Films, majorly are meant for entertainment for sure. But there are few movies which simply force you to stop and think about “The Uncertainty” factor hidden in our lives, which can strongly hit us anytime, any moment without any prior notice as such. THE DESCENDANTS also deals with a similar theme, revolving around a (supposedly) loving couple, their two young daughters and the unexpected complexities of life which they have to deal with after a major accident.

Here the point worth mentioning is that this film is a must see primarily for its unique & realistic subject, which is much more important than its adorable simplicity, performances and direction. Based on the novel with the same title by Kaui Hart Hemmings, the story plot of THE DESCENDANTS may make you go numb, loaded with several questions just like its lead character of a husband & father delicately played by George Clooney. The manner in which Clooney underplays his tense character in the film, rightly earned him an Academy Award nomination for the Best Performance in the year 2012. And the film also won an Oscar for Best Writing and Adapted Screenplay along with being nominated in 3 more major categories including the Best Picture.

THE DESCENDANTS forced me to go into a solitary mode for days, thinking about the harsh truth faced by a truthful person in one of the most difficult days of his life. Revealing its basic plot (which I have to do to convince all friends here) it’s a story of a husband whose wife is on deathbed after an accident and he wishes to bring his small family together in these final moments. But when he informs his elder daughter about this major accident, then she is simply not interested as the girl is aware of a dark secret that her mother was cheating on her innocent father quite shamelessly. She unwillingly reveals the disheartening fact to her father and then its all about that helpless husband dealing with this unexpectedly shocking truth about his own loving wife, counting her final days in the hospital.

The stressful subject reminded me of a common saying that “Its not easy to face a Truth”....And it becomes thousand times more lethal to handle, if a truth like this gets revealed at such a crucial time of life to a husband who is also a father of two young adolescent girls. So, as I see it THE DESCENDANTS is not just about worth watching direction, acting or execution. But its more about fresh and never heard before kind of ‘Story-Telling’ through the effective medium of films. Its more about exploring fresh ideas and plots on the screen which actually gives you much more than mere entertainment for a few hours.

In fact, the well crafted film also made me recall the Golden Years of Hindi Cinema when directors like V. Shantaram, Bimal Roy, Mehboob Khan and many more such visionaries used to make Classics on powerful subjects and stories only as used in THE DESCENDANTS. Hence if you want to experience a similar mesmerizing, emotional and beautiful life teaching tale in a thoughtful film, then do watch it at the earliest and get ready to accept the harsh truth of “A Purely Uncertain Life” we keep on living so confidently and carelessly.

Directed by Alexander Payne
Starring : George Clooney, Shailene Woodley, Amara Miller and more.