The Road

A post-apocalyptic nightmare road trip taken by a father and son that's based on Cormac McCarthy's Pulitzer Prize-winning novel. An unnamed man (Mortenson) and young boy (Smit-McPhee) trudge along towards the sea in a daily quest for food, shelter, and survival while trying to avoid violent, and probably cannibalistic, roving gangs. Mortensen is haunted and determined and Smit-McPhee convincingly acts fearful and stunned. It's relentlessly grim (although how could it not be?), with limited dialogue, and the appropriately scorched and desolate look but it's also emotionally distancing and as much of a slog as the duo's walk itself.