The screenplay, based on P. James ' novel The Children of Men , was credited to five writers, with Clive Owen making uncredited contributions. The film is set in when two decades of human infertility have left society on the brink of collapse. Asylum seekers seek sanctuary in the United Kingdom , where they are subjected to detention and deportation by the government.
Despite the limited release and lack of any clear marketing strategy during awards season by the film's distributor, [ 8 ] [ 9 ] [ 10 ] Children of Men received critical acclaim and was recognised for its achievements in screenwriting, cinematography, art direction, and innovative single-shot action sequences.
In , it was voted 13th among films considered the best of the 21st century by film critics from around the world. In , 18 years of total human infertility have led to war and global depression , pushing civilization to the brink of collapse as humanity faces extinction.
The United Kingdom has transformed into a totalitarian police state in which refugees are arrested and either imprisoned, deported, or executed in concentration camps.
Theo Faron, a former activist turned cynical bureaucrat , is kidnapped by the Fishes, a militant refugee-rights group led by Theo's estranged wife, Julian Taylor; the pair separated after their son's death during a flu pandemic. Julian offers Theo money to acquire transit papers for a young refugee woman named Kee. Theo only manages to obtain joint transit papers from his cousin, a government minister, and requests to escort Kee in exchange for a larger sum of money, which Julian agrees.
