---
title: "Children of Men: the reviews"
canonical: "https://film.one/film/children-of-men/reviews"
title_page: "https://film.one/film/children-of-men"
critics_score: 70
critics_reviews: 19
licence: "© Fi1m Ltd. Written by AI under a human editor; checked against sources before publication. Quote with attribution and a link to the canonical URL."
---

# Children of Men (2006): what the critics said

Critics' score 70 from 19 reviews: 14 positive, 2 mixed, 3 negative.

Most critics admire Children of Men, and the praise clusters almost entirely on Alfonso Cuarón’s direction. Review after review singles out the handheld, documentary-style camerawork and the long unbroken takes, particularly in the chase and battle sequences, for making a near-future Britain feel plausible and dangerous rather than fanciful. Several also credit the film for trusting its audience, declining to over-explain the infertility premise, and for the detail of its world-building, which later reviews find has aged into prescience.

The reservations gather around the writing. Several critics find the script cumbersome, the characters stock or underdeveloped, and the political message glib. Eye for Film objects only to the ending, which it thinks imposes a sentiment the film has otherwise avoided. The dissent is real: The AV Club argues the celebrated long takes are showy stunts that drain tension, and Slant finds a referential pastiche with no coherent vision. The spread runs from full marks to one star.

## Radio Times — Jamie Russell

Rating 5/5. 

The critic calls it a startling take on the novel that reworks its themes through a post-9/11 lens. They single out Cuarón's visceral vérité camerawork and tense unbroken shots for bringing the War on Terror realities home to Britain.

[Read the review](https://www.radiotimes.com/movie-guide/b-kqlhvv/children-of-men/)

## The New York Times — Manohla Dargis

Fi1m's normalised score 90/100 (inferred from the text). 25 December 2006. 

The critic calls the film a superbly directed political thriller that pictures a darkly plausible future. She singles out its ambitious, intelligent filmmaking and the way it speaks to adults about the present through speculative fiction.

[Read the review](https://www.nytimes.com/2006/12/25/movies/apocalypse-now-but-in-the-wasteland-a-child-is-given.html)

## The Times — James Christopher

Fi1m's normalised score 90/100 (inferred from the text). 21 September 2006. 

Alfonso Cuarón’s apocalyptic thriller is an entertaining and utterly barking vision of the future, a magnificently deranged satire. Cuarón’s crazy dystopia knocks rivals into a cocked hat with realistic close-quarter panic and violence.

[Read the review](https://www.thetimes.com/travel/destinations/uk-travel/england/london-travel/children-of-men-z5gppzsbtfq)

## Time Out — Dave Calhoun

Fi1m's normalised score 90/100 (inferred from the text). 19 September 2006. 

The critic hails Cuarón's thrilling, credible near-future vision of a violent, paranoid Britain as a clever chase yarn with sharp social commentary. They single out the director's bold documentary-style handheld shooting and refusal to over-explain for making the film involving and provocative.

[Read the review](https://www.timeout.com/movies/children-of-men)

## Little White Lies — Luke Walpole

Fi1m's normalised score 80/100 (inferred from the text). 11 September 2016. 

The critic praises the film's prescient dystopian vision of a collapsing society marked by infertility, nationalism and refugee crises. They single out Cuarón's hyper-realistic handheld camerawork and long takes for making the story feel authentic and urgent.

[Read the review](https://lwlies.com/in-praise-of/children-of-men-alfonso-cuaron-dystopia)

## Empire — Damon Wise

Fi1m's normalised score 70/100 (inferred from the text). 18 September 2006. 

Cuarón delivers a milestone action-satire that bends genre conventions with bravura long takes and immersive world-building in a dystopian Britain. The film is visually stunning and inventive, though its moral message feels somewhat glib.

[Read the review](https://www.empireonline.com/movies/reviews/children-men-review/)

## The Guardian — Peter Bradshaw

Fi1m's normalised score 70/100 (inferred from the text). 22 September 2006. 

This explosively violent future-nightmare thriller looks extraordinary and opens a window on a world of Arctic fear and despair. The hard, flat, cold images are stunning and the full-on urban warfare scenes are electrifying, though the script is occasionally cumbersome.

[Read the review](https://www.theguardian.com/film/2006/sep/22/juliannemoore.thriller)

## The Hollywood Reporter

Fi1m's normalised score 70/100 (inferred from the text). 27 March 2007. 

Praises the film's plausible dystopian vision grounded in real-world references and its status as one of the best overlooked films of the prior year. Highlights the technical achievements and long takes in the context of the DVD release.

[Read the review](https://www.hollywoodreporter.com/movies/movie-reviews/children-men-casino-royale-158888/)

## The New Yorker — Anthony Lane

Fi1m's normalised score 70/100 (inferred from the text). 1 January 2007. 

The critic finds the film a tough, destabilizing sci-fi thriller with a relentless pace and recognizable texture that makes its dystopia feel plausible. He singles out its scumbled, reportage-like photography and the way it respects the audience by not over-explaining the premise.

[Read the review](https://www.newyorker.com/magazine/2007/01/08/under-the-volcano-2)

## Screen Daily

Fi1m's normalised score 60/100 (inferred from the text). 3 September 2006. Festival review. 

The critic finds an ordinary story with stock characters but praises the film's imaginative verve and gripping chase and battle sequences. They single out the handheld, long-take style and use of real UK locations for lending a sense of real, cine-verité danger.

[Read the review](https://www.screendaily.com/children-of-men/4028485.article)

## Evening Standard

Fi1m's normalised score 50/100 (inferred from the text). 10 April 2012. 

Cuarón's visually convincing and kinetically skilled adaptation of the P.D. James novel stands out for its desolate future England and strong production design. It functions more as a thoughtful action movie than one with deep resonance, with some characters and writing feeling underdeveloped.

[Read the review](https://www.standard.co.uk/culture/film/fearful-future-has-real-resonance-7388801.html)

## The AV Club — Mike D'Angelo

Fi1m's normalised score 40/100 (inferred from the text). 23 November 2009. 

Criticizes the film's celebrated long-take sequences as distracting technical stunts that undermine emotional engagement and tension, preferring conventional editing for storytelling. Acknowledges the impressive execution and performances but sees the technique as showy rather than effective.

[Read the review](https://www.avclub.com/children-of-men-1798218422)

## Total Film

Fi1m's normalised score 30/100 (inferred from the text). 22 September 2006. 

A finely made, convincing dystopian thriller with strong performances from Owen and impressive technical sequences, but it falls short as a whole due to pacing issues, uneven emotional connections, and a sense that it is less than the sum of its parts.

[Read the review](https://www.gamesradar.com/children-of-men-review/)

## Slant Magazine — Ed Gonzalez

Rating 1/4. 10 November 2006. 

Notes the film's strong direction and visually dynamic final battle sequence with magical-realist touches but faults the lack of coherent vision, emotional depth, and overly referential pastiche quality over substantive storytelling.

[Read the review](https://www.slantmagazine.com/film/alfonso-cuarns-children-of-men/)

## NME — Owen Nicholls

Fi1m's normalised score 90/100 (inferred from the text). 3 November 2009. 

The critic names it the best film of 2006, describing it as relevant, thought-provoking, hard-hitting, thrilling and emotional, the kind that restores faith in cinema. They single out the monumental catharsis of hope emerging from its extreme bleakness for particular praise.

[Read the review](https://www.nme.com/blogs/the-movies-blog/a-decade-in-films-why-children-of-men-was-the-best-film-of-2006-43411)

## Den of Geek — Mark Harrison

Fi1m's normalised score 85/100 (inferred from the text). 27 February 2017. 

The critic hails the film as a modern classic and superb dystopian thriller that holds up exceptionally well a decade on. They single out its detailed, research-driven world-building and recognizable contemporary references for particular praise.

[Read the review](https://www.denofgeek.com/movies/the-recognizable-future-of-children-of-men/)

## Digital Spy — Emma Dibdin

Fi1m's normalised score 80/100 (inferred from the text). 10 November 2013. 

The critic praises the vivid, pitiless dystopian world Cuarón creates as the film's real protagonist and calls it one of the most wrenching and plausible future-set films ever made. They single out the politically nuanced message and long-take action sequences for praise while noting some weaknesses in character intimacy.

[Read the review](https://www.digitalspy.com/movies/re-viewed/a529650/children-of-men-re-viewed-alfonso-cuarns-dystopian-sci-fi/)

## Eye for Film — Anton Bitel

Fi1m's normalised score 80/100 (inferred from the text). 19 September 2006. 

The critic praises Cuarón's film for its naturalistic style, fluid camerawork, believable characters and dialogue, and its claim to classic status among dystopian sci-fi by grounding the story in recognizable present-day realities. The sole complaint is the ending, which imposes an artificial moral and schmaltz that undercuts the film's earlier balance between despair and hope.

[Read the review](https://www.eyeforfilm.co.uk/review/children-of-men-film-review-by-anton-bitel)

## Paste — Ana Carpenter

Fi1m's normalised score 80/100 (inferred from the text). 27 August 2025. 

The critic views the film as a complex dystopian parable balancing profound despair with nuanced hope, commending its convincing layered world-building and the personal stakes of Theo's redemption arc amid societal collapse.

[Read the review](https://www.pastemagazine.com/movies/children-of-men/children-of-men-dystopia-pregnancy-better-world-alfonso-cuaron-clive-owen)

---
© Fi1m Ltd. Written by AI under a human editor; checked against sources before publication. Quote with attribution and a link to the canonical URL. Our review: https://film.one/film/children-of-men.md