8. The Road (2009)
Based on the Pulitzer Prize winning book by Cormac McCarthy, The Road is a good film to watch if you want to wallow in doom and gloom for a while. It is set in a post-apocalyptic future where a man and his son are roaming around trying desperately to survive. As per usual, the post-apocalyptic world is a grim place to be. The man and his son face all sorts of unpleasant things - like a mansion with a basement full of human food for its owner. They manage to get all of their stuff stolen by a thief. In a town, the man is shot in the leg. This wound leads to him dying and before he dies, he impresses upon his son the importance of self preservation and humanity. Amidst the gloom, when his father dies the son is accepted into a family who are 'good guys'. The backdrop to the film is hideous and there are many terrible, terrible things happening but the bond between father and son reminds us of the need for humanity and dignity even in desperate circumstances. The film is grey, sludgy and rainy. It is about the emotional effects of an apocalypse and how humanity can retain civility or lose their moral anchors altogether. Slightly more hopeful than the book, Viggo Mortensen is wonderfully cast as The man. But despite the glimmer of hope we are afforded, The Road is a heavy downer.