Watch: New Video Essay Examines The Power Of The Background In Alfonso Cuaron's 'Children Of Men'

Mexican director Alfonso Cuaron took home a golden statue for a tiny little picture called “Gravity” back in 2013. The film was, to say the least, divisive here in the States. For some, it expanded the collective perception of what cinema could be, while others felt it was an indulgent doodle that disguised a hokey, contrived Hollywood narrative with groundbreaking technical prowess. Truth be told, I find myself a bit in the middle on that particular film, but if there’s one project of Cuaron’s that will surely stand the test of time, it is his shattering, awe-inspiring 2006 dystopian drama “Children of Men”. 

That film managed to successfully marry Cuaron’s artistic and commercial sensibilities (lest we forget, this is the man who contributed to the lucrative “Harry Potter” franchise AND made the startling “Y Tu Mama Tambien”). It is both a crackerjack apocalyptic thriller and also a devastating and damning condemnation of unchecked capitalism at its absolute worst. The film is...