Very much in the vein of producers Justin Benson and Aaron Moorhead’s low-budget fare, filmmaker Peter Cilella’s feature debut, Descendent, adeptly mixes elements of sci-fi, psycho-drama, and subliminal horror. Just like the duo’s films, it’s a little trippy, deeply atmospheric, takes its time to get going, and when it finally reaches its confounding destination, it titillates as much as frustrates. One can argue it’s all build-up with no climax. In this case, the build-up may matter more than the climax: the subterranean depths of the human psyche that the writer-director plumbs are bound to resonate.
Sean (Ross Marquand) is a down-on-his-luck school guard in LA, harboring ambitions of becoming a wealthy, private security guard. His pregnant wife, Andrea (Sarah Bolger), is supportive and kind, despite Sean’s clear mental instability. “You need to get your groove back, Stella,” his brother suggests during a painful family reunion. One night, Sean sees a light in the sky, moving at an impossible speed. When he sees it again a few days later, Sean finds himself kidnapped, bound in rubbery alien nets, a part of some gruesome experiment, with his dead father by his side. Except when Sean wakes up, he’s in a hospital, and Andrea tells him he fell off a roof.
Sarah Bolger in Peter Cilella’s DESCENDENT.
“…Sean finds himself kidnapped, bound in rubbery alien nets, a part of some gruesome experiment…”
Our already-disturbed protagonist becomes even more haunted by horrific visions involving his wife giving birth; his hearing “has become enhanced”; his dead dog comes back to life; he’s become quite the gifted artist, producing sketch upon sketch of random faces and objects, and soon, images of a newborn alien. “I keep drawing and drawing, hoping it will lead me back to you somehow,” Sean tells Andrea. “I’m right here,” she replies. But her patience is wearing thin.
Cilella, who writes and directs, skillfully – and very gradually – raises the heat on this slow burner. There are few outright shocks and jolts, the focus here being on the psychological unraveling of a man. Cilella explores the fears of parenthood, fueled by one’s upbringing. The tale can also be interpreted as one of a self-absorbed man, so preoccupied with his demons, he ends up neglecting his adoring wife with preeclampsia. Either way, Descendent nails the anxieties of pregnancy and how it tests a relationship.
The two leads carry the film with gusto. Although the whole “is it in their head or is it real” trope has worn quite thin, Cilella manages to inject some genuine originality into the proceedings, and the cumulative effect is impressive, if not particularly staggering. Those seeking visceral thrills may be somewhat underwhelmed by Descendent, but the filmmaker firmly establishes himself as a descendant of the Benson/Moorhead cinematic lineage.
"…firmly establishes himself as a descendant of the Benson/Moorhead cinematic lineage."
