The Descendant (2016)
The 2016 dystopian adventure The Descendant was meant to be something of a palate cleanser for me — a side attraction between two genuinely interesting adventure games. I thought it would give me a chance to catch my breath and shake off the impact of the previous, more demanding title. The Descendant did not let me off that easily, however. Its story thrives on conflict and interpersonal tensions, and its scale is considerable: the survival of the entire human race is at stake. Nuclear war has completed the destruction begun by climate change, and only a few thousand people are saved by being deliberately placed into a century-long cryogenic sleep. The future world does not seem any better for it, though, as humans remain wolves to one another. The Descendant is an audiovisually polished and mechanically competent social mystery thriller that made me furrow my brow.