The Road
Stream
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A father and his son walk alone through burned America. Nothing moves in the ravaged landscape save the ash on the wind and water. It is cold enough to crack stones and, when the snow falls, it is gray. Their destination is the warmer south, although they don't know what, if anything, awaits them there.
What critics thought
Viggo Mortensen and Kodi Smit-McPhee draw near-universal admiration, and the film's bleak cinematography and Nick Cave's score faithfully conjure McCarthy's devastated world — but critics split sharply on whether faithful is enough. Supporters found the adaptation bracingly committed to its darkness; detractors argued it trades the novel's intimate psychic warmth for cold tableau, and a handful dismissed it as a literary-pretension gloss on a familiar genre exercise.
“a haunting, harrowing, powerful film”
The Guardian
“gorgeous, in a horrible way, but its greater coolness and distance shows just how difficult it can be to translate to screen the innate psychic warmth of great literature”
Luke Davies·The Monthly
“John Hillcoat's literal adaptation is, by contrast, a long, dull slog.”
J. Hoberman·Village Voice
“hang on to yourself for dear life, resisting belief as best you can in the face of powerful acting, persuasive filmmaking and the perversely compelling certainty that nothing will turn out all right.”
Joe Morgenstern·Wall Street Journal
Genres
Drama, Thriller
Cast & Crew
John HillcoatDirector
Viggo MortensenFather
Kodi Smit-McPheeBoy
Charlize TheronMother
Robert DuvallOld Man - Eli
Guy PearceVeteran
Molly ParkerFriendly Woman
Michael Kenneth WilliamsThe Thief
Garret DillahuntGang Member
Bob JenningsBearded Man
Buddy SosthandArcher
Agnes HerrmannArcher's Woman
Nick CaveComposer
Warren EllisComposer
Cormac McCarthyWriter
Joe PenhallWriter
Javier AguirresarobeCinematographyThe Road
A father and his son walk alone through burned America. Nothing moves in the ravaged landscape save the ash on the wind and water. It is cold enough to crack stones and, when the snow falls, it is gray. Their destination is the warmer south, although they don't know what, if anything, awaits them there.
What critics thought
Viggo Mortensen and Kodi Smit-McPhee draw near-universal admiration, and the film's bleak cinematography and Nick Cave's score faithfully conjure McCarthy's devastated world — but critics split sharply on whether faithful is enough. Supporters found the adaptation bracingly committed to its darkness; detractors argued it trades the novel's intimate psychic warmth for cold tableau, and a handful dismissed it as a literary-pretension gloss on a familiar genre exercise.
“a haunting, harrowing, powerful film”
The Guardian
“gorgeous, in a horrible way, but its greater coolness and distance shows just how difficult it can be to translate to screen the innate psychic warmth of great literature”
Luke Davies·The Monthly
“John Hillcoat's literal adaptation is, by contrast, a long, dull slog.”
J. Hoberman·Village Voice
“hang on to yourself for dear life, resisting belief as best you can in the face of powerful acting, persuasive filmmaking and the perversely compelling certainty that nothing will turn out all right.”
Joe Morgenstern·Wall Street Journal
Genres
Drama, Thriller
Cast & Crew
John HillcoatDirectorViggo MortensenFatherKodi Smit-McPheeBoyCharlize TheronMotherRobert DuvallOld Man - EliGuy PearceVeteranMolly ParkerFriendly WomanMichael Kenneth WilliamsThe ThiefGarret DillahuntGang MemberBob JenningsBearded ManBuddy SosthandArcherAgnes HerrmannArcher's WomanNick CaveComposerWarren EllisComposerCormac McCarthyWriterJoe PenhallWriterJavier AguirresarobeCinematographyStream
Rent & Buy