Paternal anxiety and unresolved childhood trauma metastasise as horrific visions after the possible alien abduction of expectant father Sean (Ross Marquand) who also appears to have suffered a serious brain injury in a fall that coincidentally may or may not have actually been part of the abduction.
This is a great example of a film that takes a well-worn trope and runs with it, posing questions about mental health, grief and parenthood. Did the fall actually happen? Are aliens to blame for the terrifying visions?
The less you know about Descendent, the better. It’s a sci-fi indie gem that does a lot with very little. Sarah Bolger as pregnant Andrea plays he part wonderfully - she has her own anxieties to concern herself with; the wellbeing of her baby, her own health and then the added stress of Sean’s downward spiral.
Marquand, meanwhile, embodies the terror of a father worried about how he’ll protect his own wife and child having grown up with a dad who struggled under the weight of his own grief until it all became too much and he took his own life.
Will he travel down a similar path? Can he find a semblance of closure that won’t impact his imminent arrival? And just what did he see on that fateful night of the accident?
While the ending isn’t particularly satisfying - it feels like a tacked on finale concocted desperately in an effort to cement the ambiguity of everything that comes before it, it’s a sterling effort for the most part, with Bolger and Marquand the glue holding it all together.
It’s kitchen sink drama masquerading as an alien abduction film that doesn’t want to commit to either,
Paternal anxiety and unresolved childhood trauma metastasise as horrific visions after the possible alien abduction of expectant father Sean (Ross Marquand) who also appears to have suffered a serious brain injury in a fall that coincidentally may or may not have actually been part of the abduction.
This is a great example of a film that takes a well-worn trope and runs with it, posing questions about mental health, grief and parenthood. Did the fall actually happen? Are aliens to blame for the terrifying visions?
The less you know about Descendent, the better. It’s a sci-fi indie gem that does a lot with very little. Sarah Bolger as pregnant Andrea plays he part wonderfully - she has her own anxieties to concern herself with; the wellbeing of her baby, her own health and then the added stress of Sean’s downward spiral.
Marquand, meanwhile, embodies the terror of a father worried about how he’ll protect his own wife and child having grown up with a dad who struggled under the weight of his own grief until it all became too much and he took his own life.
Will he travel down a similar path? Can he find a semblance of closure that won’t impact his imminent arrival? And just what did he see on that fateful night of the accident?
While the ending isn’t particularly satisfying - it feels like a tacked on finale concocted desperately in an effort to cement the ambiguity of everything that comes before it, it’s a sterling effort for the most part, with Bolger and Marquand the glue holding it all together.
It’s kitchen sink drama masquerading as an alien abduction film that doesn’t want to commit to either,
