Children of Men
Universal Pictures | Release Date: December 25, 2006 CRITIC SCORE DISTRIBUTION
84
METASCORE
Universal acclaim based on 38 Critic Reviews
Positive:
37
Mixed:
1
Negative:
0
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Critic Reviews

Critic scorePublicationBy date
100
Los Angeles TimesKenneth Turan
Made with palpable energy, intensity and excitement, it compellingly creates a world gone mad that is uncomfortably close to the one we live in. It is a "Blade Runner" for the 21st century, a worthy successor to that epic of dystopian decay Read full review
100
The A.V. ClubKeith Phipps
It's a heartbreaking, bullet-strewn valentine to what keeps us human. Read full review
100
The Globe and Mail (Toronto)Rick Groen
Children of Men is a nativity story for the ages, this or any other. Read full review
100
SlateDana Stevens
I don't just mean it's one of the best movies of the past six years. Children of Men, based on the 1992 novel by P.D. James, is the movie of the millennium because it's about our millennium, with its fractured, fearful politics and random bursts of violence and terror. Read full review
100
The New York TimesManohla Dargis
Children of Men may be something of a bummer, but it’s the kind of glorious bummer that lifts you to the rafters, transporting you with the greatness of its filmmaking. Read full review
100
Washington PostAnn Hornaday
Working with his longtime cinematographer Emmanuel "Chivo" Lubezki, Cuaron creates the most deeply imagined and fully realized world to be seen on screen this year, not to mention bravura sequences that bring to mind names like Orson Welles and Stanley Kubrick. Read full review
100
Boston GlobeWesley Morris
This is an extraordinary artistic breakthrough from a Mexican director who was already fearlessly good to begin with. Read full review
100
San Francisco ChroniclePeter Hartlaub
Children of Men is Cuarón's run for freedom, with a riveting story, fantastic action scenes and acting so universally solid that even the dogs perform masterfully under his direction. Read full review
100
Entertainment WeeklyLisa Schwarzbaum
It's a work of art that deserves a space cleared for its angry, nervous beauty. Read full review
100
Christian Science MonitorPeter Rainer
At times the film is so supercharged that it glosses over the story's thematic richness and turns into a very high-grade action picture. But if that's the worst thing you can say about a movie, you're doing all right. The best thing to be said about Children of Men is that it's a fully imagined vision of dystopia. Read full review
100
Chicago Sun-TimesRoger Ebert
The performances are crucial, because all of these characters have so completely internalized their world that they make it palpable, and themselves utterly convincing. Read full review
90
Village VoiceJ. Hoberman
It's a measure of Cuarón's directorial chops that Children of Men functions equally well as fantasy and thriller. Like Spielberg's "War of the Worlds" and the Wachowski Brothers' "V for Vendetta" (and more consistently than either), the movie attempts to fuse contemporary life with pulp mythology. Read full review
90
L.A. WeeklyScott Foundas
One of the year's most imaginative and uniquely exciting pieces of cinema. Read full review
88
Chicago TribuneMichael Phillips
It is that rare futuristic thriller: grim in its scenario, yet exhilarating in its technique. Read full review
88
PremiereStephen Saito
It's the rare sci-fi film that transcends its genre with its ideas, able to sweep one up in its not-too-distant future and yet remain remarkably prescient about the present day. Read full review
88
Rolling StonePeter Travers
Cuarón has a gift only the greatest filmmakers share: He makes you believe. Read full review
88
Charlotte ObserverLawrence Toppman
It depicts a world close enough to our own to be terrifying, yet different enough to rouse curiosity. Read full review
88
Miami HeraldRene Rodriguez
Children of Men is thrilling, both for its groundbreaking style (there are action sequences here unlike any filmed before) and its complex, vividly realized ideas. Read full review
88
Philadelphia InquirerSteven Rea
A chase movie, a spy movie, a futuristic thriller full of colorfully bizarre characters and deftly choreographed stunt work, Children of Men works on multiple levels - as action and allegory. Read full review
80
VarietyDerek Elley
Picture more than delivers on the action front -- not in bang-for-your-buck spectacle but in the kind of gritty, doculike sequences that haul viewers out of their seats and alongside the main protags. Read full review
80
The Hollywood ReporterRay Bennett
Owen carries the film more in the tradition of a Jimmy Stewart or Henry Fonda than a Clint Eastwood or Harrison Ford. He has to wear flip-flops for part of the time without losing his dignity, and he never reaches for a weapon or guns anyone down. Cuaron and Owen may have created the first believable 21st-century movie hero. Read full review
80
SalonStephanie Zacharek
A solemn, haunting picture, but it's also a thrilling one, partly because of the sheer bravado with which it's made. It left me feeling more fortified than drained. Cuarón, the most openhearted of directors, prefers to give rather than take away. Read full review
80
New York Magazine (Vulture)David Edelstein
Children of Men is a bouillabaisse of up-to-the-minute terrors. It's a wow, though. Read full review
80
The New YorkerAnthony Lane
It's a film that you need to see, not a film that you especially want to. Read full review
80
EmpireDamon Wise
A visually stunning Swiftian satire, Children Of Men may appear clumsy, but its message is simple, heartfelt and ultimately rather moving. Read full review
78
Austin ChronicleMarjorie Baumgarten
As all his films have shown, Cuarón is clearly one of the most original filmmakers working today, and Children of Men should solidify his place at the top of those ranks. With a great script, there should be no stopping him. Read full review
75
ReelViewsJames Berardinelli
Although imperfect, it's engaging, thought-provoking stuff. Read full review
75
USA TodayClaudia Puig
An exhilarating sci-fi action thriller with a powerful social and political message. Read full review
75
New York Daily NewsJack Mathews
Cuarón relies on his ample visual style, and he has indeed created a film you cannot tear your eyes away from. Read full review
75
TV Guide MagazineMaitland McDonagh
The screenplay, which differs significantly from the novel, is uneven, but the distorted mirror it holds up to the present is disturbingly clear. Read full review
75
Portland OregonianShawn Levy
Children of Men has some magnificent moments of moviemaking and is thoroughly infused with just the atmosphere Cuaron has aimed for. But it's so streamlined in its storytelling and unvarying in its tone that it's more deadening than transporting. Read full review
70
NewsweekDavid Ansen
Children of Men leaves too many questions unanswered, yet it has a stunning visceral impact. You can forgive a lot in the face of filmmaking this dazzling. Read full review
70
Chicago ReaderJonathan Rosenbaum
The film gradually devolves into action-adventure, then the equivalent of a war movie. But the filmmaking is pungent throughout, and the first half hour is so jaw-dropping in its fleshed-out extrapolation that Cuaron earns the right to coast a bit. Read full review
70
Film ThreatMark Bell
The problem with the film, despite the genius of craftmanship and cinematography, is that the film doesn't really have anything new to say. Read full review
67
Seattle Post-IntelligencerWilliam Arnold
As exciting and disturbing as it is in many ways, Children of Men -- based on a novel by P.D. James -- doesn't add up to a credible alternate view of the near-future: Its vision hasn't been well thought out, and, again and again, it struck me as a sloppy piece of storytelling. Read full review
67
Baltimore SunChris Kaltenbach
As great as the film looks, the story, adapted from a novel by P.D. James, never quite comes into focus. Read full review
63
New York PostKyle Smith
Director Alfonso Cuarón has a vision so mesmerizingly terrible that it alone - at least, for those who enjoy a gorgeous nightmare - is reason enough to see the film. Read full review
50
Wall Street JournalJoe Morgenstern
Bloated adaptation of P.D. James's thoughtful, compact novel.
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