Children of Men – Analysis: Character Development Done Right

This article contains spoilers for Alfono Cuaron’s Children of Men.

Alfonso Cuarón has become one of the most prestigious filmmakers of the new millennium. He has ranged from various genres and is no shy from experimenting. One of his greatest and most complete films is that of Children of Men, a dystopian piece were children are no longer being born. Can you imagine what 18 long years of no new births can do to our society? Well, Cuaron did, inspiring his story on the premise created by P.D. James and her novel of the same name, both of which have very different plots (she is actually proud of Cuarón’s work).

Cuarón did many things right while filming Children of Men. It is no surprise to say that this is a beautifully shot film. Emanuel Lubezki teamed up again with Cuarón to deliver some impeccable scenes that match both of their styles with careful use of natural lighting, a constantly moving camera and inventive wides and viewpoints for an immersive experience. Storywise, he delivered organic exposition with setups and satisfying payoffs, he organically laid out the rules of the world and greatly handled pacing and emotion shifts.

But there’s one thing that made Children of Men stand out even more from other dystopian films. Something that Cuarón is always thoughtful of.

Amazing character development.

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Understanding Theo

To understand Theo, first, we need to understand his world; or his Normal World, as author K.M. Weiland likes to call it. In her book “Creating Character Arcs”, she defines the character’s Normal World as the environments surrounding the protagonist which keeps on feeding the Lie he believes that governs his life around. This Lie That Your Character Believes is what stops a character from having actual progress in his life; a belief that he tunnel visions himself into about himself or his surroundings that is the barrier he needs to overcome for his arc to be completed.

Theo, played by Clive Owen lives in a world where humanity is at its worst. Democracies have shifted towards totalitarian regimes were social classes are as divided as ever. There are refugee camps that treat every fugi (that’s how they call illegal immigrants on the film) as human trash by either killing them for misbehavior or sending them to refugee camps while being jailed on small cages. There’s constant terrorist attacks, an increase in suicides and a somber aura surrounding everyday life. As Miriam said to Theo halfway through the film: “As the sound of the playgrounds faded, the despair set in. Very odd, what happens in a world without children’s voices.”

This is a harsh world to live in, and with no way of hearing the actual laughter of a child, or the cry of a newborn baby, life and heritage became meaningless. What’s there to love and live for if life is doomed by time?

As we get to know Theo, we discover he is a divorced man in a dull job. The cause of his divorce: the untimely death of his young son during the flu pandemic of 2008 (The last pandemic before COVID-19). These heartbreaking turn of events in his life laid the foundations of his pessimist and uninterested personality. The rest was made by his surroundings. He expresses his own Lie deliberately in a conversation with Jasper. He thinks that if infertility were to be cured, it would be “too late”, because “the world went to s**t… it was too late even before the infertility happened…”.

Theo’s view of the world is crooked and has lost complete hope toward moving forward. He doesn’t feel anymore, becoming apathetic towards his surroundings, preferring a hangover over transcending. His nihilism flows through him and laughs at others who actually go on living for something, as does his cousin. Theo asked him while grinning “What keeps you going?”. His cousin’s answer was simple: he chooses no to think about it.

With all that has happened directly and indirectly to Theo, who can actually blame him for his nihilism?

Cuarón’s ability to make us understand Theo’s past and present is key for the audience to reason and empathize with him. He laid the foundation for an impactful character arc during the first act. We became invested in Theo and want to see him grow out of his misery. The question is how? What can possibly make a man so deep in his own nihilism change? How can Theo’s thought that it’s foolish to fight for humanity, can be transformed into actually fighting for it with all he’s got? How can a powerful lie become destroyed and replaced by the truth?

Destroying Theo’s Normal World

In order to be able to grow from his lie about the world, change his behavior, and embrace the truth, there needs to be a powerful event. One so determining that it makes the character break his mundane routine and embark on the road for development.

In the case of Theo, Children of Men presents him with two clear inciting events. The first one is sufficient enough to make him willingly act for someone and go out of his daily routine. The second is a mindblowing experience that will completely obliterate his normal world.

Let’s talk about the first event in Children of Men. There’s a point in the first act were Theo is kidnapped by the Parrots (a rebel group), whose leader is none other than his ex-wife, played by Julianne Moore. Knowing that she has an important favor to ask of him and that she’s willing to pay, Theo goes through the classic behavior of wandering into a sudden opportunity, refusing the job and then reluctantly accepting it.

While accepting this mission, his view of the world hasn’t changed. He is motivated partly for the money, and partly for nostalgia. The fact that it was his ex-wife who asked him to escort a young girl through various checkpoints was the main reason he agreed upon the job. To shatter his world there needs to be even a stronger motivator that inspires him to replenish his hope for humanity.

The way Cuarón wrote the path between point A (Theo accepting and embarking on this job) to B (begin his fight for humanity) had one of the most memorable long shots in cinematic history. The long-shot inside the car as they get ambushed by the rebels. This scene alone is immersive and handles pacing, emotion, and tension like no other.

At the beginning of this scene, everything is playfulness and casual conversation, as in any long trip in a car. This preface is necessary for two things mainly: Establish a safe & happy environment, as a bubble shielded from the harsh world surrounding them, and to view a glimpse of Theo being happy. The latter is really important for his character. Reconnecting with his ex-wife is evidently bringing joy out of Theo. For this fact alone, we as an audience start to slowly care about Julian. Theo acts really different, while with Julian, in a good way.

Sidenote: The preface during the scene also has a subtle hidden clue to what’s going to happen in the next few moments. Miriam is peeling an orange. An what do oranges often represent in cinema? a foreshadow for impending doom.

After all the playfulness, when the scene is at its happiest, the surprise arrives and with it a 180-degree shift in our feelings. The execution works even better for how well pacing & the shifts in emotions were handled. Those polar shifts generate a reaction, and the moment becomes inscribed in the viewer’s mind. The scene goes from happiness to intrigue, then terror, followed by surprise and utter shock. All these rollercoaster of emotions end up in sadness as we see the fading light of hope in Theo extinguish as he holds Julian while she dies.

This first inciting event brings a hint of hope to Theo, only to leave him worse than were he started. His breakdown scene is truly heartbreaking. Now, at a new low, he needs to be presented with an even bigger force to motivate his actions; a bigger inciting event.

Just as he is preparing himself to go back to London, Kee, the girl he needed to transport out of the city shares her secret to him. This is no ordinary secret, but a completely breathtaking shift of events. For Theo and the world. She reveals to him that there is, in fact, one pregnancy after all those years of infertility. Kee is an 8 months pregnant woman.

The news ignites purpose to Theo and now, for the first time, he actually becomes an active character. His behavior becomes one of a new person. Later, after he discovers that the ambush was made by the same Parrots and that the plan is also to kill him, he decides to flee with Kee.

After this moment, Theo’s Normal World is shattered. There’s no way back to his old life. His new normal has found purpose and this is the safety of Kee and her baby. With these events, our reluctant hero shifted from thinking it’s foolish to think that humanity can be saved, to actually participating and risking everything he has for humanity’s sake.

Theo’s New Normal

Theo’s new normal has made him realize that there’s actual hope for the world in the form of Kee and her baby. His road to redemption is now clearer than ever. He needs to safely bring Kee to the Human Project’s ship. But this won’t be an easy task. If you thought Theo’s losses would’ve stopped after the loss of Julian, well, sadly you’ll see how the plot thickens while taking everything he holds dear away. But for Theo, humanity is now more important.

Their infiltration gets jeopardized when Kee’s water breaks. Now, this becomes a race against the clock to find Marichka, their inside contact. After the baby is successfully born, a ray of light shines on Theo & Kee. Life started restoring its balance. Hope became a reality.

The next morning everything complicates: there’s a mutiny and the army fights Parrots and fugis alike. This climactic scene, filmed in another outstanding long-shot became necessary for a final cathartic moment that helped Theo and Kee ground the reality of what her baby can mean for society. With this scene, Theo can briefly see the impact and transcendence of his heroic actions.

At this moment, the action setpiece transforms into a beautiful scene. After Theo finds Kee and her crying baby, the war suddenly stops. Both sides shut down their attacks as they hear a baby cry for the first time in years. They stop and they stare, grinning towards the baby with hopeful embrace. This scene comes up as the calm amidst the storm, bringing levity and cathartic satisfaction. After all, this scene briefly shows that the world is not doomed after all.

After this, Theo and Kee manage to escape to the boat and search for the Human Project’s fishing ship. Here, Theo’s character arc goes full circle. He reveals his fatal gun wound, but this doesn’t matter at all to him. Theo achieved his intentions and brought Kee and the baby to safety. He dies slowly with a grin on his face after Kee tells him that she’ll name the girl Dylan, after Theo & Julian’s lost child.

Afterthoughts on Theo’s Character Development

This journey became an all-in risk for Theo, which only makes his success feel all-the-more earned and satisfying. He lost everything in his road to redemption, Julian, Jasper, and even his own life. All for a bigger, selfless purpose. The restoration of human life. The possibility of a future. The truth that he was so afraid of at the beginning of the story.

Theo died as a completely different man than the one we were introduced to at the beginning of Children of Men. The most apathetic man in London, the one that believed humanity was long lost, became key for its actual survival. The film cuts to black, and the credits start to roll as children’s laughter is heard instead of a song, the more typical choice for film credits, suggesting that not only did Kee’s baby survived, but other births started flourishing and repopulating Earth.

Leading a character arc like this one is no easy task. It needs to flow naturally and realistically in the world it is set upon. Cuarón and his team executed it flawlessly in Children of Men, and delivered a filmmaking piece that became a standard for great storytelling and cinematography, for today and for years to come.