20 Years Later, Children Of Men Has Sci-Fi's Best Opening Scene This Century

Published Oct 12, 2026, 5:00 PM EDT Cooper Hood is the Associate Editor for all new movie releases, in theaters and on streaming. In addition to writing articles about these titles and upcoming releases, he also oversees content planning for each, ensuring that ScreenRant continues to cover major releases for months after their release. He has written various reviews for ScreenRant that appear on Rotten Tomatoes, coordinated Oscars and San Diego Comic-Con coverage, appeared on CNN to talk about Mission: Impossible - The Final Reckoning, and done select interviews with talent over the years. One of the hallmarks of a great movie is an excellent opening scene, and that is no different within the sci-fi genre. Filmmakers have captured the imaginations of viewers from the very beginning with countless movies exploring settings that range from apocalyptic to dystopian or cosmic. Stanley Kubrick's 1968 masterpiece 2001: A Space Odyssey has a particularly iconic opening scene with its Dawn of Man sequence and use of the orchestral song "Also sprach Zarathustra." George Lucas made a different kind of legendary opening with A New Hope in 1977 by using the text crawl to lead into a space pursuit and Darth Vader's introduction. More recently, George Miller locked audiences into Mad Max: Fury Road with a tense and action-packed opening scene. Christopher Nolan used a perfect opening line in The Prestige's first scene to set the stage for what's to come. Godzilla Minus One, Blade Runner 2049, and Gravity are other 21st-century sci-fi movies with great opening scenes. But none of them have the best. When talking about the best sci-fi movie opening scene this century, Children of Men is the gold standard. Taking only about 2 minutes and 30 seconds, Alfonso Cuarón's movie does everything a film needs to do in its first few minutes to hook viewers, kicking off a masterful dystopian sci-fi film in pure style. Why Children Of Men's Opening Scene Is So Good Children of Men's opening scene focuses entirely on establishing the fictional world of 2027 that the movie takes place in. Audio from a news broadcast plays to explain some of what life is like on Earth. Clive Owen's Theo Faron is shown walking into a coffee shop as the news station reports on the death of the world's youngest human. It all seems rather mundane until Theo leaves the café when an explosion wrecks the small business. The key to Children of Men's effective start is how much information it communicates without feeling like an exposition dump. Viewers learn quickly about Britain's closed borders and get an idea of the infertility issue facing humanity when learning about Diego's life and death. Once Theo leaves the café, the movie immediately shows the dystopian British setting. Cuarón then gives viewers a sense of the mayhem that accompanies this dystopian world with the unexpected bombing. It injects a sense of fear into the characters and those watching that carries through the rest of the movie. It's a real masterclass in worldbuilding, establishing tension, and technical precision, as the entire sequence is done in a single take. Children Of Men Is A 21st Century Sci-Fi Masterpiece Miraculously, the excellence of Children of Men's opening is just the tip of the iceberg for Cuarón's movie. What follows for the remaining 1 hour and 46 minutes is a brilliant exploration of this bleak dystopian landscape with stunning realism. 20 years later, what's perhaps most impressive is how Children of Men pulls this off without feeling too far removed from reality. Cuarón is firing on all cylinders as a director, too. Everything from the tone, pacing, and camerawork contributes to a final product that is among the best sci-fi movies ever made. The director does his part to keep audiences on the edge of their seats with impressive action sequences, including jaw-dropping single takes like the car chase. It also helps that everyone in Children of Men's cast delivers. Owen, Julianne Moore, Chiwetel Ejiofor, Charlie Hunnam, Clare-Hope Ashitey, Danny Huston, and a farting, weed-smoking Michael Caine all bring great performances to nuanced and fully-developed characters. The ensemble ensures Cuarón's technical wizardry doesn't go to waste. Children of Men has become even better 20 years later and improves upon a rewatch. While it might not be available on any streaming services right now, anyone who has never seen it or hasn't in years should absolutely watch it sooner than later. Release Date January 5, 2007 Runtime 109 minutes Director Alfonso Cuarón Writers Alfonso Cuarón, David Arata, Timothy J. Sexton, Hawk Ostby, Mark Fergus, P. D. James Producers Eric Newman, Hilary Shor, Iain Smith, Marc Abraham, Tony Smith