The Road

After being nominated for a BAFTA but at the same time not showing much over here in the UK, The Road, is something I don‘t want fellow cinema attendees to miss out on. Nearly a decade since the unreal and iconic Lord Of the Rings trilogy, Viggo Mortensen who played Aragorn is again sharing with us his impressive craft as an actor.

Set in the future where the world is gradually dying, we see a young boy and his father (you never find out their names) go about their day to day struggles of surviving, their looking to get to the south coast in the belief that they might be able to find food, or even set sail and discover another country which maybe has survivors. On the way, their only home is a trolley which holds all their supplies. At the same time they find themselves in various deadly situations; escaping gangs of carnivores is just one of these. The film also cuts back and forth between the times when his wife was alive and provides us the tensions and fears that mount up between them.

Okay, so maybe this film isn’t the most pleasant way to start the new year but I think in recent times we have discovered there certainly is an audience for post apocalyptic narrative: I Am Legend, The Book of Eli, both have massive followings and brilliant write ups and also may I add that Mad Max 4 is on the way again, affirming that this theme is more than catching along.

Another touching factor that makes this film astonishing is the hard to note cameos from Guy Pearce and Robert Duvall who both add the icing to the cake. Top to tail in mud playing their roles combined with Viggo Mortensen makes for a real treat.

This really isn’t a family film and most defiantly not something you should take your girlfriend to on Valentines Day, but if you have a free day and an open mind, this film will effortlessly suck you away into its mind blowing atmosphere. The music, the images, and the day to day struggles of living without food, warmth, and most of all, hope, really does add up to be a bitter yet satisfying watch.

Andrew Dex