Following the release of the original trilogy, the spinoff film follows Red (Kylie Cantrall), who is the daughter of the Queen of Hearts (Rita Ora), and Chloe (Malia Baker), who is the daughter of Cinderella (Brandy), as they take an adventure through time to stop a disastrous turn of events in the present day.
As the Disney+ film holds a PG rating, parents are likely curious how it compares to the original franchise and whether it's suitable for young kids. While there are a few scenes that parents should be aware of, including some implied violence and how it touches on death and loss, the latest installment includes many elements fans love about the original franchise.
"The really special thing about Descendants is that it's such a timeless idea and a timeless concept that it can work generations later and a few years later," star Kylie Cantrall tells PEOPLE exclusively. "Hopefully, it continues to find a new audience. I'm just so happy to be even a fragment of the next chapter."
Malia Baker adds that she hopes young girls are inspired by Red and Chloe, and by their bond with each other. "I feel like the strongest messaging [of the film] is the female friendships," Baker notes. "There's also just such a strong messaging of: Our differences really don't matter if we have the shared goal, which I think the world can take a really big message from in general."
Before you watch the film with your kids, here's everything you need to know.
Warning: spoilers for Descendants: The Rise of Red ahead.
In several scenes, he movie touches on death and mourning a loved one. At the beginning of the film, Uma (China Anne McClain) talks about a character from the original trilogy, Carlos, in an emotional moment that pays tribute to both the character and the late actor who played him, Cameron Boyce. During a heartfelt conversation with Fairy Godmother (Melanie Paxson), she tearfully says she wants to unite all of Auradon as it's what Carlos would have wanted.
Speaking with PEOPLE, Dara Reneé noted that it was incredibly important to the cast and crew that the film paid tribute to Boyce, who died in 2019 at age 20 after having a seizure. "We could not have done this without him. Descendants would not be what it is without him," she explained. "So I feel like you just can't continue a story without paying tribute to the most important part of Descendants."
Cantrall added that though the script went through various drafts through the years, the one thing that remained consistent was that it paid tribute to Boyce. "Honoring who he was as a character and how beloved he was in the movies and how special his character was, but also just honoring him and his life and his legacy," she added. "It felt like he was there with us, and it felt like just having his energy around felt really special."
At another point in the film, in the film, a teenage [Cinder]Ella (Morgan Dudley) opens up to Chloe and Red about her hard upbringing following the death of both her mother and father.
Rebelling against her mother, the villainous Queen of Hearts, Red often acts out as she feels like a prisoner in her own home. In one of the first numbers, Red goes on a rampage of destruction throughout Wonderland to retaliate against her mother's strict rules. At one point, she's shown defacing her mother's sign with red paint before slicing it with a knife.
Though the mother-daughter duo have a combative relationship in the film, Cantrall told PEOPLE that actress and singer Rita Ora was a joy to work with in real life.
"She's this pop star boss woman, so I think she was able to bring that aura to the Queen of Hearts character," she said. "Just watching her flip that switch of getting into that villain mode, it was so cool to watch her professionalism. I definitely look up to her in so many ways."
"Offscreen, she's so fun. She's definitely not mean the Queen of Hearts at all," she added. "She's super warm, super sweet, and she's really, really funny."
Seeing as the Queen of Hearts' signature slogan is "off with their heads," it goes without saying that there is some implied violence throughout the film. Notably, after Cinderella refuses to bow down to the Queen of Hearts, she orders that the princess be executed for treason.
This sets off a chain of events as Red uses a magic pocket watch to alter time, which accidentally sends her and Chloe far back in the past. The two use a magic looking glass to check in on the present day, where it's implied that Cinderella has been killed as the Queen of Hearts taunts Prince Charming (Paolo Montalban) with her glass slipper.
In the past, Chloe and Red interact with younger versions of iconic Disney villains such as Hades (Anthony Pyatt) and Maleficent (Marissa Kruep) at Merlin Academy. The head villain, however, is Ursula's baby sister, Uliana (Dara Reneé), who relentlessly torments those around her.
After an incident with flamingo feathers that leaves Uliana embarrassed in front of the whole school, she vows to "destroy" Bridget (Ruby Rose Turner), aka the teenage Queen of Hearts, by devising a plan to prank her at the school dance.
"Uliana is very complicated, as is Ursula," Reneé told PEOPLE of her character. "Imagine having an older sister who's so powerful that when they introduce you, they just say Ursula's baby sister. They don't even say your name. So, I feel like that gave Uliana a bigger motive because she feels like she has to outdo her sister. She has to be better. In order to be better, she always torments everyone around her and feels this complex of [being] very misunderstood."
As in the original Cinderella story, Ella is abused by her evil stepmother in the Descendants film. As Chloe and Red visit Ella at her home, they get a deeper glimpse at her stepmother's cruel treatment.
After Chloe accidentally breaks one of Lady Tremaine's vases, the stepmother holds Ella responsible and tells her that she has to sleep in the barn as punishment. Ella adds that following the death of her father, the only family she has is her stepmother and stepsisters who treat her like "dirt."
Just as Mal uses a spellbook throughout the three films, Uliana is shown to practice magic in the new Descendants film. During one performance, she sings about doing spells and later calls on "spirits" to help her in her revenge against Bridget.
"She's been taught to be evil by Ursula, by her parents," Reneé said of her character's villainous ways. "She's been taught you have to do this. With everything going on and people not really recognizing her for who she is, it definitely gives a motive to be a little bit more evil and madder about the world because Ursula is literally just powerful. Like, 'I know who I am. I'm very set in it.' While Uliana is like, 'I need to be better than Ursula.' She doesn't have her own identity yet."
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