Daring vision from Cuarón

Rating: 8/10 (20 October 2013)

The world has collapsed when nobody is able to conceive any more children. It's 2027 in a dystopian London where they still try to maintain civilization in a crumbling infrastructure despite the terrorism of rebel group The Fishes. Theo Faron (Clive Owen) is drawn into intrigue when Fishes kidnaps him. Only it's his ex-wife Julian (Julianne Moore) that executed the capture. She asks for his help with someone truly special.
Director Alfonso Cuarón has adapted an imaginative sci-fi premise with his personal vision of a dark apocalyptic future. The plot is dense with dreadful energy. Through it all, Clive Owen is able to maintain his persona of the everyman. He maintains believability in this semi-realistic future. There are long stretches of moody grumpy scenes of tired people. The police state can get quite dark. When the action does come, it gets very intense and very real with some very long takes of intricate action. The final scenes are as profound as anything ever on film.