Presenting a bleak; harrowing; and yet ultimately hopeful vision of humankind's not-too-distant future; Children of Men is a riveting cautionary tale of potential things to come. Set in the crisis-ravaged future of 2027; and based on the atypical 1993 novel by British mystery writer P.D. James; the anxiety-inducing; action-packed story is set in a dystopian England where humanity has become infertile (the last baby was born in 2009); immigration is a crime; refugees (or "fugees") are caged like animals; and the world has been torn apart by nuclear fallout; rampant terrorism; and political rebellion. In this seemingly hopeless landscape of hardscrabble survival; a jaded bureaucrat named Theo (Clive Owen) is drawn into a desperate struggle to deliver Kee (Clare-Hope Ashitey); the world's only pregnant woman; to a secret group called the Human Project that hopes to discover a cure for global infertility. As they carefully navigate between the battling forces of military police and a pro-immigration insurgency; Theo; Kee; and their secretive allies endure a death-defying ordeal of urban warfare; and director Alfonso Cuaron (with cinematographer Emmanuel Lubezki) capture the action with you-are-there intensity. There's just enough humor to balance the film's darker content (much of it coming from Michael Caine; as Theo's aging hippie cohort); and although Children of Men glosses over many of the specifics about its sociopolitical worst-case scenario (which includes Julianne Moore in a brief but pivotal role); it's still an immensely satisfying; pulse-pounding vision of a future that represents a frightening extrapolation of early 21st-century history. --Jeff Shannon