isually stunning and intricately filmed, Mexican director Alfonso Cuarón's "Children of Men" is not only a foray into near-future apocalyptic science fiction, but also a heart-thumping thriller that boasts the best cinematography of the year. The movie, based on the P.D. James novel of the same name, demonstrates guerrilla-style shooting techniques that expertly capture remarkable stunt work and a gripping car chase that will take your breath away.

Set in a dystopian Earth in 2027, "Children," has paranoia around every corner, violence is an ongoing ritual, and suicide is thoughtfully packaged by pharmaceutical companies as a convenient over-the-counter purchase. Cuarón paints a grim portrait of Britain with a script that is about a claustrophobic time period when Britain is the only surviving nation, and a fertility crisis means that no baby has been born for two decades, and the resulting fallout has the world's social structure in chaos.

Clive Owen, as Theo, is a former activist turned government bureaucrat that's wasting away among the chaos, drunk and embittered. When his activist ex-wife Julian (Julianne Moore) asks him to aid a group of radicals, he unwittingly becomes the anti-establishment hero he had wanted to be decades ago. She offers to pay him a large amount of cash to get transit papers - a la "Casablanca" - for a young black woman (Claire-Hope Ashitey).

His charge is the first pregnant woman in 19 years, and needs out of dangerous British borders. Her expected child, to say the least, represents humanity's last hope — a miracle birth. At this point, Children of Men turns into a chase film, as Theo tries to protect Kee and safely move her through an internment camp, where he's supposed to link up with members of the legendary Human Project, but as these things go, the way is paved with danger and friends turn out to be enemies and, well, vice-versa.