The Road (2009) is a bleak, post-apocalyptic film based on the Pulitzer Prize winning novel by Cormac McCarthy. In the leads we have Viggo Mortensen as Man and Kodi Smit-McPhee as Boy. The pair struggle to survive in a dangerous wasteland where civilization has collapsed. Remaining survivors are ruthless as they scavenge for bits of food and some even opt for the delicacy of human flesh. The Mans sole intention is to protect his son as they travel south towards the coast where they hope it will be a warmer. He carries a gun with him but there are only two bullets, a constant reminder of the desolate condition the two are in. Dad-parallels can be drawn with Chris Garder in The Pursuit of Happyness. In both we have dads who are on their own looking after their sons in difficult conditions, only pump up the hardship volume for The Road. Man and Boy find themselves in horrifying and unthinkable circumstances and the father tries to impose his own rules and rituals keep the fire inside burning to create a healthy paternal environment when everything around them is hopeless and messed-up. Another traveller calls the boy an angel to which the father replies To me, hes a God. Everything about this film suggests that he means that.