(2009) ***More drama than horror, The Road follows a man and his son as they try to survive in a bleak and dying world. Unlike Landshark I did not read this book so my opinion of it is cast solely on the film. We learn quickly that the sun is dying which in turn is killing the planet. There really is no hope here, crops cannot grow so food cannot be replenished. The only people left are those few with strong survival instinct milling about for canned goods or any scraps left over from their former life and the ones who have gone cannibal. It's the latter that pose the biggest threat to our pair. The film is filled with flashbacks to life before and during the first phases of the catastrophe. These flashes go back to before the boys birth through the death of his mother. Most of these type of film have a final destiny or goal but there really is no place to go here. The world is dying, it's just a matter of survival until fate finally takes it's toll. I liked the film but I'm not so sure it was a horror so as a horror I only gave it three stars. As a drama I might have rated it a little higher but the film is joyless. It's hard to warm up to a film that is bleak from beginning to end. Even Schindler's List had the upside of those who did make it out and were saved. There is no saving grace here, only prolonging the inevitable. The acting is true to character and I felt for the Father in such a horrible predicament. The set and camerawork is amazing, this is truly a dying world.
