Get Ready for a Hawaiian Adventure with “Finding Ohana” Trailer

It's been so long since there's been a live-action family adventure film that Kelly Hu is now playing the parents of teenagers. But Netflix is here to play on your nostalgia with Finding Ohana.

Newcomer Kea Peahu plays Pili, a 12-year-old not looking forward to spending the summer in O'ahu with her grandfather (Branscombe Richmond) and older brother Ioane (Alex Aiono). That's one of those things only a kid wouldn't appreciate. But that changes when she finds a treasure map and makes a new friend named Casper (Owen Vaccaro). And of course, the gold that's supposedly at the end is the exact amount needed to save her grandfather from eviction. Teaming up with Casper, Ioane and Ioane's crush Hana (Lindsay Watson), their Goonies-esque adventure begins.

Whether the film is hokey family fun or legit entertaining, this is an example of Netflix using their money well. Filming on location and utilizing a cast of Asian-Americans and Pacific Islanders, this could be one of the most widely viewed films with a predominantly Asian cast.

Finding Ohana is streaming exclusively on Netflix.

About Kip Mooney

Like many film critics born during and after the 1980s, my hero is Roger Ebert. The man was already the best critic in the nation when he won the Pulitzer in 1975, but his indomitable spirit during and after his recent battle with cancer keeps me coming back to read not only his reviews but his insightful commentary on the everyday. But enough about a guy you know a lot about. I knew I was going to be a film critic—some would say a snob—in middle school, when I had to voraciously defend my position that The Royal Tenenbaums was only a million times better than Adam Sandler’s remake of Mr. Deeds. From then on, I would seek out Wes Anderson’s films and avoid Sandler’s like the plague. Still, I like to think of myself as a populist, and I’ll be just as likely to see the next superhero movie as the next Sundance sensation. The thing I most deplore in a movie is laziness. I’d much rather see movies with big ambitions try and fail than movies with no ambitions succeed at simply existing. I’m also a big advocate of fun-bad movies like The Room and most of Nicolas Cage’s work. In the past, I’ve written for The Dallas Morning News and the North Texas Daily, which I edited for a semester. I also contributed to Dallas-based Pegasus News, which in the circle of life, is now part of The Dallas Morning News, where I got my big break in 2007. Eventually, I’d love to write and talk about film full-time, but until that’s a viable career option, I work as an auditor for Wells Fargo. I hope to one day meet my hero, go to the Toronto International Film Festival, and compete on Jeopardy. Until then, I’m excited to share my love of film with you.