Finding ʻOhana is a 2021 American family adventure film[1] by Jude Weng in her directorial debut and written by Christina Strain, based on the 1985 feature film The Goonies by Richard Donner, Steven Spielberg, and Chris Columbus.[2] The film stars Kea Peahu, Alex Aiono, Lindsay Watson, Owen Vaccaro and Kelly Hu. It premiered on Netflix on January 29, 2021.[3]
Finding ʻOhana | |
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![]() Official release poster | |
Directed by | Jude Weng |
Written by | Christina Strain |
Produced by | Ian Bryce |
Starring |
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Cinematography | Cort Fey |
Edited by | Priscilla Nedd Friendly |
Music by | Joseph Trapanese |
Production company | Ian Bryce Productions |
Distributed by | Netflix |
Release date |
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Running time | 123 minutes[1] |
Country | United States |
Language | English |
New York–raised Hawaiian siblings Pili and Ioane "E" temporarily relocate from New York to Oahu with their mother Leilani to help her father, Kimo, whose health and financial issues are becoming serious. Pili is an avid geocaching fan, and her malaise at being separated from her beloved New York is assuaged by secretly liberating an old diary from her grandfather's art studio. Meanwhile, E is distracted from his own search for better Internet signal by the requisite pretty local girl, Hana, who has big dreams of her own. The siblings find themselves learning about their Hawaiian heritage as Pili goes on a Goonies-style quest for lost pirate treasure. Pili is aided on her quest by local boy Casper, a nerdy but resourceful boy with a big heart, and joined by E and Hana.
In September 2019, it was announced Netflix had picked up the rights to Jude Weng's feature film debut. Christina Strain would write, with the film being "a [The] Goonies-esque adventure movie starring mostly Datas".[2] Ian Bryce of Ian Bryce Productions would produce the film with Irene Yeung and JJ Hook executive producing and Katie Malott associate producing. Kea Peahu and Alex Aiono would star as the two main siblings with Marc Evan Jackson, Lindsay Watson, Owen Vaccaro, Kelly Hu, Ricky Garcia, Ryan Higa, Mapuana Makia, Brad Kalilimoku, X Mayo, and Kyndra Sanchez in the ensemble cast, as well as original The Goonies star Ke Huy Quan.[4][5]
Finding ʻOhana was shot in Brooklyn, Hawaii, Thailand, and in the Dominican Republic.[2]
On review aggregator Rotten Tomatoes, the film holds an approval rating of 85% based on 20 critic reviews, with an average rating of 7.2/10.[6] According to Metacritic, which sampled seven critics and calculated a weighted average score of 69 out of 100, the film received "generally favorable reviews".[7]
“Goonies holds such a special place in my heart. As a 90s Asian American kid, I didn’t have a lot of Asian American representation to look up to, but I had Ke Huy Quan who played Data. I wrote a Goonies-esque adventure movie starring mostly Datas. And now it’s a real movie my kids can watch, with Asian American and Pacific Islander heroes other AAPI kids can look up to. I’m always going to be grateful to Netflix for that.” —Finding ʻOhana screenwriter Christina Strain
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