The Descendants

The Descendants (2011) is Alexander Payne's bittersweet drama, available to watch online on iFILM. Hawaiian land baron Matt King (George Clooney) gets two blows at once: his wife lies in a coma after a boating crash, and he learns she had been cheating on him.

Matt was always the back-up parent. Now he is alone with two daughters — combustible seventeen-year-old Alex (Shailene Woodley) and little Scottie. The three set off from Oahu to Kauai to track down the man Elizabeth was seeing. At the same time, Matt holds the deciding vote on a vast stretch of unspoiled family land his clan has owned for generations and is about to sell off.

Payne adapted Kaui Hart Hemmings' novel, and the screenplay won an Academy Award. Hawaii here is no postcard; it's where people argue, grieve and bury their dead. Clooney plays the confusion quietly, with no big speeches. Stream The Descendants (2011) online on iFILM.