Children of Men

Only the most devout humanity can, like a deus ex machina, redeem everything

In 2006, Children of Men was released — the year I was born. Back then, Alfonso Cuaron could scarcely have imagined that discussions around this film would become as “correct” as they are today.

I want to focus on the film’s subtly expressed religious dimension. In truth, “religious sensibility” and “religion” are not the same thing. Like many people, I am averse to religion because of its煽动性, the inglorious role it has played throughout history, and its stubborn, obscurantist obstruction of modern social progress. But what I call “religious sensibility” is, to me, the most primal form of beauty and awe. It is not that such images are beautiful because of religion; rather, because such images are beautiful, they were woven into religion. A thread of hope in a desolate world, the birth of new life — these are things every one of us wishes to touch, embrace, and even sacrifice for. In the film, the religious sensibility is merely a mode of expression, not the theme. I hope viewers will not project their distaste for religion onto the film, thereby losing the capacity for appreciation and reflection.