1. The Road
John Hillcoat's unbearably bleak post apocalyptic film, based off of Cormac McCarthy's brilliant novel, is arguably the most depressing movie ever made. In the near future, an unnamed calamity destroys nearly all the plant and animal life on earth, collapsing civilization and forcing the living inhabitants to roam the wilderness looking for food and shelter. A father and son wander urgently towards the coast, hoping it will be warmer farther south. Unfortunately, the father is sick and at the end of the film, he dies, leaving his son alone. The last scene shows the son meeting another family, who take him in, and the movie ends with the new family beginning their own journey. Filmed in the dreariest locations the filmakers could find, The Road is filled with an almost overwhelming sense of dread. The sun never shines, groups of cannibals roam the wastelands, and everyone is truly out for themselves. The Road is a look at both the good and the bad side of human nature with the bad side often outweighing the good. In the end though, The Road is still a hopeful movie as the young boy often asks his father if they are "carrying the fire" and if they are the "good guys", enabling them to keep holding out hope in the face of adversity. The Road seems to be saying that as long as the good guys never give up, their is always hope for the future. While not a lot to go on, its still enough to make The Road oddly inspiring all the same.
Agree with this list? Let us know in the comments section below.