The Descendants (2011)

The Descendants is a gentle, bittersweet comedy-drama set against the lush beauty of Kauai. You follow Matt King, a Honolulu attorney and trustee of a sprawling family trust, as he tries to hold his fractured life together after his wife is critically injured in a boating accident. When news comes that she will be taken off life support, long-buried secrets surface — including an affair that shatters Matt’s assumptions about his marriage — and he must bring his estranged teenage daughter Alex home and step up for his younger daughter Scottie. The film balances quiet, tender moments of grief and parenting with dry, often dark humor, while also unfolding a larger conflict over whether to sell the family’s 25,000 acres of land — a decision that would change the face of the island and test the family’s values. Viewers can expect strong character-driven drama, emotional honesty, and thoughtful pacing: scenic, intimate scenes that probe identity, responsibility and forgiveness, punctuated by wry, human moments that make the story both moving and unexpectedly funny.

Actors: George Clooney, Shailene Woodley, Amara Miller

Director: Alexander Payne

Runtime: 115 min

Genres: Comedy, Drama

6.5 /10 84 /100 7.3 /10 7.4 /10