The Road (2009)

I don't think we can call The Road an evolution in the sub-genre of post-holocaust scenario films since Five (1951); perhaps, a progression, but even in that there nothing very new here - except the boy, who was born right after the holocaust happened; he has known no other reality except this dreary new world. Otherwise, it simply reconstitutes all the concepts of a post-nuclear war world which we've seen in Five, then in The World, the Flesh and the Devil (1959), then Ravagers (1979)... and so on.
There might be more grittiness to the tale, more grimness even... and the visuals benefit from 21st century FX technology. But, the biggest addition to this version of such a dying world is a touch of poignancy generated by the two main characters. Viggo Mortensen plays the father, looking out for his young son as they journey down the road. Where are they going? To the beach, perhaps. Remember On the Beach from 1959? That's another one. But, we never got to cannibalism in those older films... except in Ravagers, I think.
Others who pop up briefly are played by Robert Duvall, Guy Pearce and Molly Parker. Charlize Theron plays the wife/mother, in flashbacks. Based on the novel by Cormac McCarthy, published only a couple of years earlier. BoG's Score: 7 out of 10