Stephen King Praised Cormac McCarthy's The Road

Summary

"Never Flinch" will be released on May 27, 2025, featuring King's character Holly Gibney.
King enjoys recommending TV shows and movies like "The Road" and the zombie show, "The Returned."
King praises Cormac McCarthy's "The Road" for its emotional depth and compelling characters.

Stephen King introduced readers and pop culture fans to unforgettable, strong characters like the Losers Club and iconic villains like Pennywise the Dancing Clown, and his impressive career continues. His next book, Never Flinch, will be published on May 27th, 2025, and it tells a story about his smart character Holly Gibney. Cynthia Erivo played Holly in the HBO adaptation of The Outsider and the detective has shown up in many stories.

It's also fun to hear about King's TV and movie recommendations. He shared his love for the zombie show The Returned and enjoyed the 1987 film The Stepfather, and that's not all. King explained why he's a big fan of a memorable movie set after the apocalypse, and it's one that his many fans won't want to miss.

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By Rachael Fiddis

Stephen King Praised The Road, The 2009 Movie Adapted From Cormac McCarthy's Novel

In 2010, Stephen King wrote a piece for Entertainment Weekly about his favorite 2009 movies. He praised The Road and wrote:

"Cormac McCarthy’s novel of the apocalypse comes to the screen with all its spare and deadly beauty intact. It’s often painful to watch (at my screening I actually heard the projectionist sobbing as the film neared its end), but Viggo Mortensen’s performance as the dedicated father is Oscar bait."

The Road has a tragic ending and follows two main characters: Man (Viggo Mortensen) and Boy (Kodi Smit-McPhee). The movie is sparse, beautifully crafted, and emotional, and it doesn't shy away from its harsh themes of loneliness, life and death, and the hope for connection when all hope seems to be lost.

Stephen King fans can find a lot of similarities between The Road and King's work, particularly The Long Walk, which is getting a movie adaptation that will be released in September 2025. Both novels (and films) tell grim stories of characters trying to survive after the apocalypse, and there are more sad moments than happy ones. King and McCarthy also share a memorable talent for making people care about characters who are in terrifying situations. King put it best when he gave an interview to PBS in 2024 after his short story collection You Like It Darker was published. He said:

"I'm interested in what happens when regular people are suddenly confronted with something that's totally out of their wheelhouse, something that's entirely different."

That sentiment can definitely be applied to The Road, along with post-apocalyptic movies from the 1980s and more recent releases such as The Last of Us season 2, which is currently streaming on Max.

Mortensen and Smit-McPhee received many award nominations thanks to their excellent and compelling performances. They were each nominated for the 2010 Critics' Choice Awards and also received nominations in the 2010 Best Actor and Best Performance by a Younger Actor categories at the Academy of Science Fiction, Fantasy & Horror Films.

According to Biography, when Cormac McCarthy passed away in June 2023, King was among many who shared a moving tribute to the beloved author. King tweeted:

“Cormac McCarthy, maybe the greatest American novelist of my time, has passed away at 89. He was full of years and created a fine body of work, but I still mourn his passing.”

Where Can Stephen King Fans Stream The Road?

The Road is available to stream on Peacock. Some exciting projects are coming to Peacock, including the Friday the 13th prequel Crystal Lake, and there's also a great library of movies. The Road is one of the best post-apocalyptic films, so Stephen King's fanbase will definitely want to see it. Fans can also rent the movie on AppleTV.

What 2009 Movies Did Stephen King Praise?

The Hurt Locker
The Last House on the Left
The Road
Disgrace
The Reader
District 9
Law Abiding Citizen
The Taking of Pelham 1 2 3
Fantastic Mr. Fox
2012

Stephen King's latest movie adaptation The Long Walk will be released in September 2025, but before then, fans can also go see Mike Flanagan's The Life of Chuck, will arrive in theaters on June 6th, 2025.

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