June 18

Movie 18

I found this movie while searching through Amazon Prime (technically it was on AMC +) for 2025 films that I missed. I had never heard of this movie, but the premise sounded intriguing so I put it on the June Swoon 5 playlist.

Descendent (which is a poor title in my opinion) was written and directed by Peter Cileila, starring Ross Marquand (Aaron from the Walking Dead, as well as a voice actor for the MCU) and Sarah Bolger.

According to IMDB, “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.“

I must warn you that this movie, though listed as sci-fi thriller, is really more of a character study and it does drag at times because of that. If you read that summary and thought the “mysterious lights” was going to accompany a lot of sci-fi moments, you would be incorrect. There are several sci-fi scenes, but it is not the core of the story.

That core is the psychological problems being dealt with by Sean (Ross Marquand) as his wife Andrea (Sarah Bolger) was having a baby. For me, these characters, especially Sean, were very intriguing and felt as if I wanted to know about them. Seeing how the sci-fi elements fit in the story was an extra treat.

Ross Marquand did a great job with the multiple issues facing Sean. He was confused and lost one moment and angry and off-balance the next. You wondered exactly what he might do during the whole film because of the traumas of his past.

I am not sure how I feel about the ending. The final shot made me wonder what was happening and disappointed that I would not find out.

This is a good film that makes a solid watch if you need something to do. I’m not sure it is worth searching out to see, but if you have AMC+ or can access it on Prime, it is worth it.