'Finding 'Ohana' Review: Introspection and Depth in Children's Media

In the business of film, there tends to be a pretentiousness that gets in the way of viewership. In our hyper-fixation on “high art” films, we undermine the genuine entertainment value of children’s media. Finding ‘Ohana is a wonderful reminder of how enjoyable children’s entertainment can be, while offering surprising insight into the power of both representation and nuanced socio-political discourse in all tiers of film.

The film tracks the story of two siblings, Pili (Kea Peahu) and Ioane (Alex Aiono), during their summer on the island of O’ahu in Hawaii. Having grown up in Brooklyn, NY, both Pili and Ioane express serious reservations against spending their summer vacation on the remote island where they were born, but after their grandfather Kimo (Branscombe Richmond) suffers from a heart attack, they and their mother Leilani (Kelly Hu) visit to check up on him. Upon arriving, Leilani learns that Kimo is at risk of being evicted from his house. However, Pili, who has a passion for geocaching, discovers a solution: a secret stash of treasure hidden somewhere on the island. When push comes to shove, she and Ioane, along with their new friends Casper (Owen Vaccaro) and Hana (Lindsay Watson) end up on a journey to discover this lost treasure, re-discovering their connection to Hawaii in the process.

Thanks to Pili’s unbounded desire for adventure, we are able to take in O’ahu along with her and Ioane, experiencing a seemingly endless array of beautiful sights, and ultimately falling in love with the land too. Between the vast and shimmering sea, the dewy foliage in a tropical forest, and the gentle bioluminescent algae in the depths of a great cave, it’s hard to imagine anyone immune to the wonders depicted on screen. In contrast to the imagery of Brooklyn at the opening of the film – perhaps a more familiar sight to most “mainlanders” – we see the message without needing words: as long as you’re in Hawaii, the land is something to be cared for and respected, never taken for granted.

Yet the film does not take itself so seriously, and at its core is an immense amount of fun. The comedy aspect shines through especially during Pili’s interpretations of the legend of the Peruvian treasure. As she paraphrases her translations of the story to Casper in an early scene, we see the sailors Robinson and Brown, weather-beaten and mutinous, plotting to murder their captain by saying, “Dawg, you wanna mutinize?” to which the brave Monks replies, “yeah, that sounds lit.” It is a truly glorious scene to behold.

Moreover, there’s no holding back on the drama and conflict that the kids face on their adventure. If being utterly trapped in a dark cave filled with dead bodies isn’t enough, you’ll be glad to know that the group also has to face a chasm of lava with no bridge across, a ridiculously poisonous spider (yes, one of them gets bitten), and no reception to top it all off… and that’s not even getting to act three! There is no shortage of tension to say the least, and in fact the over-the-top writing is the reason the film is so enjoyable. It’s not often we get to see such spectacular scenarios play out in real-life settings on screen.

That said, some of the most touching moments come through in minute instances, notably with food. When Kimo takes Pili out to explore more of Hawaii together, they share spam musubi, a simple dish consisting of rice, spam, and seaweed paper. The tale of being mocked for eating different food at lunch is told so often that it is all but a cliche, but we rarely see the opposite: a kid trying a new food and liking it. It is such a small scene, hardly involving any plot development, action, or heartfelt emotion, yet it means everything to audiences weary of microaggressions.

Certainly, Pili knows the sting of these microaggressions herself, even at her young age. Over the course of their journey, both she and Ioane meditate on the ways in which they have had to suppress expression of their Hawaiian heritage in Brooklyn. Ioane, for instance, goes by the nickname “E” for the majority of the film, explaining to Hana that “it’s annoying telling everybody how to pronounce it.” Pili mentions that at home she “got tired of explaining to people that [she] wasn’t Puerto Rican” so she even learned Spanish to essentially pass as the ethnic identity that people projected onto her image. These are incredibly complex matters of identity, yet they appear in simple dialogue, a testament to screenwriter Christina Strain’s abilities from page to screen.

In addition to its message of embracing one’s heritage, the film delivers a plethora of nuanced commentaries on the effects of cultural insensitivity in Hawaii. In particular, the impact of tourism is a theme that comes up throughout the film, especially in conversations involving Hana who has a closer relationship with the island. Upon discovering that the cave holding their hidden treasure is actually a sacred tomb, Hana is the first among the group to consider the harm they will undoubtedly cause to the cave should they return with mysterious hordes of gold: “this cave will be crawling with thrill-seeking tourists who just wanna feel like Indiana Jones.”

Admittedly, there are instances in which the manifestations of Hawaiian culture hinge on being aestheticized and/or romanticized. Most often this comes through in Kimo’s extreme code-switching between English and Hawaiian pidgin, which at times comes across as a gimmick more than a linguistic insight, as well as the rather misplaced appearance of the Night Marchers as a tangible force to punish those who disrespect the island’s ancestry and legacy. 

That said, the director Jude Weng and writer Christina Strain dedicated an extraordinary amount of effort into maintaining cultural accuracy within the film’s language, effort which is oftentimes tragically overlooked in films across the board. According to an article by the magazine That’s It LA, Weng sought the assistance of a vast array of local consultants, for everything from script to tattoo accuracy, and placed an emphasis on creating a legitimate and respectful portrayal of Hawaii, recognizable to its own inhabitants.

It is always a delightful surprise to experience a children’s film with such a degree of socio-political discourse, and Finding ‘Ohana is certainly no exception. With its thorough understanding of the importance of knowing one’s cultural identity, combined with its whimsical and swashbuckling adventure narrative, the film is a powerful lesson on what it means to be Hawaiian, and a joy to experience for audiences of any age.