Descendent, 2025.
Written and Directed by Peter Cilella
Starring Ross Marquand, Sarah Bolger, Susan Wilder, Charlene Amoia, Dan O’Brien, Brandon Scott, Alexandra Barreto, Alex Ruiz, Clare Cooney, Aisha Camille Kabia, Martin Garcia, Peter Cilella, and Emily Pendergast.
SYNOPSIS:
A troubled LA school guard, haunted by family tragedy, experiences strange visions after a mysterious light appears in the sky. As his wife’s due date approaches, he races to face his demons before his growing obsession consumes him.
Although there is an alien abduction roughly 20 minutes into writer/director Peter Cirella’s Descendent (which has modern sci-fi greats Justin Benson and Aaron Moorhead attached as producers, not to mention one of that duo’s frequent collaborators Ross Marquand in the lead role), this is less about the horror surrounding that, as it’s leveraged into a metaphor for inescapable nerves surrounding the reality of becoming a father in mere weeks. This also means that once a viewer clocks that metaphor, the movie doesn’t necessarily have anywhere to go.
It certainly doesn’t end on a satisfactory note, haphazardly resolving things as conveniently and lazily as possible, illuminating that it has finally run out of ideas for sparking unrest within its central character. Admittedly, it does offer some emotionally compelling closure for one key aspect of that character’s life, but it is jarring that for all the clichéd hallucinations, nightmare sequences, and trickery around what is real and what isn’t, the movie ends when it feels like it should be building to something more profound. That’s also not to say Descendent should culminate in a barrage of sci-fi action or take its horror element to the extreme, but that this is a light character study amidst a paranoid freak out that, sometimes, is engaging and relatable, yet for the most part is toying with its audience in not especially interesting ways.
Sean (Ross Marquand) is on the verge of becoming a father. He is instilled with traditional ideas of manhood and fatherhood, as evidenced by his workaholic mode as a school guard, which (through a guy who knows a guy) could lead to a similar job for a tech billionaire. Naturally, his very pregnant wife, Andrea (Sarah Bolger), appreciates the gesture, but reminds him that she likes working. A troubled childhood for Sean comes to light, which could explain some of that unhealthy motivation to be a provider at all costs, even if it means forgetting what year it is and what modern gender roles are like.
Orphaned and raised within his best friend Christian’s (Dan O’Brien) family, they are generally good people who either have offensive advice or look down on him while doubting his ability to be a father. Alone together at a party, Christian disrespectfully offers an abortion specialist. The longer the film goes on, he becomes a bad influence, quick to indulge in Sean’s most intense fears, such as the need to own a firearm to protect his family. Unsurprisingly, Sean is so far trapped inside his head (the film is essentially nothing more than an extended metaphor for the anxieties that arise as he approaches fatherhood) that he starts neglecting Andrea, who is going through some pains that could lead to an early pregnancy. He is absent, mentally lost, and it begins to settle in how long this relationship will last.
The result of some of this relentless paranoia comes from an alien abduction that leaves Sean awakening with no memories of what happened, but visions of being contained somewhere else, lying across from his problematic father. He also suddenly develops a talent for drawing the typical requisite creepy sketches found in supernatural movies like this, with a therapist encouraging him that it’s normal to unlock hidden skills following possible brain damage and to keep doing so, as it will bring his mind home.
Throughout this, the mental state of Sean becomes increasingly alarming as Andrea (it also bears mentioning that the performances are quite serviceable at tapping into the respective anxieties of their characters, despite the narrative letting them down) and the baby appear to be in danger from association, with Descendent offering up several possible answers. However, it’s mostly an abundance of misdirection that, while not scary, also lends more credibility to the belief that, beyond a solid promise and metaphor, Peter Cilella is stuck figuring out where to take the material.
Flickering Myth Rating – Film: ★ ★ / Movie: ★ ★ ★
Robert Kojder
