goes with will ultimately hinge on Matt King’s decision. This issue plays out against the backdrop of the family working through the tragedy of the boating accident. The Descendants is a great film because it is about some of the basic problems of human life which are universal in all parts of the world and time periods but play out uniquely in their own particular context of time and place: in this instance, that of contemporary Hawaii. A similar story could have taken place and probably has taken place in the rural midwestern United States, in England, or among an African tribe, or nearly any other part of the globe, whether in contemporary times or the distant past.

From L to R: Alexandra (Shailene Woodley), Matt (George Clooney), andthe couch. At first it is just Scottie. He walks over with a bowl of ice cream and sits down next to her and pulls the blanket over the two of them. They share the ice cream. Soon, the older daughter Alexandra appears in the background. She walks over with a bowl of ice cream and sits down right next to her father opposite her sister on the small couch. She doesn’t need to ask him if she can sit there. She just does. Of course he doesn’t mind. She is his daughter. The father takes turns sharing the two bowls of ice cream with his daughters as they watch the movie. No words are exchanged. They have each other now and despite the loss they have been