Movies like The Descendants
If you like "The Descendants" you are looking for touching, depressing and sad movies about / with infidelity, teenage daughter, bittersweet, dying mother, family drama, grief and father daughter relationship themes of Comedy and Drama genre shot in USA.
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1. Identify all themes of interest from this film (block below).
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The Descendants (2011)
259K
Genre: Comedy, Drama
Country: USA
Duration: 115 min.
Story:
With his wife Elizabeth on life support after a boating accident, Hawaiian land baron, Matt King takes his daughters on a trip from Oahu to Kauai to confront the young real estate broker, who was having an affair with Elizabeth before her misfortune.
Style:
touching, depressing, sad, sentimental, heartbreaking, suspense, talky, poignant, inspirational, humorous ...
Audience:
teens
Plot:
infidelity, teenage daughter, bittersweet, dying mother, family drama, grief, father daughter relationship, family relations, beach, dysfunctional family, cheating wife, death, greed, relationships, estate, parenthood, coping, adultery, marriage, narration, unfaithfulness, tragedy, character study, daughter, journey ...
Time:
year 2011, 2000s, 2010s, 21st century, contemporary
Place:
hawaii, usa, iran, california
Movie in categories
Most similar movies to The Descendants
The list contains related movies ordered by similarity. Recommendation engine sorted out dramatic, realistic, complex and touching films with plots about storytelling, dialogue, relationships, depression, mentor, honest and loneliness mostly in Drama, Comedy and Romance genres. Some movies like The Descendants: Sideways (2004), The Way Way Back (2013), Silver Linings Playbook (2012), Up in the Air (2009), Nobody's Fool (1994). The matching attributes are highlighted in bold.
216K
Genre: Comedy, Drama, Romance
Country: USA
Duration: 127 min.
Story:
Two middle-aged men embark on a spiritual journey through Californian wine country. One is an unpublished novelist suffering from depression, and the other is only days away from walking down the aisle.
Style:
road movie, sentimental, dark comedy, melancholic, romantic drama ...
Audience:
chick flick, date night
Plot:
road trip, wine, couples, vineyard, on the road, vacation, divorce, infidelity, food, affair, midlife crisis, wedding ...
Time:
2000s, year 2004, 21st century
Place:
california, san francisco, los angeles, bay area, usa ...
Similarity:
100%
Genre: Comedy, Drama
Country: USA
Duration: 103 min.
Story:
Over the course of his summer break, a teenager comes into his own thanks in part to the friendship he strikes up with one of the park's managers.
Style:
touching, teen, sexy, sweet, realistic ...
Audience:
teens, chick flick, kids, teen drama
Plot:
summer, teenager, coming of age, vacation, friendship, shyness, loneliness, teenage girl, youth, dysfunctional family, teenage boy, childhood ...
Time:
year 2013, 2010s, 21st century
Place:
boston, usa, california
Similarity:
88%
Genre: Comedy, Drama, Romance
Country: USA
Duration: 122 min.
Story:
After spending eight months in a mental institution, a former teacher moves back in with his parents and tries to reconcile with his ex-wife.
Style:
romantic, touching, romantic comedy, inspirational, sentimental ...
Audience:
chick flick, date night, girls' night, teens, adult
Plot:
mental illness, love, family drama, bipolar disorder, depression, adaptation, character study, social misfits, supportive parent, father son relationship, male female friendship, mental patient ...
Time:
2010s, year 2012, 21st century
Place:
philadelphia, peru, usa, pennsylvania, america ...
Similarity:
100%
359K
Genre: Comedy, Drama, Romance
Country: USA
Duration: 109 min.
Story:
George Clooney plays the dry cynical character of Ryan Bingham, an executive who specializes in "downsizing". Ryan lives out of his suitcase, traveling the country for the sole purpose terminating unwanted employees day after day. Just as ...
Style:
touching, sexy, romantic, rom com, romantic drama ...
Audience:
date night, chick flick, adult
Plot:
loneliness, on the road, travel, couples, hotel, business trip, airport, love affair, downsizing, business, love and romance, motivational speaker ...
Time:
year 2009, 2000s, 21st century
Place:
san francisco, dallas texas, las vegas, iran, usa ...
Similarity:
100%
Movie in collections
Genre: Comedy, Drama
Country: USA
Duration: 110 min.
Story:
Sully is a rascally ne'er-do-well approaching retirement age. While he is pressing a worker's compensation suit for a bad knee, he secretly works for his nemesis, Carl, and flirts with Carl's young wife Toby. Sully's long- ...
Style:
feel good, touching, humorous, atmospheric, talky ...
Plot:
small town, father son relationship, redemption, thanksgiving, justice, self discovery, family relations, parents and children, aging, elderly, retirement, generation gap ...
Time:
90s, year 1994
Place:
new york, new york state, usa, hawaii, new jersey
Similarity:
100%
Genre: Comedy, Drama
Country: USA
Duration: 101 min.
Story:
A family loaded with quirky, colorful characters piles into an old van and road trips to California for little Olive to compete in a beauty pageant.
Style:
road movie, feel good, melancholic, funny, sweet ...
Audience:
teens, chick flick, kids, girls' night, family friendly ...
Plot:
road trip, dysfunctional family, on the road, nothing goes right, loser, gay, honest, obsessive quest, escapades, coming of age, suicide attempt, journey ...
Time:
2000s, year 2006, 21st century
Place:
california, arizona, los angeles, nebraska, north america ...
Similarity:
83%
Genre: Comedy, Drama
Country: USA
Duration: 104 min.
Story:
The Rizzos, a family who doesn't share their habits, aspirations, and careers with one another, find their delicate web of lies disturbed by the arrival of a young ex-con brought home by Vince, the patriarch of the family, who is a corrections ...
Style:
feel good, sexy, emotional, independent film, witty ...
Plot:
dysfunctional family, teenage boy, audition, eccentric family, character study, warden, deception, family life, family problems, prison, nothing goes right, family relations ...
Time:
year 2009, 21st century
Place:
usa, bronx new york city, new york, manhattan new york city, new jersey
Similarity:
100%
128K
Genre: Drama
Country: USA
Duration: 115 min.
Story:
An aging, booze-addled father takes a trip from Montana to Nebraska with his estranged son in order to claim what he believes to be a million-dollar sweepstakes prize.
Style:
road movie, black and white, depressing, humorous, meditative ...
Plot:
road trip, small town, dysfunctional family, aging, elderly, confronting the past, on the road, relationships, old age, obsessive quest, character study, honest ...
Time:
year 2013, 2010s, 21st century
Place:
montana, nebraska, usa, california
Similarity:
100%
Movie in collections
Genre: Comedy, Drama, Romance
Country: USA
Duration: 97 min.
Story:
An acclaimed writer, his ex-wife, and their teenaged children come to terms with the complexities of love in all its forms over the course of one tumultuous year.
Style:
romantic comedy, touching, sad, heartbreaking, sweet ...
Audience:
date night, teens, girls' night, chick flick, teen drama
Plot:
coming of age, writer's life, teenage love, writers, relationships, casual sex, dating, family drama, youth, love story, love, marriage ...
Time:
21st century
Place:
peru, north carolina, usa
Similarity:
100%
Genre: Comedy, Drama
Country: USA
Duration: 103 min.
Story:
When their father passes away, four grown, world-weary siblings return to their childhood home and are requested -- with an admonition -- to stay there together for a week, along with their free-speaking mother and a collection of spouses, exes and ...
Style:
touching, humorous, emotional, independent film, melancholic ...
Audience:
chick flick, teens
Plot:
dysfunctional family, infidelity, family drama, family gatherings, childhood home, homecoming, children, family relations, loneliness, family home, brother sister relationship, extramarital affair ...
Time:
year 2014, 21st century
Place:
new england, usa
Similarity:
70%
Genre: Comedy, Drama
Country: USA, India
Duration: 114 min.
Story:
It tells the story of a struggling man who, after flying home to L.A. for the funeral of his estranged record-producer father, discovers that the will stipulates that he must deliver $150,000 in cash to a 30-year-old alcoholic sister he never knew ...
Style:
sentimental, touching, intense, semi serious, feel good ...
Audience:
chick flick, girls' night
Plot:
relationships, family secret, salesman, half brother half sister relationship, family bonds, inheritance, funeral, family relations, single mother, siblings relations, drinking problem, family life ...
Time:
year 2012, 21st century
Place:
usa, los angeles, california
Similarity:
100%
Genre: Drama
Country: USA, United Arab Emirates
Duration: 91 min.
Story:
Suffering from a severe case of depression, toy company CEO Walter Black (Mel Gibson) begins using a beaver hand puppet to help him open up to his family. With his father seemingly going insane, adolescent son Porter (Anton Yelchin) pushes for his ...
Style:
touching, depressing, emotional, sentimental, unusual plot structure ...
Plot:
depression, mental illness, happy ending, losing-it hero, midlife crisis, mental disorder, dysfunctional family, psychology, family drama, mental health, coping, cheerleader ...
Time:
2010s, year 2011, 21st century
Place:
usa, california, new jersey
Similarity:
100%
Genre: Comedy, Drama, Romance
Country: USA
Duration: 93 min.
Story:
A novelist's longstanding marriage is suddenly upended when she overhears her husband giving his honest reaction to her latest book.
Style:
satirical, thrilling, captivating, psychological, family comedy ...
Plot:
therapist, unhappy marriage, struggling actor, marriage, writers, aspiring writer, husband wife relationship, family relations, troubled marriage, satire, female writer, marriage crisis ...
Place:
new york
Similarity:
100%
Genre: Comedy, Drama
Country: USA
Duration: 81 min.
Story:
Based on the true childhood experiences of Noah Baumbach and his brother, The Squid and the Whale tells the touching story of two young boys dealing with their parents divorce in Brooklyn in the 1980's.
Style:
depressing, sincere, talky, dark comedy, absurd ...
Audience:
teens, teen drama, adult
Plot:
divorce, dysfunctional family, coming of age, father son relationship, infidelity, boy, adultery, marriage, drinking, cat, underage drinking, childhood ...
Time:
20th century, near future, year 2005, 80s, 2000s
Place:
new york, brooklyn new york city, usa, california
Similarity:
100%
Genre: Comedy, Drama
Country: USA, Japan
Duration: 102 min.
Story:
Two lost souls visiting Tokyo -- the young, neglected wife of a photographer and a washed-up movie star shooting a TV commercial -- find an odd solace and pensive freedom to be real in each other's company, away from their lives in America.
Style:
melancholic, atmospheric, cerebral, intellectual, sexy ...
Audience:
girls' night, date night, family friendly, chick flick
Plot:
loneliness, midlife crisis, older man younger woman relationship, age difference, friendship, character study, alienation, fish out of water, melancholy, unlikely couple, actor, hotel room ...
Time:
2000s, year 2003, 21st century
Place:
japan, tokyo, asia, yale university, america ...
Similarity:
100%
Genre: Comedy, Drama
Country: USA
Duration: 95 min.
Story:
Ted Morgan has been treading water for most of his life. After his wife leaves him, Ted realizes he has nothing left to live for. Summoning the courage for one last act, Ted decides to go home and face the people he feels are responsible for ...
Style:
emotional, inspirational, dark comedy, realistic, semi serious ...
Plot:
suicide attempt, gay, relationships, brutality, loneliness, midlife crisis, suicide, closeted homosexual, down syndrome, guilt, dark humor, family relations ...
Time:
year 2014, 21st century
Place:
usa, los angeles, massachusetts
Similarity:
100%
Genre: Comedy, Drama
Country: USA
Duration: 132 min.
Story:
Aurora and Emma are mother and daughter who march to different drummers. Beginning with Emma's marriage, Aurora shows how difficult and loving she can be. The movie covers several years of their lives as each finds different reasons to go on ...
Style:
sentimental, sad, heartbreaking, tear jerker, compassionate ...
Audience:
chick flick, girls' night
Plot:
cancer, love, dysfunctional family, friendship, death, adultery, husband wife relationship, single mother, mother daughter relationship, grief, hospital, death of daughter ...
Time:
1950s, 1940s, 20th century, year 1983, 70s ...
Place:
nebraska, houston texas, texas, new york, louisiana ...
Similarity:
67%
Genre: Comedy, Drama
Country: USA
Duration: 87 min.
Story:
In New York City, a husband and wife butt heads with the granddaughters of the elderly woman who lives in the apartment the couple owns.
Style:
sincere, melancholic, depressing, humorous, semi serious ...
Audience:
teens
Plot:
midlife crisis, family drama, complex characters, loneliness, infidelity, depression, human nature, parents and children, adultery, teenage life, sarcasm, cancer ...
Time:
year 2010, 21st century
Place:
new york, usa, manhattan new york city, california
Similarity:
100%
Movie in collections
Genre: Comedy, Drama
Country: USA
Duration: 98 min.
Story:
Friends, family, and lovers struggle to find love, forgiveness, and meaning in an almost war-torn world riddled with comedy and pathos. Follows Solondz's film Happiness (1998).
Style:
psychological, dark comedy, black comedy, independent film, talky ...
Plot:
dysfunctional family, pedophile, couple relations, father son relationship, family relations, sisters, character study, dark humor, family problems, parents and children, family life, haunted by the past ...
Time:
year 2009, 70s, 21st century
Place:
florida, new jersey, usa, miami, israel ...
Similarity:
100%
Genre: Adventure, Drama
Country: USA
Duration: 99 min.
Story:
Eight months after the death of his wife, Frank Goode looks forward to a reunion with his four adult children. When all of them cancel their visits at the last minute, Frank, against the advice of his doctor, sets out on a road trip to reconnect ...
Style:
touching, road movie, sentimental, melancholic, sad ...
Audience:
date night
Plot:
family drama, road trip, loss of spouse, holiday, family reunited, family relations, loneliness, father son relationship, widower, dysfunctional family, retirement, aging ...
Time:
year 2009, 21st century
Place:
usa, new york, las vegas, california, tokyo
Similarity:
100%
Genre: Drama
Country: USA
Duration: 127 min.
Story:
A career woman reassesses her parents' lives after she is forced to care for her cancer-stricken mother.
Style:
touching, emotional, melancholic, realistic, depressing ...
Audience:
girls' night
Plot:
terminal illness, cancer, dysfunctional family, mother daughter relationship, female protagonist, father daughter relationship, grief, relationships, homecoming, tragedy, family drama, argument ...
Time:
20th century, 90s
Place:
new york, usa, new jersey
Similarity:
100%
533K
Genre: Biography, Comedy, Drama, History
Country: USA
Duration: 130 min.
Story:
The men who made millions from a global economic meltdown.
Style:
intellectual, realistic, tense, inspirational, intelligent ...
Audience:
chick flick, family friendly, girls' night, date night, teen drama ...
Plot:
finance, wall street, business, stock market, financial crisis, money, greed, banking, economic crisis, bank, loan, analysis ...
Time:
year 2007, 2000s, year 2015, future, year 2016 ...
Place:
new york, manhattan new york city, las vegas, california
Similarity:
100%
Genre: Comedy, Drama
Country: USA
Duration: 119 min.
Story:
Follows the story of a group of high school teenagers and their parents as they attempt to navigate the many ways the internet has changed their relationships, their communication, their self-image, and their love lives.
Style:
sexy, realistic, stylized, bad ending, dramatic ...
Audience:
teens, teen drama
Plot:
teenage life, internet, youth, high school, teenage girl, coming of age, sex scene, teenager, infidelity, affair, depression, video game ...
Time:
year 2014, 21st century
Place:
usa
Similarity:
20%
Movie in collections
Genre: Comedy, Drama
Country: Germany, USA
Duration: 102 min.
Story:
A Chicago weather man, separated from his wife and children, debates whether professional and personal success are mutually exclusive.
Style:
sincere, depressing, sexy, emotional, dark comedy ...
Plot:
weatherman, midlife crisis, family drama, dysfunctional family, hopes, relationship vs career, family problems, father son relationship, solitude, character study, father, unfulfillment ...
Time:
year 2005, 21st century
Place:
chicago, usa, new york
Similarity:
19%
Genre: Comedy, Drama
Country: USA
Duration: 110 min.
Story:
Royal Tenenbaum and his wife Etheline had three children and then they separated. All three children are extraordinary --- all geniuses. Virtually all memory of the brilliance of the young Tenenbaums was subsequently erased by two decades of ...
Style:
witty, funny, dark comedy, sexy, humorous ...
Audience:
family friendly, date night
Plot:
dysfunctional family, eccentricity, dark humor, eccentric family, writers, sex, forbidden love, incest, dalmatian, satire, parents and children, uptight character ...
Time:
year 2001, 2000s, 21st century
Place:
usa, new york, seattle
Similarity:
19%
352K
Genre: Comedy, Drama, Romance
Country: USA
Duration: 100 min.
Story:
Inspired by a true story, a comedy centered on a 27-year-old guy who learns of his cancer diagnosis, and his subsequent struggle to beat the disease.
Style:
touching, inspirational, tragicomedy, independent film, sad ...
Audience:
chick flick, date night, teens
Plot:
cancer, friendship, terminal illness, happy ending, relationships, chemotherapy, meaning of life, doctor, hopes, buddies, patient, coming of age ...
Time:
year 2011, near future, 2010s, 21st century
Place:
seattle, usa, washington state, iran, washington d.c. ...
Similarity:
19%
Genre: Comedy, Drama
Country: USA
Duration: 105 min.
Story:
Greg is coasting through senior year of high school as anonymously as possible, avoiding social interactions like the plague while secretly making spirited, bizarre films with Earl, his only friend. But both his anonymity and friendship threaten to ...
Style:
touching, independent film, emotional, teen, black comedy ...
Audience:
teens, family friendly, date night, girls' night, teen drama
Plot:
high school, cancer, adolescence, friendship, terminal illness, teenager, coming of age, dying, leukemia, friends, teenage boy, illness ...
Time:
year 2015, 2010s, 21st century
Place:
pittsburgh, pennsylvania, usa
Similarity:
19%
97K
Genre: Comedy, Drama, Romance
Country: USA
Duration: 105 min.
Story:
A young man is rocked by two announcements from his elderly father: that he has terminal cancer, and that he has a young male lover.
Style:
touching, sincere, sentimental, sad, visually appealing ...
Audience:
date night
Plot:
gay, homosexuality, gay father, gay interest, grief, gay relationship, relationships, father son relationship, male male relationship, love, dog, self discovery ...
Time:
year 2011, 2010s, 2000s, year 1971, year 2003 ...
Place:
california, los angeles, usa, new york, seattle
Similarity:
18%
Genre: Comedy, Drama
Country: USA
Duration: 111 min.
Story:
Alternately tragic and comic, an exploration of the complexities of love in both its brightest and darkest corners. Adapted from John Irving's best-selling novel A Widow for One Year, the film is set in the privileged beach community of East ...
Style:
psychological, emotional, erotic, melancholic, touching ...
Audience:
adult
Plot:
older woman younger man relationship, infidelity, unfaithful wife, sex scene, writers, unfaithfulness, masturbation, female nudity, writer's life, dysfunctional family, older woman younger man sex, cheating wife ...
Time:
year 2004, 90s, 20th century
Place:
usa, new york
Similarity:
18%
6K
Genre: Comedy, Drama
Country: USA
Duration: 117 min.
Story:
A busy executive (Ted Danson) learns during a meeting that his mother may be dying and rushes home to her side. He ends up being his father's caretaker and becomes closer to him (Jack Lemmon) than ever before. Estranged from his own son (Ethan ...
Style:
sentimental, touching, inspirational, feel good, uplifting ...
Plot:
father son relationship, hospital, family bonds, aging, family drama, doctor, parents and children, hopes, family life, terminal illness, dysfunctional family, redemption ...
Time:
year 1989, 80s
Place:
los angeles, new jersey, san francisco, california
Similarity:
18%
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