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Parents' Guide to

The Road

By Jeffrey Anderson, Common Sense Media Reviewer

age 16+

Touching but grim futuristic tale won't appeal to kids.

Movie R 2009 119 minutes
The Road Poster Image

A Lot or a Little?

What you will—and won't—find in this movie.

Community Reviews

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age 15+

Based on 19 parent reviews

rtgfc T.
rtgfc T. Adult
February 5, 2023
age 15+
lilibaby
lilibaby Parent of 13-year-old
April 22, 2021
age 12+

Sad but emotional

It does have really harsh scenes but a mature child who understands this is a dystopian world resulting from a major catastrophe will understand why everything is so bleak.
See all 19 parent reviews

What's the Story?

In the future, an unnamed disaster has ravaged Earth, wiping out most animal and plant life. Electricity is gone, food is scarce, and everything has turned cold and gray from falling ash. A man (Viggo Mortensen) and his 10-year-old son (Kodi Smit-McPhee) make their way along the dangerous road toward the coast in the hopes of finding something -- anything -- there. Along the way, they meet some dangerous cannibals -- as well as some good people -- and together they must nurture their fragile flame of hope.

Is It Any Good?

Our review:
Parents say (19 ):
Kids say (16 ):

The Road is a well-made movie and a powerful story. But despite the characters' persistent hope, the relentlessly grim material -- including the constant, cold, gray visuals -- can be overwhelming, somewhat stalling the drama's forward momentum. Indeed, it's hard to argue that Hillcoat's intense visual presentation adds anything to or improves upon McCarthy's spare prose. Overall though, The Road is effective -- and interesting as a comparison for those who loved the book.

Australian director John Hillcoat (The Proposition) has brought the 2007 Pulitzer Prize-winning novel by Cormac McCarthy (No Country for Old Men) to the screen faithfully, with only a few dramatic additions for the actors' benefit, as well as at least one action-oriented sequence. The emotional core of the movie is the same as the book: the moving relationship between the man and his son and the way they rely on each other for hope and survival.

Talk to Your Kids About ...

  • Families can talk about the unnamed disaster that brought the world to this point. What would life be like after something like that? What could or couldn't you do anymore?

  • Why is the boy more hopeful and trustworthy than his father? What could the boy know or understand that his father doesn't?

  • What made the boy's mother commit suicide? Why did she give up hope when the man and the boy still had hope?

Movie Details

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