The Road

The Road is a 2009 American post-apocalyptic survival film directed by John Hillcoat and written by Joe Penhall, based on the 2006 novel of the same name by Cormac McCarthy. The film stars Viggo Mortensen and Kodi Smit-McPhee as a father and his son in a post-apocalyptic wasteland. The film received a limited release in North American cinemas from November 25, 2009, and was released in United Kingdom cinemas on January 4, 2010. It received generally positive reviews from critics; the performances of Mortensen and Smit-McPhee garnered praise. It also received numerous nominations, including a BAFTA nomination for Best Cinematography. Plot A man and his young son struggle to survive after an unspecified catastrophe results in an extinction event which caused the death of all plant life and virtually all animal life. The man and boy travel on a road to the coast in hope that they can find safe haven, scavenging for supplies in their journey, and avoiding roaming cannibalistic rape gangs armed with guns. Years earlier, the man's wife gives birth to their son shortly after the catastrophe and she gradually loses hope. When the man shoots an intruder using one of three bullets they have saved for their family as a last resort, she accuses him of wasting the bullet deliberately to prevent her suicide. Removing her coat and hat in the freezing cold, she walks into the woods, never to be seen again.