Descendent now – Ross Marquand’s overlooked sci-fi thriller Descendent is now on Hulu, after premiering at South by Southwest on March 10, 2025 and landing on digital platforms on August 15, 2025. The alien-abduction story, co-starring Sarah Bolger and others, follows Marquand
By the time Ross Marquand sees what’s out there, it’s already too late to pretend his life is just fine.
Descendent — the 2025 sci-fi thriller written and directed by Peter Cilella — has officially arrived on Hulu on May 26, 2026. The streaming move puts Marquand. best known for his work on AMC’s The Walking Dead. in the center of a new kind of suspense: one that begins with a cracked moment of routine and turns into something far more unsettling.
Marquand stars in Descendent as Sean Bruner, a school security guard in Los Angeles. Sean is under pressure long before anything supernatural happens. juggling stress and personal trauma as he and his wife. Andrea (played by Sarah Bolger). prepare for the birth of their first child. Then one night, while climbing onto the roof to fix a light bulb, Sean spots something in the sky. He falls off the roof, and when he recovers, the mystery doesn’t end with the injury. The film follows him as visions of a spacecraft creep in alongside an unexplained artistic ability. pushing him to ask a terrifying question: what really happened to him?.
The stakes tighten even further with a baby on the way. Sean’s growing obsession turns into a race against time — and against his own demons.
For Marquand. it’s another project that shows how wide his range can go beyond Alexandria’s recruiter Aaron on The Walking Dead. The post-apocalyptic series ran for 11 seasons from October 31. 2010. to November 20. 2022. with Andrew Lincoln leading as Rick Grimes for its first nine seasons. Aaron. portrayed by Marquand. first appears in Season 5 and later becomes one of the franchise’s most beloved figures for fans.
Descendent first showed up on the festival map at South by Southwest on March 10, 2025. Less than a year later. it reached digital platforms on August 15. 2025 — and now. on May 26. 2026. Hulu has become its next stop. The film’s critical reception also helped it build momentum: based on 25 reviews. Descendent holds an 88% critics’ score on Rotten Tomatoes. with a major gap from its 44% audience score.
Alongside Marquand and Bolger, the film also stars Susan Wilder, Charlene Amoia, Dan O’Brien, Brandon Scott, Alexandra Barreto, and Parvesh Cheena.
Descendent runs 93 minutes, with Peter Cilella credited as both writer and director. Producers include Aaron Moorhead, Arianne Fraser, Henry Winterstern, Justin Benson, Mark Ward, and Delphine Perrier.
This new streaming arrival gives the story a fresh chance to find its people — especially viewers who like sci-fi that feels personal. not distant. Sean’s visions may start with the night sky. but the film keeps pulling focus back to the same pressure underneath: what trauma can do. how obsession spreads. and what happens when the future you’re trying to build depends on answers you can’t force.
Descendent now streams on Hulu.
Ross Marquand Descendent Hulu The Walking Dead AMC sci-fi thriller Peter Cilella alien abduction South by Southwest Sarah Bolger