Movies Like The Descendants (2011)

The Descendants is a 2011 comedy, drama film from Alexander Payne with a MovieMagicScore of 6.8/10. Here are 20 similar films, ranked by real viewer ratings — starting with Mildred Pierce and The Big Bounce.

Comedy Drama

Mildred Pierce

1945

A hard-working mother inches towards disaster as she divorces her husband and starts a successful restaurant business to support her spoiled daughter.

7.6

MagicScore

The Big Bounce

2004

A small-time con artist and a Hawaiian real estate developer's mischievous, enterprising mistress team up for a potential $200,000 score.

4.9

MagicScore

All Nighter

2017

When a globe-trotting, workaholic father trying to visit his daughter on a last minute layover in Los Angeles discovers that she’s disappeared, he forces her awkward, nervous ex-boyfriend, still nursing a broken heart, to help him find her over the course of one increasingly crazy night.

5.7

MagicScore

Antares

2004

A deadly car crash sets off three parallel stories of women at crisis points, faltering behind the doors of the same, plain Vienna apartment block.

5.9

MagicScore

¡A volar, joven!

1947

Cantinflas is a private in the military, who doesn't know anything about discipline or following rules. He only wants to think about his girlfriend, the maid in an opulent hacienda. The owner of the hacienda has an ugly and shy daughter, who is in love with Cantinflas. The problems arrive when the family arranges a wedding between the ugly girl and Cantinflas, who in order to avoid the commitment gets himself arrested. During his punishment, Cantinflas learns to fly with a silly and poorly trained flight instructor.

8.0

MagicScore

Meet the Parents

2000

Greg Focker is ready to marry his girlfriend, Pam, but before he pops the question, he must win over her formidable father, humorless former CIA agent Jack Byrnes, at the wedding of Pam's sister. As Greg bends over backward to make a good impression, his visit to the Byrnes home turns into a hilarious series of disasters, and everything that can go wrong does, all under Jack's critical, hawklike gaze.

6.7

MagicScore

Father of the Bride

1991

George Banks is an ordinary, middle-class man whose 22 year-old daughter Annie has decided to marry a man from an upper-class family, but George can't think of what life would be like without his daughter. His wife tries to make him happy for Annie, but when the wedding takes place at their home and a foreign wedding planner takes over the ceremony, he becomes slightly insane.

6.5

MagicScore

Demolition

2016

An emotionally desperate investment banker finds hope through a woman he meets.

6.8

MagicScore

Angel

2007

Edwardian England. A precocious girl from a poor background with aspirations to being a novelist finds herself swept to fame and fortune when her tasteless romances hit the best seller lists. Her life changes in unexpected ways when she encounters an aristocratic brother and sister, both of whom have cultural ambitions, and both of whom fall in love with her.

5.5

MagicScore

#10

Adrift

2009

A 1980s-set drama about a teenage girl undergoing her sexual awakening when she learns about her father's infidelities.

5.9

MagicScore

#11

Yi Yi

2000

Each member of a Taipei family asks hard questions about life's meaning as they experience everyday quandaries. NJ is morose: his brother owes him money, his mother-in-law is in a coma, his wife suffers a spiritual crisis when she finds her life a blank and his business partners make bad decisions.

7.9

MagicScore

#12

Marriage Story

2019

A stage director and an actress struggle through a grueling, coast-to-coast divorce that pushes them to their personal extremes.

7.7

MagicScore

#13

The Celebration

1998

The family of a wealthy businessman gather to celebrate his 60th birthday. During the course of the party, his eldest son presents a speech that reveals a shocking secret.

7.7

MagicScore

#14

The Wild Child

1970

In 1798, a feral boy is discovered outside the town of Aveyron, France. Diagnosed as mentally impaired, he is relegated to an asylum. A young doctor named Jean Itard becomes convinced that the boy has normal mental capacity, but that his development was hindered by lack of contact with society. He brings the boy home and begins an arduous attempt at education over several years.

7.0

MagicScore

#15

Madea's Family Reunion

2006

Southern matriarch Madea has a lot on her plate. Her nieces, Vanessa and Lisa, have relationship troubles - Vanessa moves into Madea's house with her 2 young children and Lisa is engaged to a controlling man that her mother set her up with. In addition, Madea has just been court-ordered to become the guardian of Nikki, a rebellious runaway teenager. Madea must keep the peace and her family together while simultaneously planning her clan's reunion.

6.4

MagicScore

#16

Fool's Gold

2008

Treasure hunter Ben "Finn" Finnegan has sunk his marriage to Tess and his trusty boat in his obsessive quest to find the legendary Queen's Dowry. When he finds a vital clue that may finally pinpoint the treasure's whereabouts, he drags Tess and her boss, billionaire Nigel Honeycutt, along on the hunt. But Finn is not the only one interested in the gold; his former mentor-turned-enemy Moe Fitch, hired by rapper-turned-gangster Bigg Bunny, will stop at nothing to beat him to it.

5.8

MagicScore

#17

Who Pulled the Plug?

1981

To secure an order for 1 000 cruise ships from an Arab prince, two companies have to compete by racing each other by canal from Stockholm to Gothenburg. A small family owned company on the brink of bankruptcy is pitted against their major competitor and they both have to resort to dirty tricks in order to reach the goal line first. Plot by Mattias Thuresson.

5.6

MagicScore

#18

Bad Samaritan

2018

A thief makes a disturbing discovery in the house where he breaks in. Later, when he returns to the same house with his partner in crime, things are no longer how he expected.

6.7

MagicScore

#19

And So It Goes

2014

Nobody likes self-centered realtor Oren Little, and he prefers it that way. He's deliberately mean to anyone who crosses his path and wants nothing more than to sell one final house and retire. His life turns upside-down when his estranged son drops off a granddaughter he never knew existed. Suddenly left in charge of her and with no idea how to take care of a child, he pawns the girl off on his neighbor, Leah -- but he eventually learns how to open his heart.

6.0

MagicScore

#20

Deliver Us from Eva

2003

Eva Dandridge has been in charge of her younger sisters ever since their parents died many years ago. She is a very uptight young woman who constantly meddles in the affairs of her sisters and their significant others. Her brothers-in-law, who are tired of Eva interfering in their lives, decide to set her up with someone so she can leave them alone. They end up paying Ray, the local "playboy," $5,000 to date her. The plan goes by smoothly, but trouble comes when Ray actually falls in love with Eva.

6.4

MagicScore

Frequently asked

What are the best movies like The Descendants?

The top films similar to The Descendants by MovieMagicScore are Mildred Pierce (7.6), The Big Bounce (4.9), All Nighter (5.7). Each shares comedy/drama themes and is ranked by real viewer ratings, not critics or studios.

Is The Descendants worth watching?

The Descendants holds a MovieMagicScore of 6.8/10 from 2,927 viewer ratings.

What kind of movie is The Descendants?

The Descendants (2011) is a comedy, drama film directed by Alexander Payne, starring George Clooney, Shailene Woodley, Amara Miller.

Where can I find more recommendations like The Descendants?

Browse the full ranked list above, or explore more comedy recommendations on MovieMagicScore, where every list is ordered by genuine viewer ratings.

Keep exploring

Movies like Mildred Pierce Movies like The Big Bounce Movies like All Nighter Movies like Antares Movies like ¡A volar, joven!Movies like Meet the Parents

About movies like The Descendants

This ranked list pairs The Descendants (2011), a comedy and drama film from Alexander Payne, with similar titles by genre, theme and cast overlap (fans of George Clooney take note). Unlike critic-driven sites, every position here is ordered by MovieMagicScore — a rating built only from real viewers, with no studio marketing or paid placement. Scores update as more people rate, so the list stays current.

← Back to The Descendants