JustWatch

Descendant

2022 Directed by Margaret Brown

The past is always present.

History exists beyond what is written. The Africatown residents in Mobile, Alabama, have shared stories about their origins for generations. Their community was founded by enslaved ancestors who were transported in 1860 aboard the last known and illegal slave ship, Clotilda. Though the ship was intentionally destroyed upon arrival, its memory and legacy weren’t. Now, the long-awaited discovery of the Clotilda’s remains offers this community a tangible link to their ancestors and validation of a history so many tried to bury.

Kamau Sadiki Emmett Lewis Vernetta Henson Veda Tunstall Joycelyn Davis Willomina Davis Mae Jones Lorna Woods Karlos Finley Kern Jackson Cleon Jones Joe Womack Vivian Figures Frederik Hiebert Jim Delgado Ramsey Sprague Darron Patterson Bobby Dennison Patricia Frazier Pastor Chris Williams Garry Lumbers Gary Autrey Ben Raines Joe Turner Sheila Flanagan Nick Tabor Lisa Jones Theodore Arthur Ralphema Lumbers Show All…

Alternative Titles

ทายาทเรือทาส, Los Descendientes, Descendant: les héritiers d'Africatown, O Último Navio Negreiro, Descendant : Les héritiers d'Africatown, Нащадки останнього рабовласницького корабля, 마지막 노예선, 그리고 후손들, 后裔：最后的贩奴船, Az utolsó rabszolgahajó, Descendientes, Son Köle Gemisinin İzinde, Descendant: l'ultima nave schiavista, Clotildin potomek, הספינה האחרונה, クロティルダの子孫たち－最後の奴隷船を探して -, 後裔：最後的奴隸船, Clotilda: Posljednji brod s robovima, Descendant: Το Τελευταίο Πλοίο Σκλάβων

Genres

Documentary History

Premiere

22 Jan 2022

USA Sundance Film Festival (Virtual)

30 Apr 2022

USA Independent Film Festival of Boston

01 Oct 2022

USA New York Film Festival

Theatrical limited

21 Oct 2022

USAPG

Digital

21 Oct 2022

Brazil
France10
GreeceK
UKPG
USAPG

Brazil

21 Oct 2022

Digital Netflix

France

21 Oct 2022

Digital10 Netflix

Greece

21 Oct 2022

DigitalK Netflix

UK

21 Oct 2022

DigitalPG Netflix

USA

22 Jan 2022

Premiere Sundance Film Festival (Virtual)

30 Apr 2022

Premiere Independent Film Festival of Boston

01 Oct 2022

Premiere New York Film Festival

21 Oct 2022

Theatrical limitedPG

21 Oct 2022

DigitalPG Netflix

111 mins More at IMDb TMDb Report this page

Popular reviews

Review by Matt Singer ★★★★

Documentary filmmaking is a mixture of observation and interrogation, and Margaret Brown is good at both. She asks the right questions of the right people, and she weaves all their answers together into this broad survey of this community grappling with the lingering effects of awful crime. And she also knows when to simply put a camera on someone and watch things unfold.
Review by Joshua Dysart ★★★★½ 7

At one point in this film a descendent of America’s last slave ship captain, talking to the descendants of America’s last slaves who were transported on that ship, casually tosses off that his ancestor was probably pretty good to the human beings he trafficked in, and so that was cool, right? His reasoning is quickly rebuked with an intelligent but not unemotional response. It’s all so revealing of the barrier between the white narrative of the crime against humanity that was the slave trade and the deep heart-felt horror of it that the descendants live with (as well as all the fiscal and political oppressions born of America's original sin that continue to this day). It is a conversational moment.…
Review by Robert Daniels ★★★★½

How best should we remember the dead? The critical African American history retold in Margaret Brown’s imperative film, “Descendant,” an unblinking investigation combining local stories with “Erin Brockovich” flair, seeks to answer that question. Because for the many Black folks living in Africatown, Alabama, where the last slave ship made landfall, remembering is what they do best.
See, in 1860, long after the Act Prohibiting Importation of Slaves was signed in 1808, two wealthy white men from Mobile, Alabama made a bet. Despite the law, they believe they could sail to Africa, capture Africans, and bring them back as slaves without anyone finding out. Within months they returned with 100 captive Black people. The two men burned and sank the…
Review by Matt Neglia ★★★★

DESCENDANT wisely avoids the investigative discovery of the Clotilda, the last known illegal slave ship, and instead places its focus on the Africantown residents of Mobile, Alabama who are descendants from the ship hoping to reclaim their heritage & history. A powerful exploration of seeking economic, environmental & social justice many generations later.
Sundance #28
Review by One Less Helper

My first time experiencing a film at the Sundance film festival in my life and I picked a good one to start that journey with.
This is a very insightful and compelling documentary about looking on the harsh reality of what’s going on in the world and how it affects the Africatown community a voice in this time of need. Some truly rough yet powerful stuff.
Definitely give it a watch when it comes out to the public.
Review by joshrowley ★★★

Conventional; educational; important; interesting; optimistic; sad; thoughtful.
Review by 😿Andrew Chrzanowski😿 ★★★★ 6

☆"I don't need the proof. I live the proof."☆
Hopefully an Oscar nominee when the time comes, it's terrific to see a documentary like Descendant on Netflix, as despite the glut of murder shows and true crime trash on the streamer you can count on a handful of really special non-fiction films here every year. Margaret Brown's Sundance doc may earn Netflix some more Awards Season accolades much like 2021's Procession and 2020's Dick Johnson is Dead, and while this picture may not have blown me away like those I sure hope it continues to find a larger audience.
Brown brings us the incredible story of the Clotilda, what's believed to be the last known and illegal vessel that carried…
Review by Paul Elliott ★★★★

To the best available knowledge, Clotilda is the name of a slaving vessel that was the last to transport enslaved people from Africa to the United States. The ship reached Alabama in 1860 with 110 men, women and children from West Africa, without regard to the monstrous practice having been outlawed in the country more than 50 years before its arrival. Directed by Margaret Brown, the documentary commences in 2018 and informs us that Clotilda is buried someplace off the coast of Mobile, Alabama. One year later, Clotilda's remains were uncovered, and from here, the documentary follows the descendants of the enslaved Africans attempting to heal through its salvaged pieces. The movie contemplates them with empathy and compassion, with Brown…
Review by dresan19 ★★★★

History as a nightmare. The polluting factories and the highway that destroyed the Downtown area of Africatown are just other facts that help validate what the descendants are saying. Historians use oral histories as part of their research - this is a common practice. A lot of people don't want you to see this documentary. They are afraid of how it will make them look. They are afraid that it will explain someone's situation. This is one of the reasons I watched the documentary. It explains so much about the Bible Belt south. If you care about American history at all, you will find this documentary rewarding. Watch it and decide for yourself.
Class of 22
Review by Josh Larsen ★★★½

Like 2021’s Summer of Soul, Descendant is an act of documentary journalism aimed at keeping African-American history alive. Both are crucial for a time when there are efforts to literally whitewash such stories. Whereas Summer of Soul was largely a celebration, Descendant is more of a reckoning, as it chronicles the discovery of the Clotilda, the last slave ship to carry enslaved Africans to the United States (specifically, coastal Alabama). Interviews with descendants of those who survived the journey offer harrowing testimonies that have been passed down orally through generations. Director Margaret Brown balances these with pastoral landscape shots of the area, relieving some of the horror. At its best, the documentary traces the tentacles of the Clotilda to the…
Review by Jack Moulton ★★★★

A little rough around the edges craft-wise but such an important topic and a brilliantly nuanced way to tell it in a way that's deeply connected to the community.
Review by Sergio Muñoz Esquer ★★★½

Sundance 2022
El retrato de una comunidad en busca de su propia historia. La película hace gran trabajo tocando temas como la importancia de nuestra historia y su interpretación, al igual que el pago por los crímenes del pasado. Al inicio batallé para engancharme y la edición tiende a ser un poco torpe. Sin embargo, el documental nunca deja de hacer el trabajo de un documental: hacer preguntas de nuestro presente.

Aquí mi opinión de la película👌🏼

Where to watch

Descendant

Synopsis

The past is always present.

Cast

Director Director

Producers Producers

Writers Writers

Editors Editors

Executive Producer Exec. Producer

Studios

Country

Primary Language

Spoken Languages

Alternative Titles

Genres

Premiere

22 Jan 2022

30 Apr 2022

01 Oct 2022

Theatrical limited

21 Oct 2022

Digital

21 Oct 2022

Brazil

21 Oct 2022

France

21 Oct 2022

Greece

21 Oct 2022

UK

21 Oct 2022

USA

22 Jan 2022

30 Apr 2022

01 Oct 2022

21 Oct 2022

21 Oct 2022

Popular reviews

Mentioned by

Director

Producers

Writers

Editors

Executive Producer