Is this a real alien invasion movie?

It plays it very close to the vest. The movie is more interested in the character's internal state following his brain injury than it is in showing little green men. If you want Independence Day, look elsewhere.

Why is the audience score so much lower than the critic score?

Critics often reward 'vibes,' cinematography, and metaphor. Audiences usually want a satisfying plot and pacing. Descendent seems to have traded the latter for the former, leading to a lot of frustrated viewers.

Are there jump scares?

Yes. The 'terrifying visions' mentioned in the synopsis aren't just background noise—they are designed to startle and unsettle the viewer throughout the film.

Is the brain injury depiction realistic?

It's stylized for a thriller. While it captures the confusion and personality shifts that can follow a TBI, it quickly veers into supernatural or psychological horror territory that isn't meant to be a medical documentary.

Descendent – WISE Score & Parent Review | Screenwise

Descendent

Name: Screenwise
Author: Screenwise

movie2025

48%

WISE Score

Avg. Tomatometer

A father-to-be suffers a brain injury and starts seeing aliens—or maybe he's just losing it. Critics liked the art house vibes; audiences found it a total slog.

88%

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Descendent

movie

15, 2025

48%

WISE Score

Avg. Tomatometer

A father-to-be suffers a brain injury and starts seeing aliens—or maybe he's just losing it. Critics liked the art house vibes; audiences found it a total slog.

88%

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Screenwise Verdict

Look, the critics and the audience are in a fistfight over this one. With an 88% critic score and a 44% audience score, Descendent is the definition of 'artsy but divisive.' It’s a psychological thriller that uses a traumatic brain injury as a springboard into alien-obsessed paranoia.

If you love a movie that makes you question what's real and doesn't mind a slow, brooding pace, it might be worth a stream on Hulu. But if you’re looking for a tight sci-fi thriller with a clear payoff, the low IMDb score suggests you'll probably end up checking your phone halfway through.

Age Fit

This is strictly for the 15+ crowd. Between the heavy themes of mental instability and the terrifying sci-fi imagery, younger teens will likely be either bored or genuinely rattled.

WISE Breakdown

Wholesome

This is a psychological thriller centered on trauma, paranoia, and a father-to-be losing his grip on reality. It's not aiming for wholesome; it's aiming for unsettling.

Imaginative

The 'visions translated into art' trope provides a strong visual hook and allows for some creative, eerie imagery, even if the plot feels familiar.

Safe

Between the traumatic brain injury and 'terrifying visions,' expect a high level of intensity. Common Sense Media tags this at 15+, so it's definitely not for the younger crowd.

Enriching

It touches on the weight of impending fatherhood and mental health, but the abysmal audience scores (44% RT, 4.8 IMDb) suggest the execution is more frustrating than thought-provoking.

Parent Info

✓

Why It Might Be Great

Visual style that leans into the protagonist's obsessive drawings, creating a unique, eerie atmosphere.
Psychological depth for fans of movies that play with 'unreliable narrators' and the fine line between premonition and mental break.
Impending fatherhood adds a layer of real-world anxiety that grounds the sci-fi elements in something human.

⚠

What to Watch For

The 4.8 IMDb rating is a massive red flag. This is likely a 'slow burn' that many viewers found boring or confusingly edited.
Intense psychological distress and graphic depictions of a brain injury recovery that could be triggering for some.
The alien visions are described as 'terrifying,' so expect jump scares or body-horror-adjacent imagery.

Conversation Starters

"Do you think the 'threat' was real, or was it all in his head?"
"Why do you think critics gave this a high score while regular viewers hated it?"
"How does the fear of becoming a parent change how the main character sees the world?"
"If you suddenly had a talent for drawing your dreams, would you trust what you were seeing?"

Deep Dive

The Critic vs. Audience Divide

Every once in a while, a movie comes along that creates a total schism between people who watch movies for a living and people who watch them for fun. Descendent is 2025's poster child for that gap. Critics are praising the 'haunting atmosphere' and the 'subversive take on the invasion genre,' while the average viewer is complaining that it's a confusing mess with a 4.8 rating on IMDb.

Mental Health or Sci-Fi?

The movie centers on a father-to-be whose life is upended by a traumatic brain injury (TBI). This isn't just a plot device; the film spends a lot of time in the messy, terrifying headspace of someone whose brain is literally rewiring itself. The 'extraterrestrial visions' are filtered through his newfound obsession with drawing, which makes for some great visual storytelling, but it also makes the protagonist incredibly unreliable.

For a parent, the 'protection' angle is the most interesting part. The character becomes obsessed with shielding his family from a threat no one else can see. It's a heavy-handed but effective metaphor for the anxiety of new parenthood, but the movie might lean too hard into the 'horror' of the visions to make that point stick for everyone. If you're looking for something like Take Shelter, this is in that ballpark, just with a lower batting average according to the public.

What Parents Ask

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