blessed event: the arrival of a great director by the name of Alfonso Cuarón". Stevens hailed the film's extended car chase and battle scenes as "two of the most virtuoso single-shot chase sequences I've ever seen".[71] Manohla Dargis of The New York Times called the film a "superbly directed political thriller", raining accolades on the long chase scenes.[80] "Easily one of the best films of the year" said Ethan Alter of Film Journal International, with scenes that "dazzle you with their technical complexity and visual virtuosity".[64] Jonathan Romney of The Independent praised the accuracy of Cuarón's portrait of the United Kingdom, but he criticized some of the film's futuristic scenes as "run-of-the-mill future fantasy".[35] Film Comment's critics' poll of the best films of 2006 ranked the film number 19, while the 2006 readers' poll ranked it number two.[97] On their list of the best movies of 2006, The A.V. Club, the San Francisco Chronicle, Slate, and The Washington Post placed the film at number one.[98] Entertainment Weekly ranked the film seventh on its end-of-the-decade top 10 list, saying, "Alfonso Cuarón's dystopian 2006 film reminded us that adrenaline-juicing action sequences can work best when the future looks just as grimy as today".[99]

Peter Travers of Rolling Stone ranked it number two on his list of best films of the decade, writing:

I thought director Alfonso Cuarón's film of P.D. James' futuristic political-fable novel was good when it opened in 2006. After repeated viewings, I know Children of Men is indisputably great ... No movie this decade was more redolent of sorrowful beauty and exhilarating action. You don't just watch the car ambush scene (pure camera wizardry)—you live inside it. That's Cuarón's magic: He makes you believe."[100]

According to Metacritic's analysis of the films most often noted on the best-of-the-decade lists, Children of Men is the 11th greatest film of the 2000s.[101]

In the book 501 Must-See Movies, Rob Hill lauds the movie for its dystopian portrayal of the future and its adept exploration of contemporary issues. Hill highlights the film's societal stagnation and the magnetizing effect of Britain for immigrants and terrorists, emphasizing the director's intelligence in weaving speculative narratives with real-world reflections. He applauds Cuarón's skill in creating a cinematic mirror that resonates with audiences by addressing pressing political and social concerns, all within a compelling dystopian framework.[102]

In the wake of the European migrant crisis of 2015, the British withdrawal from the European Union of the late 2010s, Donald Trump's presidency 2017-2021, and the COVID-19 pandemic of 2020, all of which involved divisive debates about immigration and increasing border enforcement, several commentators reappraised the film's importance, with some calling it "prescient".[a]

Top 10 lists

The film appeared on many critics' top 10 lists as one of the best films of 2006:[98]

• 1st – Ann Hornaday, The Washington Post
• 1st – Keith Phipps, The A.V. Club
• 1st – Peter Hartlaub, San Francisco Chronicle
• 1st – Tasha Robinson, The A.V. Club
• 2nd (of the decade) – Peter Travers, Rolling Stone
• 2nd – Ray Bennett, The Hollywood Reporter
• 2nd – Scott Tobias, The A.V. Club
• 3rd – Roger Ebert, Chicago Sun-Times
• 4th – Kevin Crust, Los Angeles Times
• 4th – Wesley Morris, The Boston Globe
• 5th – Rene Rodriguez, The Miami Herald
• 6th – Manohla Dargis, The New York Times
• 7th – Empire
• 7th – Kirk Honeycutt, The Hollywood Reporter
• 7th – Ty Burr, The Boston Globe
• 8th – Kenneth Turan, Los Angeles Times (tied with Pan's Labyrinth)
• 8th – Scott Foundas, LA Weekly (tied with L'Enfant)
• 8th – Scott Foundas, The Village Voice
• Unordered – Dana Stevens, Slate
• Unordered – Liam Lacey and Rick Groen, The Globe and Mail
• Unordered – Peter Rainer, The Christian Science Monitor
• Unordered – Mark Kermode, BBC Radio 5 Live

In 2012, director Marc Webb included the film on his list of Top 10 Greatest Films when asked by Sight & Sound for his votes for the BFI The Top 50 Greatest Films of All Time.[114] In 2015, the film was named number one on an all-time Top 10 Movies list by the blog Pop Culture Philosopher.[115] In 2016, it was voted 13th among 100 films considered the best of the 21st century by 117 film critics from around the world.[116] In 2017, Rolling Stone magazine ranked Children of Men as the best Sci-fi film of the 21st century.[117] In 2023, Time listed the film as one of the best 100 movies from the past 10 decades.[118]

Accolades

P. D. James was reported to be pleased with the film,[119] and the screenwriters of Children of Men were awarded the 19th annual USC Scripter Award for the screen adaptation of the novel.[120]