Okay, I have to admit it: I simply love post-apocalyptic movies. Why? Because they serve two purposes: to give a different vision (depending on the creator) of how the world could end and serve to remind the audience that no matter how bad things are in real life, they could be a lot worse. With the release of “The Hunger Games” last week, we saw yet another movie join the ranks of dystopian classics such as “28 Days Later” and “Mad Max.” Unfortunately, this genre is so convoluted that there are plenty of good movies which are ignored or not given enough attention, among which is 2009’s The Road. Based on the book of the same name by Cormac McCarthy, this movie follows the story of an unnamed man (Viggo Mortenson) and his son (Kodi Smit-McPhee) whose ultimate goal is to travel south where it is warm, all while trying to avoid other bands of cannibalistic humans.

So I’m sure one of the questions you’re asking is, “What makes this movie stand out? Isn’t it just another cry of doom?” In a few ways it is but what truly makes it stand out is the mystery of the environment. With other apocalyptic movies comes a back story into how the world has gotten to this point, such as a virus making zombies in “28 Days Later” or a shortage of gas in “Mad Max.” “The Road” lacks a similar explanation but rather simply conveys that animals and plants are dead along with the vast majority of humans. This mystery also extends to the background of the man and his son. Through flashbacks, we see that as disaster occurred, the boy’s mother (Charlize Theron) was still alive, but we do not know what happened to her. It is heavily implied that she committed suicide but the movie leaves it open that she could have also just run away to save herself.

However, what really makes this movie leave a deep impression is the relationship between the man and his son. We can see through their dialogue that in many ways the boy is older than he looks. At the same time the man still tries to allow him  to have a sense of innocence. Two scenes particularly stood out for me. One was where the pair encountered an old man (Robert Duvall) whom the boy convinced his father to leave to buy canned food for. The other was an incident where another man robs the pair of their possessions only for the pair to catch up with him and force him to strip down and give back the things. Throughout these experiences, the two are teachers to each other with the man teaching the boy how to survive and the boy reminding the man to not abandon what makes people human.

Bottom line: the superb acting, fact that special effects are not overused and themes of this story make The Road a must-see movie for any person who wishes to see an out-of-the-way apocalyptic flick that does not rely heavily on zombies or other supernatural elements. (There’s nothing wrong with a good zombie movie now and then, but I digress.)

Rating: 5 out of 5 stars