Stars: Viggo Mortensen, Kodi Smit- McPhee, Charlize Theron, Guy Pearce
Running time: 111 mins
Rating: ★★★

THE scene is a desolate, post-apocalypse world. But don’t expect to see a Mad Max type adventure or spectacular end of the world blockbuster. The Road is grim and unrelenting.

Not much of a date movie at all, but satisfying for those prepared to undertake the slow, tortuous journey through the wasteland of the man (Viggo Mortensen) and his son (excellent newcomer Kodi Smit-McPhee).

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There are occasional flashbacks to earlier days involving a deglamorised Charlize Theron. But director John Hillcoat is more concerned with following the man and the boy as they face all the horrors and terrors thrown at them. Prepare yourself for a long, slow journey – like getting from A to B in snowy conditions – and you may just, I won’t say enjoy, but at least admire this adaptation of a Pulitzer Prize-winning novel by No Country For Old Men writer Cormac McCarthy. There isn’t a plot, or even much dialogue or action, more a lot of wandering around the desolate landscape encountering the various trials in a world where it’s every man for himself.

Food is scarce and cannibalism rife. If you’re trying to survive, then Mortensen is a good man to have by your side and indeed on your side. He’s honest, decent and able to handle himself in a rough situation.