It would be easy to dismiss Finding ‘Ohana as a Goonies clone. I would respond with this: is that a bad thing? Remixing one of the great kids adventure films? And at the same time, giving us a cultural history lesson of Hawaiian citizens? What you have there is a resume for a delightful family film in the way that Dora and the Lost City of Gold pulled off a couple years ago! Bueno! I mean, Maika’i loa!
Like all great Hawaiian stories, Finding ‘Ohana starts on the streets of New York City. Tweener Pili (Kea Peahu) is in the process of winning a scavenger hunt and ready to enjoy a summer of fun in the Big Apple. Her mom Leilani (Kelly Hu) however has some bad news for Pili and “E” (Alex Aiono), her big brother: the family is spending the summer in Hawaii while Leilani deals with financial troubles of her father (Branscombe Richmond). Bored from a lack of wireless signal on the island, Pili finds a notebook from Monks, a famous explorer who supposedly left behind a giant treasure somewhere on the island. Desperate to help her family, Pili enlists the help of Casper (Owen Vaccaro) a local whiz kid, to help find the treasure, with E and Hana (Lindsay Watson), the girl he likes, in hot pursuit.
One of the hardest jobs of of a director/writer is finding a way to create a world people are unfamiliar with. Jude Weng (director) and Christina Swain (writer) make some clever choices to make it easy for the audience to acclimate themselves. On the writing side, making the kids New Yorkers is brilliant: it makes Pili and E fish out of water of their own culture, when they jarringly go from city living to the island tropics. They are learning about their history like the audience is. From the directing side, Weng convinced the producers to film on location. That’s an expensive choice, but a necessary one. The Hawaiian islands look majestic and filled with secrets, plus the cave locations they use (mostly Thailand) deliver moments of wonder as well. The locations make it easy for the audience, like Pili and E, to take in the deep wonder and awe inside each piece of the island, and especially filter the ancient stories through the eyes of the kids on the adventure.
Because the creative team hooks us so well with its cultural immersion, the last step is to create a super fun adventure story. You know, the “easy” part. With most of the money going toward onsite filming, some of the set design gets sacrificed from time to time, making Finding ‘Ohana feel a tad like a Disney Channel Original. But we quickly get past that, because of the fun dynamics between the kids. Pili and E are the emotional and comedic drivers, with E’s narcissism and Pili’s New York personality clashing exponentially due to their sibling relationship. Hana and Casper are their perfect foils; Hana’s confidence and good heart check’s E from becoming too cruel and Casper is the group’s glue guy with his knowledge, gadgets, and all around likable disposition. The group pairs off from time to time as well which also gives some fun character dynamics, particularly the Hana/E pairing. It’s not deep introspective character development, but the screenplay does enough to keep the story light and fun, with just a shade of emotion as well. The story is light on mind blowing plot twists, but it gets just creative enough that I think most families will love it.
Netflix probably saw a decline in Hawaiian subscriptions in an area where families live. Ergo, their algorithm spit out Finding ‘Ohana as a way to entice more subscribers I’m guessin. Even if you’re not a Hawaiian family, there’s way more good than bad here, and the adventures of Pili and E would make for a lovely family movie night. Who knows parents? Maybe you can “talk” your kids into a Hawaiian vacation after watching the movie!