The film was nominated for five Oscars at the 84th Academy Awards, including Best Picture, Best Director for Payne, and Best Actor for Clooney, winning one for Best Adapted Screenplay.

Matthew "Matt" King is a Honolulu-based attorney and the sole trustee of a family trust of 25,000 acres (100 km2) of pristine land on Kauai.

With the trust expiring in seven years due to the rule against perpetuities, the King clan is pressuring Matt to sell the land for hundreds of millions of dollars.

With Elizabeth hospitalized, Matt is forced to cope with his two troubled daughters, 10-year-old Scottie, who seeks attention by bullying other children, and 17-year-old Alex, who has a history of substance abuse and is away at a private boarding school on the Big Island.

When Matt tells Alex, she reveals she learned during her last visit that Elizabeth was having an affair, causing a major rift between mother and daughter.

Two close family friends, Kai and Mark Mitchell, tell Matt that Elizabeth was unhappy and loved Brian Speer, a real estate agent, and wanted a divorce.

Later, Matt, Scottie and Alex eat ice cream together as they watch March of the Penguins, covering themselves in a blanket that Elizabeth had at the hospital.

Kaui Hart Hemmings stated that Hawaii Preparatory Academy, which is located in Kamuela, Hawaiʻi (the Big Island), was the inspiration for the private boarding school.

[1][14] The soundtrack uses Hawaiian music, featuring artists including Gabby Pahinui, Ray Kane, Keola Beamer, Lena Machado, Sonny Chillingworth, Jeff Peterson, Makana, Dennis Kamakahi, and Danny Carvalho.

The website's critical consensus reads, "Funny, moving, and beautifully acted, The Descendants captures the unpredictable messiness of life with eloquence and uncommon grace.