15 Awesome Films Since 2000 You'll Never Watch Again

Plot:

With nothing but a trolley and a gun with two bullets, a father and son make the long and perilous journey across a post-apocalyptic America.

Why It's Awesome:

Impressive visuals and great performances from Viggo Mortensen and Kodi Smit-McPhee make this a soul-crushing depiction of the end of the word yet also a rewarding show of the bond between fathers and sons.

Why You'll Only Watch It Once:

Most post-apocalyptic films treat the apocalypse with a reasonable amount of glamorization. Usually, there'll often be plenty of great set-pieces and a sense that humanity will carry on. Not in this one.

The Road, much like the novel it's based on, is insanely bleak. It depicts a barren, destroyed, ash-covered landscape populated only by groups of cannibals. Nearly all life is gone and the remaining humans aren't going to last much longer, making it clear the end of the world is on the way. There is no hope and no salvation at all, except that the boy and the father still have each other.

Except that's not true, as in a heart-breaking death scene the father passes away near the end. The boy does travel on with another surviving family, but even so, this is one miserable movie.

It's a film you'll admire but not enjoy and such a grim vision of the apocalypse is not something you'll want to return to.