Director: Alfonzo Cuaron
Starring: Clive Owen, Michael Caine, Julianne Moore

Clive Owen stars in Children of Men. (Courtesy photo)

It seems like some movies are too far ahead of the curve. How else to explain why Children of Men, Alfonzo Cuaron’s absolutely devastating, thrilling vision of the near future, is not lauded as the most revelatory movie of the year? Cuaron’s adaptation of the P.D. James novel can be compared to other movies in terms of visual or stylistic context—Bloody Sunday, Munich—but ultimately it looks and moves like no other fictional film that I’m aware of. Cuaron, who should now stand firmly at the top rung of the ladder of great film directors, takes a story that could have turned either far too grim or too saccharine, and makes it into a visual jaw-dropper that gets your mind whirling. Some will find it too despairing. I found it absolutely energizing.

It’s the year 2027, women have been infertile for 18 years, and most of the world has devolved into chaos. London still exists, but it is a bleak, militaristic city with guards at every entrance keeping the swarms of desperate refugees out. Theo Faron (Clive Owen) tries his best to drown out reality, but we suspect from his weary, angry eyes that he cares too much to give in. Our suspicions are confirmed when Theo is abducted by a rebel group, and discovers his ex-wife Julian (Julianne Moore) is their leader. She wants Theo to help a young refugee woman get to the coast. It’s a suicidal job, but when Theo meets young Kee (Claire-Hope Ashitey), he understands: she’s pregnant. The rebels want to get her across the sea to the Human Project, a group of great minds working toward the survival of the race. Most, including Theo, don’t believe the group exists. But Theo is so quickly drawn into the escape, he has no choice but to rediscover his own dedication to the cause of humanity.

Sounds a little hokey, right? Sounds like all those sci-fi stories with heavy-handed themes delivered in simplistic monotones, right? Not in the hands of Cuaron. Following Y Tu Mamá También and Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban with Children of Men, Cuaron proves himself to be gloriously hard to pin. Certainly a great part of his success comes from how he humanizes his material. Children never feels like a science fiction story, yet that’s exactly what it is. Cuaron and his team of writers essentially break the movie into about a dozen sequences—at least three of which are among the most surprising, jolting single-take sequences I’ve ever seen. The great cinematographer Emmanuel Lubezki (Sleepy Hollow, The New World) follows the action with a handheld camera, but never succumbs to the jittery, jumpy look. In fact the camera is careful to frame scenes and hold them, forcing the technical crew to incorporate awesome visual effects without standard movie cheats. It has to be seen to be believed.

It takes an exceptional cast to complement the film’s ultra-real look, and this cast is just that. Clive Owen simply doesn’t take missteps these days. All of his recent screen work (Closer, Inside Man) feels pitch perfect from start to finish. Moore and Chiwetel Ejiofor (Serenity Kinky Boots) are strong as the leaders of the rebel movement. British TV veteran Pam Ferris lends able support as the former nurse dedicated to protecting Kee. And Ashitey is just wonderful as the plain-spoken Kee. This is no Virgin Mary we’re talking about. Michael Caine is also good, lending much-needed playfulness to the rough proceedings, and Peter Mullan (The Magdelane Sisters) is memorable as a self-involved police officer. As only the best filmmakers do, Cuaron has populated even the smallest roles carefully, so that every note rings true.

While it may not go down as the greatest year in film history, there are a handful of films from 2006 that thrill in the same special manner: they work as pure cinematic experiences. The Departed, Casino Royale, and now Children of Men are all exceptionally executed movies. Each left me giddy with delight at the pure energy with which the filmmakers pushed the art form. And the best, most meaningful of the three turns out to be Children of Men. For some reason, it isn’t in the discussion as we close in on the Academy Awards. Yet for me, Children of Men is a movie for the ages.

Alex Manugian lives in Sherman Oaks, California, and works for the Cartoon Network. He grew up in Groton and has reviewed movies for Harvard residents for many years.