The Road: Before The Last of Us, this was one of the most disturbing dystopian visions

The Road (16+, 106mins) Directed by John Hillcoat *****

Before this came out in 2009, the last time someone adapted a Cormac McCarthy novel into a feature film it won an Oscar for Best Picture.

The Coen Brothers’ take on No Country for Old Men scooped the top prize at the 2008 Academy Awards and deservedly so. Filled with memorable characters and situations, it was a violent and mayhem-infused compelling contemporary western that showcased great acting talent in the form of Javier Bardem, Tommy Lee Jones and Josh Brolin.

Although that raised expectations for further adaptations of his work, no-one dared hope that an adaptation of his 2006 Pulitzer Prize-winning novel The Road would be any good.

Described as unfilmable, the bleak, post-apocalyptic tale was a very different kettle-of-fish from Country. Allegedly many screenplays were trialled, all tinkering with the central conceit and dark tone, but incredibly in an era of film-making by committee and focus groups, the one that ended up on screen was incredibly faithful to the source material – and all the more stunning for it.

Director John Hillcoat’s (The Proposition) vision opens with scenes of garden splendour and marital happiness, but we quickly learn that is all a fevered dream of “the man” (Viggo Mortensen).

Eking out a bleak existence with his son (Kodi Smit- McPhee) among a ruined Earth, he tells us in voice-over of how all the clocks stopped at 1.17pm.

“It was a long shear of bright light then a series of low concussions. I haven’t kept a calendar for years, but each day is greyer than the one before. The animals are all dead, the crops are long gone and soon all the trees in the world will fall.”

Those humans still left alive battle hunger and despair, deeply mistrusting one another as they go looking for fuel and food, while those with weapons have formed gangs and cannibalistic tendencies. Headed for the south coast in the hope that the ocean might provide a pathway to a better life, the man, fearing death by starvation or at the hands of others, begins to prepare his son for the day he is no longer able to protect him.

While such a depressing, disturbing and disquieting conceit will not be everyone’s ideal of almost two hours entertainment, The Road is one of the great films of the 21st century.

Combining with cinematographer Javier Aguirresarobe (Talk to Her), Hillcoat has created some haunting, heartbreaking and searing imagery of a scorched Earth (disaster porn fans are also catered for with plenty of broken cities, twisted metal and landlocked ships). Draining their palette of virtually all colour, the pair make stunningly effective use of light to highlight the thin rays of hope in the central protagonists’ lives (a can of Dole pineapple has never seemed so vividly yellow and blue, while the short sputtering of a bunker generator before it dies offers a glimpse of a better life).

Just as importantly, Hillcoat keeps most of the real horrors just off-screen, leaving the audience’s imagination to run wild. Sound is another effective tool with Warren Ellis and Nick Cave’s subtle, atmospheric and sensitive score rivalling their breathtaking work on The Assassination of Jesse James by the Coward Robert Ford.

However, what sets The Road apart from the likes of 2012 and apocalyptic 1970s’ horrors like Mad Max, I Am Legend and The Hills Have Eyes is an intelligent script that focuses on confronting the awful truth of a bleak existence and man’s loss of humanity – rather than a battle for survival against a cult.

Joe Penhall’s (Enduring Love) script provides plenty of food for thought (and echoes of our own Kiwi man-alone sci-fi classic The Quiet Earth) with the line “some people thought it was a con, I always believed in it”, the only hint as to what may have brought the human race to a shuddering halt.

Accompanied by clever cameos from a virtually unrecognisable Robert Duvall and Guy Pearce, the film’s other ace is Mortensen (The Lord of the Rings trilogy). Although known for never giving anything less than a fully committed performance, here he takes his craft to new heights. Looking gaunt and sallow and filled with fear, paranoia and desperation he delivers a truly memorable performance as a father determined to keep his son alive.

A provocative, powerful and emotion-packed film.

The Road is now available to stream on TVNZ+.