Children of Men

Not just science fiction's film of the year - but the film of the year.

A stunning depiction of an all too real possible view of Britain in the future, a faultless mix of Orwellian dystopia and Alan Moore and David Lloyd's V for Vendetta. Moore publicily distanced himself from that cinematic travesty, if he watches this then he must be positively flagellating himself.

I cannot remember the last time I found myself totally immersed within a film, Cuaron's use of documentary camera-work propels you into the story, with many set-pieces superbly filmed in choreographed long shots - the set-up for these must've been painstaking to organise, but it pays off brilliantly.

But it's not just Cuaron that deserves praise, but also the set and production designers: near-future London has the everyday effect, but with just subtle miniscule changes - blink, and you'll miss them, but taken on the whole it just adds to the whole facade of a country in turmoil. This is probably the closest film yet to capture the look of Bladerunner, and in a way it surpises it since everything is shot during the day.

Talking of the photography, Emmanuel Lubeszki previously worked on Sleepy Hollow and the quality shows: despite an abundance of grey and decay, the film is lit and shot beautifully; each and every scene has levels of detail which oozes craftmanship.

As for the cast, I'm no fan of Clive Owen but he is absolutely superb; mesmerising has the Everyman. Michael Caine too shines as an aging hippy, and I never thought I'd never see Pam Ferris in dreadlocks!

If I can mention just one minus point with the film, and the screenplay in particular, is the level of exposition, but it didn't really bother me - much of the background information was provided by news reports and such like.

This is also, again, where the film excels: coupled with the use of hand-held camera, there were times when I had to tell myself, "it is only a movie" but it just looked so real, so vivid. This is adult thought-provoking science fiction.

If you haven't seen this yet, do so tomorrow.