8. The Road
Released in 2009 and based on the Pulitzer-Prize winning novel of the same name, The Road is about a man and his young boy who journey through a post-apocalyptic world, trying to survive long enough to make it to the coast, which they hear is warm. It’s a real feat, trying to find warmth in a post-apocalyptic world, especially when you have a little kid you need to protect from rabid dogs, scavengers and cannibals.
Most of us experience the film through the eyes and boots of the man (played by Viggo Mortensen), and so we feel the overwhelming tension and sense of self-sacrifice throughout the film. The bleak, abysmal circumstances of the movie make for hard trials for anyone to go through, but its particularly painful for the lone father of an innocent boy, and it’s especially hard for the boy. It’s a good film worthy of a watch, you just need to keep in mind that it’s just a movie or you’ll risk an empathy overdose.
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