Children of Men: A Critical Review of Refugee Issues in Film

This essay provides a critical analysis of the film 'Children of Men,' focusing on its portrayal of refugees and asylum seekers, particularly women and children. The essay examines the film's protagonist, Theo Faron, and his actions, highlighting the movie's support for empathy and tolerance to...Read More

Running head: CHILDREN OF MEN – A CRITICAL REVIEW
Children of Men – A Critical Review
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Author Note

1CHILDREN OF MEN – A CRITICAL REVIEW
Asylum seekers in a country, including women and their dependent children have the
right to seek a life that is characterized by dignity, safety and security as it is often the act of
persecution that drives them to apply for refuge in other countries. The movie, Children of
Men, released in 2006, does a marvelous job of highlighting the haplessness and
precariousness of refugees, and women and child refugees in particular, in countries of
asylum, the latter often being overburdened due to such immigration flows and who often
task recourse to inhumane policies and methods to deal with the problems that are posed by
an influx of refugees (Eckstein 1). This essay critically analyzes the movie, Children of Men,
with a special focus on the movie’s chief protagonist Theo Faron, analyzing the position that
is supported by the movie, the position that is opposed by the movie, the manner in which it
investigates issues pertaining to refugees and asylum seekers especially helpless women and
child refugees , how it furthers already existing norms in society, how it challenges such
norms, the cautions that are raised by the movie and finally, the evidence that it offers to
support the fact that refugees and asylum seekers, especially women asylum seekers who
have children or who are pregnant with children require empathy, solace and comfort rather
than being at the receiving end of the hostility of people and the administration of the
countries where they seek refuge, in this instance, the United Kingdom.
Directed by Alfonso Cuaron, the British American movie Children of Men which was
released worldwide in the year 2006, supports the position that refugees and illegal migrants
have the right to asylum or safe living conditions, since it is conditions such as war, poverty,
persecution, and a threat to their very existence that compel them to make a move to a new
country for asylum and shelter in the first place and that women and children of a refugee
population have the right to safety, dignity and protection (Dorothy 1). It is evident through
the actions of Theo Faron, the protagonist in the movie, who escorts Kee, a pregnant refugee
woman to safety risking his own life in the process, that the attitude of humanity to refugee

2CHILDREN OF MEN – A CRITICAL REVIEW
and forced migration issues should be one of tolerance and empathy instead of rejection and
hostility (Dorothy 1). Theo does so partly, out of a sense of personal loss, given that he and
his partner Julian Taylor, who is now is foe and a member of the Fishes, lost their son Dylan
to death, some years ago. This is evident in the following quote by the character Jasper, from
the movie, “Yeah, there you go! Julian and Theo met among a million protesters in a rally by
chance. But they were there because of what they believed in the first place, their faith. They
wanted to change the world. And their faith kept them together. But by chance, Dylan was
born”. To this, the pregnant refugee woman Kee responds, “This is him”?. To this Jasper
further responds, “Yeah, that's him. He'd have been about your age. Magical child. Beautiful.
Their faith put in praxis…Chance. He was their sweet little dream. He had little hands, little
legs, little feet. Little lungs. And in 2008, along came the flu pandemic. And then, by chance,
he was gone. You see, Theo's faith lost out to chance. So, why bother if life's going to make its
own choices?”.
The position that the movie, Children of Men, goes against, is the position that
advocates hostility and oppression towards migrant communities. Such oppression and
hostility is engaged in on the part of the British administration in the movie, towards refugees
and asylum seekers, which in turn invites resistance from a group of refugee militants known
as the Fishes. What the movie conveys through the fighting that ensues between the Fishes
and the British State, and the violence that such fighting perpetrates, is that the attitude of the
state and of the people of a nation that receives asylum seekers, should be one of compassion
and tolerance, since refugees are not their enemies, but people who need their help and
support in order to be safe avoid death, and lead lives of dignity once again (Kaplan 1).
The struggle faced by refugees and asylum seekers, especially women and children in
the country of asylum is investigated by the movie, Children of Men, well enough by
highlighting the struggle that civil society, and activists in particular have to go through, in

3CHILDREN OF MEN – A CRITICAL REVIEW
order to safeguard the interests of such asylum seekers and female asylum seekers at that.
This is seen in the challenges that are faced by the protagonist of the movie, Theo Faron and
his associates Julian, Syd and others in escorting a pregnant refugee woman, Kee, to
shelter and safety, namely to a point in the United Kingdom that awaits the arrival of a large
ship from a refugee camp in located at Bexhill on Sea, The Tomorrow. His dedication to her
cause is made evident through the lines “I can't really remember when I last had any hope,
and I certainly can't remember when anyone else did either. Because really, since women
stopped being able to have babies, what's left to hope for?”. The movie also investigates the
trying conditions in the country of asylum that at times compels refugees and illegal migrant
communities to take recourse to violence in order to make their voices heard, as is evident
from the films portrayal of a refugee militant group, The Fishes, and the violent struggle that
the group engages in with the British administration which is entirely opposed to refugees
(Schwartzman 1).
The already existing norm in society that is furthered by a movie like Children of
Men is the general antagonism that a host country is seen to generate towards refugee and
asylum seeking groups, not sparing pregnant women and children in the process. The movie
showcases the difficulties and lack of safety that refugees face in a country of asylum, in this
instance, the United Kingdom, by pointing to the violence that is perpetrated against refugee
groups by the United Kingdom in 2027 and the violence that is in turn generated by refugee
militant groups like The Fishes, which is tired of being at the receiving end of the antagonism
and oppression and dangerous behavior that is shown to migrant communities and illegal
migrants in particular, not only by the British State but also by the original people of the land,
who do not like the fact that there are several outsiders who have come into their country and
who are here to stay for the long term (Trimble 249).

4CHILDREN OF MEN – A CRITICAL REVIEW
The movie, Children of Men, challenges the norms in society that portray migrants
and asylum seekers as villains and people to hate, by showing how human, certain people can
be towards refugees and the terrible danger that is brought about by the circumstances that
they are in. This is something that is well reflected in the behavior of Theo Faron, who is
working on behalf of the British administration at the start of the movie, but who is won over
to the cause of refugees in the course of the movie, ultimately giving up his life in the process
of helping a pregnant refugee woman, Kee to give birth safely and escape the shores of
Britain a country that has become so hostile to refugees and asylum seekers. Theo risks the
hostility of the refugee group The Fishes as well as the British administration which declares
open war against refugees towards the end of the movie, to help the refugee woman face the
challenge of ostracisation and oppression, taking her to a safe place where she can give birth
and move on to more secure pastures (Udden 28).
The concerns or cautions that the movie, Children of Men, manages to raise is the
anger and the hate that is generated towards migrant groups, especially refugees, who are
forced to cross international borders in order to flee persecution that is perpetrated against
them by the very state of which they are nationals. With no option but to run for safety, these
hapless people cross borders to seek shelter on foreign soil, only to invite the wrath and the
hostility of the state of the country where they seek asylum, as well as the oppression of the
local people, who believe mistakenly, that their land or territory is being invaded upon by the
refugees. All the incidents in the movie right until the very end, show how desperate the
situation of refugees is, and the efforts that need to be made on the part of civilians, the state
administration and the international community to make them feel secure, safe and included
instead of dejected, oppressed and in fear of their lives, just as they had been in their home
countries (Whittington 12).

5CHILDREN OF MEN – A CRITICAL REVIEW
Thus, the movie, Children of Men does a terrific job of pointing out the dangerous
and precarious situation that refugees and asylum seekers especially women refugees, find
themselves in when they arrive at a country for asylum, after fleeing persecution in their own
countries. Through the violence shown in the movie, as carried out by The Fishes, and by the
British state authorities and the compassion of Theo Faren and his ex spouse Julian, shown
towards refugees, the movie beautifully showcases the fact that refugees must be treated with
love, respect and kindness and be granted safety in their country of asylum instead of being
viewed as villains who must be rooted out of a country’s territory at all costs.

6CHILDREN OF MEN – A CRITICAL REVIEW
References
Eckstein, Lars, et al. Multi-Ethnic Britain 2000+:" New Perspectives in Literature, Film and
the Arts". BRILL, 2008
James, Phyllis Dorothy. The children of men. Vintage, 2010
Kaplan, E. Ann. Climate trauma: foreseeing the future in dystopian film and fiction. Rutgers
University Press, 2015
Schwartzman, Sarah. "Children of Men and a plural messianism." Journal of Religion &
Film 13.1 (2016): 1.
Trimble, Sarah. "Maternal back/grounds in Children of Men Notes toward an Arendtian
biopolitics." Science Fiction Film & Television 4.2 (2011): 249-270
Udden, James. "Child of the Long Take: Alfonso Cuaron's Film Aesthetics in the Shadow of
Globalization." Style 43.1 (2009): 26-44.
Whittington, William. "Sound design for a found future: Alfonso Cuarón's Children of
Men." New Review of Film and Television Studies 9.01 (2011): 3-14.