New ‘Duck Dynasty’ Movie ‘The Blind’ Tells Phil Robertson Origin Story

Isaac Rouse September 27, 2023

Duck Dynasty is back with a movie, The Blind, telling of family patriarch Phil Robertson’s (played by Aaron von Andrian) younger years living in Louisiana during the 1960s. The film, which opens in select movie theaters on September 28, is an honest depiction as it touches on the Duck Commander creator’s past struggles with alcoholism and the toll his infidelity took on his marriage with Kay (played by Amelia Eve) before he turned everything around.

“Long before Duck Dynasty’s Phil Robertson became a reality TV star, he fell in love with Miss Kay and started a family, but his demons threatened to tear their lives apart,” the official synopsis reads. “Set in the backwoods swamps of 1960s Louisiana, The Blind shares never-before-revealed moments in Phil’s life as he seeks to conquer the shame of his past, ultimately finding redemption in an unlikely place. This stunning cinematic journey chronicles the love story that launched a dynasty, the turmoil that nearly brought it crashing down, and the hope that rose from the ashes to create a foundation for generations to come.”

But what has the family – Phil’s wife Kay, their sons Willie Robertson, Jep Robertson, and Jase Robertson and their spouses and kids – been up to since A&E‘s reality series ended in 2017?

After living in the spotlight for five years, the length of the series’ time on A&E, the family decided to lay low in Louisiana. When speaking with E! News, Willie’s wife, Korie Robertson, said, “It was a whirlwind, and it was fun because we were getting to do it as a family, but it did feel like it was time for us to pull everything back.”

The family was ready to individually go solo and break into the spotlight on their own terms.

“We’re all dreamers and doers,” said Sadie Robertson, one of Willie and Korie’s six children, to E! News. “And we like to do new things, and having the time of those years to do that was awesome.”

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For her, that meant writing a bestselling book, creating a podcast, and starting her own family with her husband, Christian Huff.

For Willie, that meant becoming an executive producer for his father’s story The Blind.

“I think everybody who’s gone through hard times in their life will relate, and hopefully, it will give people hope that, you know, things can change and life can be better even when you hit those, you know, rock-bottom moments,” Willie, CEO of Duck Commander and Buck Commander, told Washington Examiner. “There is a countercultural message to be seen in this time frame of cancel culture where people say, you know, ‘People don’t change,’” Korie Robertson, Willie’s wife and the film’s co-producer, told the Washington Examiner. “But this shows and proves that people do change, and they can change — and really the power of God in their life that can change them.”

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As for Phil, he discovered he had a daughter in 2020 from a prior affair, presumably from the events depicted in the film. After a test resulted in a 99.9 percent DNA match, the family welcomed Phyllis Thomas.

Although it was “really hard” for her to watch the film and find out things she never knew about her grandparents, she ultimately found the film’s message inspiring. Although reliving the story was “emotional,” Korrie told E! News that she and the family handled it together, without regard for what others may think, something they learned to do in the last five years.

“We always go back to, ‘Okay, what is most important?'” Korie explained. “‘Who do we care about?’ Those who really knows us, and that’s who you really have to listen to. It’s people that you sit across the table from whose opinion really matters. We try to live our life that way.”

Sadie thanks her parents for instilling “good boundaries” into her and her siblings, which explains Sadie’s seven-month break from social media earlier this year.

“You do have to create those boundaries for yourself to say, Sadie says. “I’m not just gonna keep getting beat up by this. I’m going to take a minute, I’m going to get stronger and I’m going to come back with the right voices in that ear.”

With a film approaching created by their production company, viewers may see the Robertsons back on TV soon.

“We feel that the entertainment needs more positivity,” Korie shared. “Things that are hopeful, that are light and that point towards faith. We want to do more of that and if that looks like us coming back to unscripted TV? Maybe, we’ll see!”