We live in a world where millions of unborn babies are not given a chance at life, because they are unwanted. But imagine a world where humans have lost the ability to conceive – naturally or artificially. What will be the value of a human baby in such a scenario?
Alfonso Cuarón’s 2006 film Children of Men portrays a dystopic world in 2027 when humans are experiencing global infertility and thus facing extinction amidst worldwide unrest. In the United Kingdom, the last country with a functioning government that is in war with terrorist groups and gangs, a young woman Kee (Clare-Hope Ashitey) becomes pregnant with the only human baby on the planet. She must be escorted by an ex-activist Theo (Clive Owen) out of the war zone to a research organization that is working on human fertility.
The film makes a great impact on the whole and more particularly in inviting thought over the value of human life in our age. This scene is the climax of the film as Theo and Kee get trapped in a building in the thinks of war. The sound of the baby crying creates a divine, miraculous effect causing the killing frenzy to stop for a moment. It’s a true gem of screen moment and the scene in itself stands alone as a story of life’s worth amidst its destruction.