Arrow Academy, out now

Alfonso Cuarón’s (Gravity, Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban) 2006 adaptation of P D James’ dystopian novel of the same name gets a new Blu-ray release with some added features.

In 2027, following eighteen years of global human infertility, the world is a bleak and hostile place. It’s a similar landscape to Margaret Attwood’s The Handmaid’s Tale, and we follow Theo (Clive Owen) as helps former lover Julian (Julianne Moore) smuggle a miraculously pregnant woman out of the country. It’s grim fare, aided by John Tavener’s ominous score, a long-haired earnest Michael Caine and some bravura Oscar-nominated cinematography by Emmanuel Lubezki.

Children of Men has been available as a Blu-ray in the UK for some time, and whether you trade up to this new edition really depends on how much you value the extras. New to this disc is an audio commentary by critic Bryan Reesman, a video appreciation by film historian Philip Kemp and a video essay by critic Kat Ellinger. The other material is archival, though no less valid, and I recommend the segments on the film’s visual effects, sets and camerawork. As you’d expect, there’s a selection of deleted scenes and an image gallery, and as for this first pressing there’s also a collector’s booklet featuring new writing on the film by Mark Cunliffe and Amy Simmons.

Verdict: Twelve years on and this movie still features two of the longest, most complex, single shot scenes in a movie. The ingenuity and craftsmanship is outstanding and there’s fine performances all round. If you don’t yet own it, this is a modern classic, but if you already have the BluRay on your shelf you might need to question how much you value the new academic features. 9/10

Nick Joy