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The Descendants poster

Movies that feel likeThe Descendants (2011)

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 a young real estate broker, who was having an affair with Elizabeth before her misfortune.

If you loved The Descendants, the closest films we have are Election (1999), The Holdovers (2023) and Pieces of April (2003). All three share The Descendants' witty and playful feel, which is what we rank on before quality.

Seen the big three already? The under-the-radar pick below is Le Week-End (2013).

🍅 87% Rotten Tomatoes★ 7.3 IMDb ↗TMDB ↗dir. Alexander Paynewittyplayfulcontemplative
10 of 12 streaming nowAmazon Prime Video · Paramount Plus Premium · Peacock Premium

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See it on the Mood Map

If The Descendants hit the spot, these will too

Election poster
Election
1999 · dir. Alexander Payne
🍅 92%★ 7.2comedy · dramaParamount+

The same hand behind both of them: Alexander Payne

A high school teacher meets his match in an over-achieving student politician.

The Holdovers poster
The Holdovers
2023 · dir. Alexander Payne
🍅 97%★ 7.9drama · comedyPeacock

Both are Alexander Payne's work, and they rhyme

A curmudgeonly instructor at a New England prep school is forced to remain on campus during Christmas break to babysit the handful of students with nowhere to go. Eventually, he forms an unlikely bond with one of them — a damaged, brainy troublemaker — and with the school’s head cook, who has just lost a son in Vietnam.

Pieces of April poster
Pieces of April
2003 · dir. Peter Hedges
🍅 83%★ 7comedy · drama

Both are built on the same subject: dying mother

Quirky and rebellious April Burns lives with her boyfriend in a low-rent New York City apartment miles away from her emotionally distant family. But when she discovers that her mother has a fatal form of breast cancer, she invites the clan to her place for Thanksgiving. While her father struggles to drive her family into the city, April -- an inexperienced cook -- runs into kitchen trouble and must ask a neighbor for help.

The Trip poster
The Trip
2011 · dir. Michael Winterbottom
🍅 89%★ 7comedy · drama

Both land wit and play at once

When Steve Coogan is asked by The Observer to tour the country's finest restaurants, he envisions it as the perfect getaway with his beautiful girlfriend. But, when she backs out on him, he has no one to accompany him but his best friend and source of eternal aggravation, Rob Brydon.

Soul Kitchen poster
Soul Kitchen
2009 · dir. Fatih Akin
🍅 73%★ 7.2drama · comedy

Comedy with a pulse of stillness, in both cases

In Hamburg, German-Greek chef Zinos unknowingly disturbs the peace in his locals-only restaurant by hiring a more talented chef.

Instructions Not Included poster
Instructions Not Included
2013 · dir. Eugenio Derbez
🍅 63%★ 7.5comedy · drama

Both lean on wit more than on drama

Valentin is Acapulco's resident playboy, until a former fling leaves a baby on his doorstep and him heading with her out of Mexico.

Downsizing poster
Downsizing
2017 · dir. Alexander Payne
🍅 47%★ 5.8drama · science fiction · comedy

Playful comedy in both cases

The difference: The critics' underdog of the pair

A kindly occupational therapist undergoes a new procedure to be shrunken to four inches tall so that he and his wife can help save the planet and afford a nice lifestyle at the same time.

Taxi poster
Taxi
2015 · dir. Jafar Panahi
🍅 96%★ 7.3comedy · drama

Drama built on stillness, twice over

A yellow cab is driving through the vibrant and colourful streets of Tehran. Very diverse passengers enter the taxi, each candidly expressing their views while being interviewed by the driver who is no one else but the director Jafar Panahi himself. His camera placed on the dashboard of his mobile film studio captures the spirit of Iranian society through this comedic and dramatic drive…

Gloria poster
Gloria
2013 · dir. Sebastián Lelio
🍅 100%★ 6.9comedy · drama

Witty comedy, and it commits to that

Gloria is a 58-year-old divorcée. Her children have all left home but she has no desire to spend her days and nights alone. Determined to defy old age and loneliness, she rushes headlong into a whirl of singles’ parties on the hunt for instant gratification – which only leads to repeated disappointment and enduring emptiness. But when Gloria meets Rodolfo, an ex-naval officer seven years her senior, she begins to imagine the possibility of a permanent relationship.

Two Is a Family poster
Two Is a Family
2016 · dir. Hugo Gélin
🍅 43%★ 7.3drama · comedy

Playful drama in both cases

A man without attachments or responsibilities suddenly finds himself with an abandoned baby and leaves for London to try and find the mother. Eight years later after he and his daughter become inseparable Gloria's mother reappears.

Thank You for Smoking poster
Thank You for Smoking
2005 · dir. Jason Reitman
🍅 86%★ 7.5comedy · drama

A streak of stillness through both

Nick Naylor is a charismatic spin-doctor for Big Tobacco who'll fight to protect America's right to smoke -- even if it kills him -- while still remaining a role model for his 12-year old son. When he incurs the wrath of a senator bent on snuffing out cigarettes, Nick's powers of "filtering the truth" will be put to the test.

Le Week-End poster
Le Week-End
2013 · dir. Roger Michell
🍅 89%★ 6.4comedy · dramaPrime Video

The comedy is handled with the same confidence

Nick and Meg Burrows return to Paris, the city where they honeymooned, to celebrate their 30th wedding anniversary and rediscover some romance in their long-lived marriage. The film follows the couple as long-established tensions in their marriage break out in humorous and often painful ways.

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The best-reviewed films that share The Descendants’ defining feeling.