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Alfonso Cuaron's sixth feature is light years from the road movie m�nage a trois Y Tu Mama Tambien or the fantasy excess of Prisoner Of Azkaban. This talented Mexican director deftly switches genres to a dark thriller with an apocalyptic vision of the future, bristling with contemporary resonance. Based on a PD James novel Cuaron was hooked by the thriller writer's "inspired premise".

It's the year 2027 and "the world has collapsed, only Britain soldiers on�" With all major cities in the grip of terrorism, refugees make for sanctuary in the UK only to face being rounded up as illegal immigrants by the militarized arm of a right-wing democracy reminiscent of Terry Gilliam's Brazil. Sounds familiar. After 18 years of infertility the planet is in crisis, hope fading, future bleak... Enter Theo (Owen), a dishevelled civil servant beaten down by living in a polluted, crowded metropolis. A disillusioned former political activist - "At least with a hangover I feel something" - he is a broken man.

Owen plays the reluctant hero with a hangdog charm, effortlessly illustrating the arc of a man called to action, awakened from his psychic slump as he becomes a guardian of the future in an action packed odyssey where he must protect a pregnant refugee (Ashitey) who has become the political pawn of a group of activists lead by Theo's ex Julian (Moore). With echoes of Derek Jarman's Punk dystopia Jubilee Cuaron offers a vision of Britain gone to the dogs, a nation placated by advertising, indoctrinated by bad news and offered legalized euthanasia - Quietus - to end it all.

Cuaron's intelligent use of snapshots of famous London landmarks enhances an absorbing mise en scene as Theo visits a revamped Battersea Power Station served by the Tate Modern turbine hall as an interior with a cheeky reference to Pink Floyd's Animals album cover as an inflatable pig floats defiantly against the smog of a shady London skyline. Even the countryside is in chaos as piles of cattle burn in the garden of England when Theo seeks solace in Kent with weed growing philosopher Jasper (Caine). Caine enhances his legendary status in a scene-stealing cameo where he extols the virtues of strawberry ganja and plays air guitar to the strains of banging techno. However, this light relief is temporary as an unflinching narrative wasting no time with explanation gathers pace.

A visceral climax is played out in a series of breathtaking long takes set against the chaotic backdrop of a refugee camp that has become a holding pen for "undesirables". Murder, mayhem and torturous atrocities go hand in hand as Cuaron's film joins a brooding pantheon of apocalyptic movies like Soylent Green, 28 Days Later and 12 Monkeys. Some stunning handheld camera work puts the audience in harm's way in the build up to an emotionally taut scene where a baby's cries cause a ceasefire as Owen's refreshingly fragile hero dodges explosions and gunfire in a pair of flip-flops. Neatly sidestepping biblical connotation this is timely, essential viewing from a chameleon-like director whose nightmare future is not the stuff of sci-fi but sadly all too reminiscent of the world we live in today.

Double BAFTA Winning and 3 times Oscar nominated Children of Men Special Edition will be available on DVD and to 'download to own' from 19th March, courtesy of Universal Pictures UK.