10 Movies About Death That Will Change Your Life
5. The Descendants (2011)
Alexander Payne has always been a filmmaker with an uncanny ability to explore the subtle complexities and realistic problems of life, and his Oscar-winning drama The Descendants - about a man attempting to come to terms with his wife's imminent death and her deepest secrets - is one of his very best movies.
George Clooney stars as Matt King, an attorney with two daughters he's struggling to connect with whilst their mother, Elizabeth, lies comatose following a terrible boating accident. Realising he has to pull the plug on his beloved wife, Matt is blindsided by the news she was having an affair.
Forced to confront the fact that his wife was planning on leaving him, Matt must put his pride aside and confront the man she loved, whilst attempting to grow closer to his children.
With wit, charm and a half-dozen devastating performances guiding it forward, The Descendants makes the prospect of death feel impossibly real, assessing the complexities of how unspeakable tragedy can effect family dynamics and reshape our memories of a person we once knew. It doesn't get more bittersweet than this.