YMMV / Children of Men

• Awesome Music: "In the Court of the Crimson King" was just a great choice, because the song's majesty is so ironic given the sad state of the world.
  • A lot of the soundtrack could qualify, as could the soundscape of the film in general, but special mention has to go to Jarvis Cocker's Running The World played over the end credits. The lyrics are a thing of beauty.
    If you thought things had changed friend, you'd better think again. Bluntly put, in the fewest of words: Cunts are still running the world.
  • And then there's Radiohead's "Life In A Glasshouse", which plays during a scene with Theo and Jasper getting high.
• Harsher in Hindsight:
  • It's mentioned in the movie that there was a flu pandemic in 2008. In 2009, a swine flu pandemic occurred. And a little over ten years later, the COVID-19 Pandemic happens.
  • Even worse was the the Zika virus scare in early 2016. Many were concerned would cause a pandemic of children born without most of their brains. It even drew direct comparison to this film.
  • Several critics in 2016 cited the film as highly prescient in light of the Brexit referendum and the Syrian refugee crisis, and the attendant concerns about migration into Europe and the UK.
• Hilarious in Hindsight: The film features a scene in which characters discuss tinnitus ("You know that high-pitched ringing sound you hear?") The film also features a suicide pill called Quietus. Not long after, someone released a homeopathic remedy for tinnitus called Quietus.
• Moral Event Horizon: During the battle in the refugee camp, a group of people try to surrender and are gunned down by the military.
• Never Live It Down: The ping pong ball trick between Theo and Julian.
• Retroactive Recognition:
  • Charlie Hunnam already had a memorable supporting turn in Cold Mountain but had yet to break out as a mainstream star in Sons of Anarchy and later Pacific Rim.
  • Danny Huston as Nigel. He was still in the early stage of his career of appearing in larger roles.
• Signature Scene: The final long tracking shot sequence through a war-torn city, especially the final moments where the baby's cries cause both the army and rebels temporarily stop fighting and let the protagonists go without a struggle.

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