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The Descendants

The Descendants

Comedy · Drama · 2011

With his wife Elizabeth on life support after a boating accident, Hawaiian land baron Matt King takes his daughters on a trip from Oahu to Kauai to confront a young real estate broker, who was having an affair with Elizabeth before her misfortune.

Movie details

The Descendants

“The South Pacific ain't that terrific.”

2011 Comedy · Drama 1h 55m

Critical arithmetic

One number, for now.

TMDB

6.8 / 10

Community rating

With his wife Elizabeth on life support after a boating accident, Hawaiian land baron Matt King takes his daughters on a trip from Oahu to Kauai to confront a young real estate broker, who was having an affair with Elizabeth before her misfortune.

CriticWise case file

What this film says about your taste.

Not a recommendation score. A measure of how closely the film’s taste signals resemble yours.

The archetype split

Who fights over The Descendants?

The split comes from the same five-axis model used by the test, not audience ratings or review sentiment.

Taste neighbourhood

Nearby on the taste map.

TMDB supplies the candidates. CriticWise reorders them by craft, strangeness, prestige, emotion, and pace.

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A Hole in the Head

A Hole in the Head

Comedy · 1959

An impractical widower tries to hang onto his Miami hotel and his 12-year-old son.

The Door in the Floor

The Door in the Floor

Drama · 2004

A writer's young assistant becomes both pawn and catalyst in his boss's disintegrating household.

The Pretty One

The Pretty One

Comedy · 2014

When her idolized twin sister Audrey dies in a car accident, Laurel decides to take her place. But, as she eases into the life she has always wanted, she must decide between continuing the lie or revealing herself.

Winter Passing

Winter Passing

Comedy · 2006

Actress Reese Holden has been offered a small fortune by a book editor if she can secure for publication the love letters that her father, a reclusive novelist, wrote to her mother, who has since passed away. Returning to Michigan, Reese finds that an ex-grad student and a would-be musician have moved in with her father, who cares more about his new friends than he does about his own health and well-being.

Lymelife

Lymelife

Comedy · 2008

A coming of age dramedy where infidelity, real estate, and Lyme disease have two families falling apart on Long Island in the early eighties. Scott, 15, is at the point in his life when he finds out that the most important people around him, his father, his mother, and his brother, are not exactly who he thought they were. They are flawed and they are human.

The Life Aquatic with Steve Zissou

The Life Aquatic with Steve Zissou

Adventure · 2004

Renowned oceanographer Steve Zissou has sworn vengeance upon the rare shark that devoured a member of his crew. In addition to his regular team, he is joined on his boat by Ned, a man who believes Zissou to be his father, and Jane, a journalist pregnant by a married man. They travel the sea, all too often running into pirates and, perhaps more traumatically, various figures from Zissou's past, including his estranged wife, Eleanor.

Where it lives

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Names above the title

The people responsible.

Directed by

Alexander Payne

Written by

Alexander Payne · Jim Rash · Nat Faxon

George Clooney

George Clooney

Matt King

Shailene Woodley

Shailene Woodley

Alexandra King

Amara Miller

Amara Miller

Scottie King

Nick Krause

Nick Krause

Sid

Patricia Hastie

Patricia Hastie

Elizabeth King

G

Grace A. Cruz

Scottie's Teacher

K

Kim Gennaula

School Counselor

Court is in session

Put The Descendants on trial.

Two incompatible taste archetypes. One film. Read the arguments, then issue a completely binding cultural ruling.

The defence The Sentimental Softie

“Sincerity is not manipulation.”

The film risks embarrassment to make emotion communal, and that openness is harder than fashionable detachment.

The prosecution The Adrenaline Seeker

“The strings are showing.”

Every cue tells you exactly what to feel and when, leaving sentiment to do the work character should have done.