Imagine a world engulfed in war, terrorism, uprising - a world filled with noise of explosions and gunshots, void of any human child's cry. Believe me, it's not too difficult to imagine because signs of them are already happening now, but a world facing a dilemma of infertility, we could ask ourselves. Will it really happen? Is it possible? Children of Men will stir that thought and it will provoke such questions that would haunt humanity till the rest of its remaining breath.

Children of Men is potentially the most powerful film of 2006, and if not, clearly one of the finest that's crafted this year. It's though-provoking, emotionally compelling, and worldly conscious. Being one of those films that gives us a view into the dystopian not-too-distant-future like The Island, I,Robot, Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind, and V for Vendetta, Children of Men would have to be the most realistic idea ever conceived and Alfonso Cuaron's artistic hand on it makes it the more indomitable.

Set in the year 2027, where the world is crumbling into ruins due to terrorism and environmental chaos, United Kingdom had fallen into anarchy and in order to protect itself from the outside enemies of the global war, the country captures all immigrants and shove them all into refugee camps. Activist uprising, Islamic terrorisms, and a nation deluded with fear and corruption stood in the brink of devastation. Yet, there is one more problem: mankind has no future. Women became infertile due to environmental concerns like ozone breakouts, pollution, gamma rays, food synthesis and genetic malfunctions. No child had been born for the last 18 years, and as the film started, it shows the denizens of London losing hope after the break-out news from BBC that the youngest person on Earth just died.

Clive Owen plays a Londoner bureaucrat, Theodore Faron, also an ex-activist, who had been drawn back into activism when ex-wife, also an activist considered terrorist by the anarchy, Julian (played by Julianne Moore) pulls him to be a part of a keeper of an explosive secret. They were harbouring a black woman named Kee, who was pregnant of the world's first baby in 18 years. As both Theo and Kee tries to get away from a nightmare of the war, they struggled to preserve and get into the safest place that was the future of all mankind.

This is a very dark film, filled with ideas yet painted realism all over its canvas. From the scene alone where Theo visits a friend in the Arc of Arts and had dined with Picasso's world famous mural painting, Guernica, on the backdrop, we know that Alfonso Cuaron would do the same to Children of Men also as what Picasso had did to his masterpiece. Almost a black and white portrayal of the future, with the world stumbling into desperation, gloomy with despair and trodden with doom. Most scenes in the film will leave audience gasping, and powerful images of humans in cages and running, avoiding gunshots will surely haunt many. Cuaron, who directed the astounding road-trip growing-up themed film, Y Tu Mama Tambien, and brought artistic magic to Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban, gives us a realistic point of view in the film. He uses hand-held cameras, not the sweeping kind of cinematography, to infuse a strangely believable environment that is very frightening. Sometimes, it doesn't really feel like a movie, but captured moments of events that happened, putting a documentary feel on it. There was even a scene in which blood sprayed on the camera, and yet it was never wiped out, which makes it the more astonishing to watch. The portrait he made was indeed very believable and ultimately daring to say the least.

The story of Children of Men would have to be, of course, flawed. There are notions in the film that are left unexplained, and the plot could be sometimes underdeveloped - but it is a great story to tell. Actually, thematically speaking, this film has one of the most interesting, most involving plot in recent years. Similarly, the characters keep us involved too. Theo Faron was a man of confused with his own community, yet struggles to survive with his own belief. Clive Owen is a fantastic lead. Hopefully, Oscars would recognise his work here because he just keeps getting better every single movie he's in. Also, Kee, the pregnant woman bearing the world's miraculous child, wasn't presented as a Mama-Mary-like saviour who bears a child but a very real person, who also sees the world in its destruction, fighting to survive like many yet fearing humanity's end too and her daughter's life. Although Julianne Moore was far too brief in the movie, she displays exactly what her character's responsibility was, and Michael Caine was also entertaining as the aging hippie who helped save Theo's life. Pam Ferris also stars in this, and was equally brilliant too.

It's of course, undeniably, an impressive film. It's an intelligent piece of film that would appeal to all humans with brains. It could also help humanity become more intelligent, that the film is indeed not too far-fetched and that it COULD possibly happen. Who knows? It would surely captivate your mind to think that our world right now is slowly being destroyed by our own stupidities and that mankind creates his own doom. The most powerful scene in the film, one that could move you into tears, was when all the gunshots, the explosions, and bombs were silenced and the only sound that could be heard was the baby's cry. All the people, who fought against each other, stood in incredulous silence as they all witness a miracle happening before their eyes, enemies being silenced by one child. It's a beautiful film amidst it's darkness, and it's message to the whole world deserves an ear to it. Most of all, Children of Men convinces us that the future is indeed a battle on how to survive hope for all of us. Alfonso Cuaron manages to bring out a strong punch both to our minds and to our hearts. This is absolutely one of 2006's bests! I just really feel so lucky that I've seen this quite early, because it opens wide on December 25th, Christmas Day, and right where it should leave me, thought-provoked.

Rating: A+