Time was, I explored abandoned buildings every week. There was an inherent danger with every step, that I might fall through a crack, break my leg, end up in the basement, land on rusted metal or broken glass. I spent a little over a year documenting sites in Chicago, Illinois and Gary, Indiana. During exploration there was excitement, caution, fear and adrenalin. Afterward there was relief and restful sleep. The Road is a hyper-realised version of this: The world (and most of what we are familiar with in the present time) has died. A man and his boy travel across it, trying to stay alive long enough to reach the coast. Along the way they encounter many, many dangerous and very scary things, but more importantly they do their damned best to stay away from these. I’m glad to see the movie, and to know that I’m only watching a movie – that when I get hungry I’ll step into the kitchen and fix myself a warm, delicious meal. If I’m thirsty there are many beverages and abundant fresh, filtered water to quench my thirst. It’s winter, but I don’t worry about being cold – if I do I’ll put on another layer of clean, dry clothing and maybe crank the heat up on the thermostat. The man and his child in The Road don’t have any of these things. A small cart carries mostly junk, what little they still have, and they wear layers of filthy scavenged clothes. They barely eat. They have a gun with two bullets left, you know, just in case. The world they know is rife with bands of roving cannibals.

I haven’t explored abandoned sites in some time, but this movie reminds me in a familiar way of those old places. Years of dust, broken piles of things, glass everywhere, nails that’ll go through your boots. Tangled wires and rotten wood. Sometimes a smell you’ve never experienced before. Sometimes it feels like someone or something was just there in what used to be a room. Faint traces of things. Having just finished The Road, I’m still reeling from it a little. It’s a bleak film – a little scary to tell you the truth. If the world does end this way, will I be ready (paraphrasing the father’s words) to do the things that need to be done? Can I be strong enough to survive each day? I’ve only ever explored for hours at a stretch: When the day’s done I go home and clean up. Turn the tv on, eat a good meal, sleep in a dry, comfortable bed. The Road doesn’t have any of these things. It has cold, wet, and death. I’ll put this movie away now, and hope to dream about only good things.

Hands down, the most depressing movie I’ve ever seen.

Bleak and dark in every way.