Children of Men is a great film in a way that many dystopian stories try for but fail. To me the reason it is successful is because it seems realistic. The world portrayed in the movie seems like it could happen, maybe because things like this have happened before. I'm not talking about the 0% human birthrate. I'm talking about the violence based in nationalism, the internment camps, the guerrilla warfare, the protests and riots, the sense of panic and anarchy in a crumbling society. This world looks real and somehow familiar.

The characters are also treated realistically, which I liked. There was no Uzi-wielding, grenade lobbing stock hero character and no evil Big Brother-esque villain available on which to pin the blame for the ugliness of humanity. What we did see was a lot of scared people trying to survive in the midst of war, and just like in reality, many of them don't.

I think I've succeeded in making Children of Men sound horribly depressing but although it certainly isn't a feel-good film, it does have moments of happiness and hope. For example Michael Caine's aging hippie character brings a sense of humor and lightness to a dark setting. Another central moment of the film is a mesmerizing scene where the cries of a newborn baby bring calm to the heart of a war-zone.

I highly recommend this film to any fans of dystopia stories, speculative fiction, babies and Clive Owen.