Not having read the original novel by Cormac McCarthy, it’s hard to comment on the difficulty of making a film out of this story, but I’m gonna do it anyway. It’s phenomenal that such a sparse plot, maintains so much tension. Throughout our journey as a father (Viggo Mortensen) and his son (Kodi Smit-McPhee) wade through a post-apocalyptic hell towards some faint dream of hope on the coast; director John Hillcoat keeps us on the hook. He tweaks our empathy beautifully and we walk out feeling tired, hungry, cold; and horrified at what our species can do to each other.
Mortensen is brilliant, epitomising ‘haggard’ from the inside out. Smit-McPhee is slightly less inspiring but still provides many strong and intense moments. The rest of the cast is mainly bit-parts, which occupy various stages of a sliding scale of quality. There’s no real single antagonist, because the world itself has become the enemy. The ash, the cold, the constant and ever-present death – not to mention the fact that cannibalism is the most common delivery tool for this end – keep us captivated and uncomfortable.
Overall, The Road isn’t up to the adaptation of other McCarthy novel No Country For Old Men but that’s an especially high bar considering the team behind that film. It’s too bleak to be really enjoyed by any but the most pessimistic of audience members but will impress with its atmosphere, and the long-lingering mood.
