Humanities House Film Series: "Children of Men"
On September 12, Humanities House watched the first movie of the semester: Children of Men. A dystopian reality in which all of humanity suddenly and inexplicably becomes infertile, with chaos ensuing shortly after. The movie is set in 2027 Britain, focusing on the events of protagonist Theo Faron; a government worker who is bribed into helping the activist group known as the “Fishes” in escorting pregnant refugee Kee out of the country. However, Theo finds out about the Fishes’ real plan to kill him and use Kee’s baby as a political tool and now must deliver Kee to a research group known as the “Human Project” in Azores.
The film was very enjoyable, there were so many ups and downs that it almost felt like riding a rollercoaster. One particular scene that stood out to me was when Jasper Palmer; an old friend of Theo who lives in a secluded forest, sacrificed himself to slow down the Fishes from finding Theo, Kee, and Miriam. The film did a very good job of ‘show don’t tell’ during the scene in which Jasper pulls out their issued suicide box and walks toward his disabled wife. My suspicions were confirmed when members of the Fishes search Jasper’s home right before killing him; stating “It’s empty, just a dead woman and a dead dog here.” That statement also foreshadowed that Jasper would get killed shortly after.
Another part I enjoyed was the twist during the Fishes’ safehouse scene when it’s revealed that Julian’s murder was planned by the Fishes. It was unexpected and genuinely surprised me that the movie made the murder seem like a plot hole but actually wasn’t.
The reason I had originally thought Julian’s death was a plot hole is because while watching the murder scene with the car being chased by the pair on the motorcycle, I noticed that Luke; A high ranking member of the Fishes, had a gun on him. I wondered at first why he didn’t pull it out and defend from the obvious attackers, thinking afterwards “Oh well, another movie where someone dies for no reason.” Then when the twist was revealed I realized why: Luke had intentionally not defended from the attackers because it was planned all along! He was in on the murder! The film played with my expectation of characters being killed off for no valid reason and I love it for that.
Overall, Children of Men executed its drama very well, though other aspects of the movie weren’t perfect. There were some parts of the movie that simply wasn’t as good or fully developed. Take the ending, for example. Repeatedly throughout the film we are told there is this secret organization, the Human Project, that is researching into the infertility crisis and it’s based in Azores.
However, when Theo and Kee finally make it to the meeting point to greet the Human Project it ends. The film ends right then and there. The ending is disappointing, it sets up this big reveal only to have it taken away just before the unveiling. We never get to see what the Human Project looks like, who is part of it, what they’re going to do for Kee and her child, nothing. I feel if the Human Project was elaborated a bit more the movie would benefit so much. On the other hand, to play devil’s advocate it could simply be that the writers wanted to leave some room for a sequel- some creative room so that the Human Project can be developed thoroughly. It’s hard to tell if that is the real reason the movie ends abruptly, so until there is a sequel, I have to stand by my opinion that the ending is disappointing.
