THE ROAD is melancholic and bleak, a funereal post-apocalyptic survival saga utterly stripped of fantasy or heroics. It's a beautifully crafted film, often hauntingly so, at times gripping but ultimately requiring commitment to endure. The ending, though hopeful, highlights the emotional distance of the preceding 2+ hours as perhaps justifiable, even necessary, but also somewhat unsatisfying. A memorable experience for sure, but not one that welcomes repeat viewing.

How did I miss this movie? Finally streamed it last night and I was glued. The cinematography and the flow of the movie was fantastic! I highly recommend if you are looking for for a gripping dystopian movie.

Well acted and choreographed, it's very intense and takes all of the glory out of apocalyptic survival..just as it should. Excellent.

A compelling post-apocalyptic drama that stands out because of the rather depressingly realistic approach to what it would be like to live in such a world. I can definitely understand why this film can be regarded as too bleak for some, even with the excuse that it's being faithful to its source material. And even if you're able to handle such a thing, you'll also have to endure some slow pacing. It's not that bad but anyone expecting any big thrills will not find them here. The Road is, at its core, a father/son story in an unconventional setting that's elevated on the strength of its two lead actors' performances, some really good cinematography that does a good job at performing the oxymoronic task of bringing Cormac McCarthy's vision of a dying planet to life and dealing with thought-provoking themes about morality. I found the scene where they confront a thief, who's depicted as more pathetic than an actual threat, to be representative of the subject matter about what people will do to survive and the likelihood of you performing something similar if you were in their shoes. Not an amazing film but still a well-made film whose very bleak tone makes the moments of hope shine all the more brightly and likely to make you all the more appreciative of the father/son bonding scenes, even as the genre this film's in makes me hesitant to use adjectives like "wholesome".

Pretty accurate to the book. With one exception: the child’s age. In the book, I’d assume he is 6 or 7 just based on his dialogue… in the movie the dialog is the same but the actor looks about 10 or 12. Kind of took me out of the film. Viggo Mortensen is great.

Feels directionless and lacks a compelling narrative, with slow pacing that becomes tedious. Despite its atmosphere, it struggles to maintain interest.

Durísima, desgarradora, cruel, realista. definitivamente lo mejor que he visto en muchos años.

I often wonder how I'd fare in an apocalyptic world. Most films glorify and give unrealistic depictions of the "end times" that excite our imaginations. This film does not. It gives the harsh truth - the apocalypse isn't something to envy. Led by a phenomenal performance by Viggo Mortensen, the story follows a single dad trying to raise his son in a cold and hopeless world. In all the violence and hunger, even the most righteous people have become the desperate and deprived animals that hide deep within our nature. In the film's best moments, the loving father-son relationship creates a bit of light in this darkened world. Overall, this is a simple film that's masterfully executed.

Scary film which makes you apprehensive one of the possible routes mankind might end up walking in future.

Alright, look. I’m gonna try real hard not to judge this movie against the original novel. I will probably compare them, but I’ll try not to let it sway my judgment of the movie as its own entity. And I will definitely fail, but here goes. This is a great movie. It absolutely nails the aesthetic from the book while maintaining its groundedness and relatability. It maybe leans a little too heavily into the action and suspense scenes for my taste, but it’s Hollywood; I get it. It also does a good job of capturing the dryness of the novel while adding a bit more drama, again, for Hollywood. Viggo Mortensen is at the top of his game, as usual. He gives the performance of a lifetime, and the little kid is pretty good too. The minimal handful of other cast play their parts well. Wisely, the script is mostly taken straight from the novel and just trimmed down a bit. One thing I personally didn’t like was the small glimmers of a hopeful future which are sprinkled throughout. That sounds terrible to say. But in my opinion, the whole point of the story is that there is no hope. Absolutely none. And we spend roughly two hours exploring what humanity would do when faced with this reality. To drop hints that maybe everything will be fine feels disingenuous and incongruous. For me, the selling points of this movie are its mood and soundtrack, which lends a lovely, eerie quality while being barely noticeable. For fans of the novel, you’ll love the adaptation. If you’re new to the source material, you’ll probably still love it.

It’s good but seeing it in 2024 eyes a little bland and melodramatic. Last of Us and a dozen other modern takes have a lot more going for them, just watch those.

A beautifully shot film with a haunting, disturbing story.

All in all, the film is worth your time if you're looking for some good old post-apocalypse misery, or if you're a fan of the book and want a chance to relive the story to an extent. For those familiar with McCarthy's work, this adaptation will seem a bit saccharine. Where once the hollow landscape was painted by McCarthy's hauntingly sparse prose, every scene in the film is punctuated by sad little arpeggios plinked away on a piano, or a tense scene is blanketed with dissonant strings. I craved the honest bleakness of the book, but felt the filmmaker's hand trying to guide my emotions at every turn. Now, all that said, the performances are spot on here, as are the landscapes. The events of the book are rearranged, for reasons I am unsure of, as it did not seem to enhance the story. But it is, at least, comprised of almost entirely out of the events of the book. It is a faithful, if somewhat standard adaptation, taking the book at face value and presenting it on the screen with a simple earnestness. At least it never tries to shy away from the striking imagery McCarthy presented.

This must be one of the hardest movies to rate. It is well done, no doubt, with its desaturated look, quiet, disturbing mood, dystopian settings and strong acting from the two main characters. There isn't a lot of backstory to build off here, so we are left with many unanswered questions and confusion throughout the story. And if you are looking for hope, you really don't find any here. It is extremely depressing and disturbing, as we watch the humanity drained from every character until they shrivel up, literally and metaphorically. Perhaps this is some kind of analogy for the world or for our country... who knows?

Worst movie I have ever seen. I wanted to kill myself after watching this incredibly depressing and harrowing movie. Not one moment of light, not a single sign of hope for anyone. Dystopian indeed, but with a massive dose of pessimism, coated in despair and wrapped up in tears. If you are looking to walk away feeling desperately unhappy and giving up on life, this is the movie for you.

There are two basic approaches to a post-apocalyptic narrative: the hopeful one that shows humanities good side winning through against the odds (or, at least, giving hope that this will happen) and the nihilistic approach that concentrates on humanities bad side to the point that you really want everyone to die. The Road falls firmly in the latter category. The photography captures this beautifully with its muted colours and incessant use of grey. For that is what the world is grey, grey and more grey and, oh by the way, everyone is going to die. It might be well acted (which it is), it might be beautifully shot (which it is) and it might be a faithful adaptation of an apparently much loved novel (which it allegedly is) but it's miserable. It makes me want to remove the novel from my TBR pile as I don't think I need another dose of depression. It has one message : we're all going to die. A one word description of this film: bleak. Not the sort of film to recommend to anyone in need of cheering up.

Why this.movie is so underated while the video game is so popular?...and don't forget the movie came out 1st and pretty much the basics of the movie were stolen...including the story line

Viggo Mortensen gave a good performance, as well as the boy who played his son. The film also really looks like and convinces you that an apocalyptic event took place which stood out to me. A very dirty and cruel/harsh world with little room to trust other people and little opportunity to get comfortable. However, I wish I saw a little bit more of what happened after the event started and what made it get as bad as it ended up being. The plot got slightly distracted a couple of times and there was an odd edit where the son had just taken a bath and had his face cleaned but in the very next shot his face was dirty (and in the shot after that it was back to clean again just seconds later). It was an emotional story too though and the father dying actually made it a better ending that felt like an appropriate conclusion for his character.

Unflinchingly brilliant and hauntingly bleak, this depiction of a post-apocalyptic future captures the raw essence of despair and survival. Under John Hillcoat's direction, the film offers a grim vista with barely a glimmer of hope, challenging the viewer's endurance as much as it does its characters'. It's a harrowing ordeal to watch, yet isn't that the hallmark of truly impactful cinema?

Muy buena película, una cinta con una historia desoladora muy bien contada. Esta película nos presenta una historia en un mundo post apocalíptico, en el que predominan los colores grises y marrones, con un mundo muy bien construido y planteado en el que hay pocos sobrevivientes y todo es peligroso. Me encanto el trabajo del director al momento de contar la historia y mostrarnos este mundo desolado, sumado al excelente trabajo de la fotografía. Es una película con momentos fuertes y que te hacen ver mal a la humanidad y conocer su peor lado al ver como nadie tiene piedad por nadie y como todos hacen lo que sea por sobrevivir. La química de padre e hijo vista es fantástica y empatizas muy rápido con los personajes, aunque ambos tengan sus diferencias en todo momento y hacen de que dudes de que lo que hacen esta bien o mal, pero vas a terminar entendiendo cualquiera de las decisiones. Lo único que no me gusto de la película fueron los momentos en los que se muestra el pasado, ya que en mi opinión desentonaban un poco con todo lo que estaba pasando y no contaban muchas cosas importantes. El final es algo que me gusto, es bastante triste por lo que pasa y creo que tiene diferentes interpretaciones ya que no se sabe si realmente paso eso. Por ultimo, destacar las actuaciones las cuales son brillantes, principalmente las de Viggo Mortensen, Kodi Smit-McPhee y Charlize Theron. En conclusión, una muy buena película que es muy entretenida en todo momento y cuenta una historia desoladora y emotiva, con unas actuaciones fantásticas por parte de ambos protagonistas. Muy recomendada.