I thought I was watching the disney movie for like 20 minutes, so confused.

I've never heard of this - I've got no real expectations, but it doesn't exactly sound like a giggle. It tells the story of the Clotilda/Clotilde (the spelling seems uncertain), a slave ship organised for a bet by a white landowner after slavery had been abolished. This brought 110 Africans to Alabama - and was then burned and sunk leaving no evidence it ever existed, except for a load of people who'd been threatened with lynching if they ever spoke about it. But they told their children, and their children's children, and - well, you get the idea! And now their 6x great-grandchildren are telling us their stories. Unfortunately, because the ship was burned and sank, there's absolutely no physical evidence that any of this happened - so part of the film focusses on efforts to find the wreck, but when you look at a map of the Mobile river you can't help but feel their chances are somewhat limited (no spoilers as to whether they found it though!). And they also interview quite a few people that have no interest in finding it - as one lady puts it "how do I put this? I just don't care". But might she change her mind? The film also considers other elements of the history of the community - it makes an interesting point that a lot of the surrounding land is used for heavy industry which has resulted in various health issues - and the land is owned by the descendants of the landowner that originally brought the slaves over, so history (once again) shows its nasty habit of repeating itself. And then talk turns to reparations... What are reparations supposed to provide? Justice? Punishment? Closure? Whilst crimes can't be inherited by descendant, assets and hardship certainly can, so what value should be placed on them? If reparations are made, who do they go to? And given that the landowner's descendants have absolutely no interest in engaging in any dialogue, how could they even be possible? The film certainly poses some interesting questions although it probably won't surprise you hear that it doesn't answer them - that's probably asking a bit too much from a 109 minute Netflix documentary. The film does manage to end on a positive note though - various people have hope for the future, whatever it might hold. However, I also have to report that the interesting questions don't fill up a huge amount of those 109 minutes either - it's all very worthy, but unfortunately it's not exactly thrilling. It's most a lot of people just talking about stuff that means something to them but not a lot to anyone else or reading from a book. There's also a lot of repeated use of the same historical footage - it feels unfortunately like filler. I feel a bit mean being nasty about what it obviously an important film for a lot of people - I know it never hurts for me to be educated in this stuff, but I'm afraid that just didn't really do it for me. It's diverting in places with some nice countryside (balanced by some very ugly urban scenes), but it's no more than that, I'm afraid. If, after that glowing recommendation, you still fancy watching it then it's on Netflix but there's much more interesting stuff on there.

Captivating and intriguing. More uncovered history that tells the true story of America.

Documentary rich in history, but it is slow and tiring.

Reeeaalllly slow. It felt like it was 3hrs long, That's not to say it isn't interesting and deserving of your attention, or that it isn't informative… it is

This is the most powerful documentary I have seen in a long time. Excellent! A must-see.

Nice take on a subject that has yet to receive more attention.

I loved it. Valuable investment of time.

The only way to heal is to acknowledge and accept the atrocities. This documentary from Margaret Brown goes a long way into illustrating the long and winding history of a seemingly lost slave ship and what finding it would mean for the community that ship brought. It is a painful look into our last and completely necessary. Final Score: 9/10

What an excellent piece! This is not about victims, but instead reclaiming the historical narrative and taking POWER from the dominant group to improve a continue marginalized community. It is sad that some people do not understand how oppression or power is still being used today to support racism and bigotry, even among African Americans. A must watch.

Descendant serves as a fantastically compelling example of how history can be reclaimed -- and a stirring tribute to a resilient community.

No termina de convencer en muchos aspectos

A very powerful film that documents a community's successful search for validation of its history. A compelling commentary on the generational effects of slavery.

SOMEBODY TELL RT THAT THIS HAS BEEN AVAILABLE ON NETFLIX FOR 2 OR 3 DAYS NOW. NOT JUST IN THEATRES ANYMORE.

A beautiful and powerful film that does a phenomenal job of giving space to a community to tell its own, important, story. Highly recommend.