Children of Men

OVER BLACK, a news report:

NEWSMAN'S VOICE

(upper-class English accent)

Day 1000 of the siege of Seattle.

NEWSWOMAN'S VOICE

The Muslim community demands an end to the army's occupation of mosques.

NEWSMAN'S VOICE

The Homeland Security Bill is ratified. After eight years, British borders will remain closed. The deportation of illegal immigrants will continue. Good morning. Our lead story.

NEWSWOMAN'S VOICE

The world was stunned today by the death of Diego Ricardo, the youngest person on the planet.

Middle-aged FACES, sad and hopeless, looking up in quiet shock, and now we see we're in a crowded cafe. Standing room only. Everyone listening...

NEWSWOMAN'S VOICE

Baby Diego was stabbed outside a bar in Buenos Aires after refusing to sign an autograph.

A man enters the coffee shop, making his way through the transfixed crowd: THEO FARON, 45, wears a worn suit and tie, glasses. Theo is a veteran of hopelessness. He gave up before the world did.

NEWSMAN'S VOICE

Witnesses at the scene say that Diego spat in the face of a fan who asked for an autograph. He was killed in the ensuing brawl. The fan was later beaten to death by the angry crowd.

Theo wedges his way through the packed bodies to the counter. He orders:

THEO

Coffee please. Black.

Next to him, a 50-year-old WOMAN stares upward, cradling a small dog, a tear rolling down her face. Theo follows her gaze: an old plasma TV is mounted above the counter. A REPORTER delivering the breaking news. Theo watches with little interest.

NEWSMAN (TV)

Born in 2009, the son of Marcello and Sylvia Ricardo, a working class couple from Mendoza, he struggled all his life with the celebrity status thrust upon him as the world's youngest person.

Theo's coffee arrives. He lays exact change on the counter and makes his way back toward the door, weaving through the crowd, past two Policemen, watching the news, crying.

NEWSWOMAN (TV)

(solemnly)

Diego Ricardo, the youngest person on the planet, was 18 years, 4 months, 20 days, 16 hours and 8 minutes old.

Theo walks outside with his coffee. Atop some buildings, old billboard style LED screens display the coverage. Some of the pixels are burnt out. People have stopped, transfixed by the news. It's cold. It's wet. It's sad. It's London.

SUPER: LONDON, OCTOBER 25, 2027 A.D.

Theo continues past dusty storefronts. Homeless huddle in doorways, bundled in threadbare blankets, mostly dark, a few white-skinned.

Theo sets his coffee cup on a post box. A few cars roll by. Mostly "older" vehicles -- 2008's, a couple of 18's. Motorized rickshaws, a double-decker bus with metal mesh on the windows. Bicycles. He takes a flask from his pocket, unscrews the top, about to pour into his coffee, when behind him --

KA-BOOM! A BOMB EXPLODES inside the cafe, blowing out the windows, shaking the ground. Theo's knocked off his feet.

Smoke pours through the shattered facade of the cafe. The counter where Theo stood moments before, simply gone. WAILS of pain as people stagger out of the blackened wreckage, bleeding, covered in debris. A woman splattered in blood, holding her own severed hand.

Theo gets up, shell-shocked, hands pressed against his ears. SHRIEKING ALARMS from nearby buildings blending with the "Eeeeeeeee" of his ringing ears...

CUT TO:

BLACK

SILENCE now, except for the "Eeeeeeeee" of Theo's ringing ears. Title:

"CHILDREN OF MEN"

OMITTED

A crowded lobby. People queue at a Security Checkpoint at a sign that reads "PUBLIC". Theo, looking shaken, disheveled, shuffles through a shorter queue under the "EMPLOYEES" sign. In front of him, people swipe ID cards and look into a retinal scanner before passing a metal detector.

Theo walks into a vast work space. There are two hundred identical cubicles on the floor, but only half are occupied. A visible consequence of downsizing.

Theo heads down an aisle, passing SEVERAL EMPLOYEES who have windows open on their computer screens, watching news of Baby Diego's death. Bits of the reports as he walks by...

NEWSMAN

Throughout his life, Diego Ricardo was a tragic reminder of the eighteen years of infertility that humanity has endured, and its effect upon the world we now live in.

Theo arrives at his cubicle, sits at a desk devoid of personal touches. Across the aisle a heavyset Indian woman sobs softly into a Kleenex.

Theo presses his ringing ears, still reeling from the bomb.

NEWSMAN

(cont'd)

It seems that the mantle of the world's youngest human...

Bare walls. Empty shelves. The fluorescent overhead flickers. The office of a middle manager. Mr. Griffiths (40's) is watching coverage of Baby Diego on his computer screen. He looks up, sees Theo standing in his doorway.

GRIFFITHS

Faron...

THEO

Mr Griffiths... I seem to be more affected by Baby Diego's death than I realized, so, if you wouldn't mind, I'd appreciate it if I could finish my day's work at home.

Griffiths considers the request.

OMITTED

OMITTED

OMITTED

OMITTED

A state propaganda loop showing a images of worldwide destruction...

"PARIS" -- the battered Eiffel Tower surrounded by ruins. "MOSCOW" -- the Kremlin standing, dead bodies on the streets. "PHILADELPHIA" -- army fighting heavily armed militias, Liberty bell in the b.g. "MADRID" -- 1500 men hung in the Plaza del Sol. "KUALA LUMPUR" -- only one Petronas Tower standing. "THE WORLD IS FALLING APART..." The images of destruction accelerating until...

BONG! The montage ends on Big Ben, still ticking, the Holst March rising. Title: "ONLY BRITAIN SOLDIERS ON". Reveal...

Theo sits on a commuter train, watching the flat screen mounted on the back of the seat in front of him.

A PUBLIC SERVICE AD begins. Faces of men and women flash up on the screen.

DENTIST (40'S)

He's my dentist.

HOUSE CLEANER (30'S)

She's my house cleaner.

WAITER (20'S)

He's the waiter.

MINI-CAB DRIVER (40'S)

He's the mini-cab driver.

COUSIN(20'S)

She's my cousin.

MALE ANNOUNCER VOICE

They are illegal immigrants. To hire, feed or shelter illegal immigrants is a crime. Protect Britain.

The "HOMELAND SECURITY" logo comes full screen.

MALE ANNOUNCER VOICE

(cont'd)

Report all illegal immigrants.

POCK! POCK! Rocks smack against the steel mesh train windows, jolting Theo from his sleepy moment. He looks out: A gang of ZEDS is hurling rocks and bottles. Some of the faces are covered in war paint. The gang disappears behind a billboard: "AVOIDING FERTILITY TESTS IS A CRIME!"

Graffiti on a wall: "LAST ONE TO DIE PLEASE TURN OUT THE LIGHT."

QUIETUS ADVERTISEMENT

(O.S.)

It's your life. It's your choice...

Stepping off the train, Theo passes Policemen patrolling with German Shepherds. A VOICE on a taped loop: "Please have your identity cards and transit papers ready for inspection. You are now entering zone 2."

Theo joins a queue to exit the station. Ahead, passengers swipe ID cards and push through turnstiles. To one side, police guard a dozen detained ILLEGAL IMMIGRANTS. Africans, Arabs, Northern Europeans, all of them skinny. A blond Grandma refuses to quit, pleading in Dutch.

Theo pulls out his ID card -- fastened to a self-coiling chain -- and swipes through the turnstile.

Theo spots an OLDER MAN across the way waving. MALATESTA, his hairy mutt dog, wags his tail.

JASPER

Hey, amigo!

JASPER PALMER, a teenager in the 60's, has refused to let go of his youth. Thick glasses, wispy beard, long hair, he is probably the coolest 75-year-old on the planet. The two old friends greet each other with a warm embrace.

THEO

Hey, Jasper!

JASPER

Good to see you. Come on.

THEO

It's good to see you.

Abandoned fields, ruined farms, exhausted barns that look like scarecrows. Headlights cut through the darkening sky, illuminating machinery rusting on the fallow land. The car is a Volvo sedan, circa 2009, not mint but still reliable.

JASPER

(O.S.)

You know who did it?

THEO

(O.S.)

Islamic, Fishes, fuck knows.

JASPER

(O.S.)

I bet it was the government. Every time one of our politicians is in trouble, a bomb explodes.

THEO

(O.S.)

It's the second time in a month.

Theo in the passenger seat, Jasper driving, dog in back.

JASPER

You okay?

THEO

It was horrible.

JASPER

I'm glad you don't take cream or sugar, amigo. Losing you and Baby Diego on the same day would be too hard to bear.

THEO

That was even worse. Everybody crying. I mean, Baby Diego, come on, the guy was a wanker.

JASPER

Yes, but he was the youngest wanker on earth.....Pull My finger...quick...quick.

THEO

Oh Jasper, not... Oh fucking hell, that's disgusting.

Jasper slows, hugging the left side of the road, allowing a BLACK BUS to pass.

JASPER

Illegal immigrants. Taking them to Bexhill. Poor foogies. After escaping the worst atrocities, and finally making it to England, our government hunts them down like cockroaches.

Theo sees the sad faces pressed to the steel mesh windows.

The black bus speeds toward the horizon, passing a road sign at the crossroad: BEXHILL 22 miles. The Volvo turns off the road into a heavily wooded area.

OMITTED - SCENE 17, 18

The Volvo slows to a stop. Jasper and Theo get out, Jasper looking both ways to make sure the coast is clear. They walk toward some bushes. Jasper lifts one up -- it's not rooted.

JASPER

Any girls?

A look between them -- Jasper loves this topic.

THEO

No.

JASPER

What about the one we had lunch with, Lauren?

THEO

Lorna? That was ages ago.

JASPER

I liked her. What happened?

They remove the rest of the fake bushes -- revealing a dirt road.

THEO

She decided to renounce.

JASPER

Renouncers? Are those the ones that kneel down for a month for salvation?

THEO

No, they're the Repenters. The Renouncers flagellate themselves for the forgiveness of humanity.

JASPER

Right.

Jasper is about to get back in the car, then laughs.

JASPER

(cont'd)

Dating ain't what it used to be, is it amigo.

Jasper drives through the woods along a narrow dirt trail.

JASPER

What did you do on your birthday?

THEO

Nothing.

JASPER

Oh, come on. You must have done something.

THEO

No. Same as every other day. Woke up, went to work, waited for the numbness to end.

JASPER

That's called a hangover, amigo.

THEO

At least I feel something with a hangover. Honestly, Jasper. Sometimes I think I can't take it anymore.

JASPER

You could always come and live with us.

THEO

Yeah, but if I did that, I wouldn't have anything to look forward to.

Through the windshield, the trees give way to a clearing... a low-tech, jury-rigged eco-house, complete with primitive solar panels and a grass roof.