Uploaded May 2013 | Updated September 2026, 1 week ago
Matt King (George Clooney) is a Honolulu-based lawyer and the sole trustee of a family trust that controls 25,000 acres of pristine land on the island of Kauai. Though he has been able to manage his money, most of Matt's cousins are broke from squandering their share of the inheritance. The trust will expire in seven years because of the rule against perpetuities, so the King family has decided to sell the land to Kaua'i native Don Holitzer for development. Just before family members are ready to formally endorse the deal, a boating accident near Waikīkī renders Matt's wife, Elizabeth, comatose.
The Kings have two daughters, 10-year-old Scottie (Amara Miller) and 17-year-old Alex (Shailene Woodley). With Elizabeth in a coma at Queen's Hospital, he is forced to confront Scottie's inappropriate behavior with other children and Alex's destructive ways. Matt learns that Elizabeth will never awaken from her coma, which means that under the terms of her living will she must be disconnected shortly from life support. When Matt tells Alex the news, she reveals that Elizabeth was having an affair at the time of the accident, which has caused a major rift between mother and daughter.
Matt King (George Clooney) is a Honolulu-based lawyer and the sole trustee of a family trust that controls 25,000 acres of pristine land on the island of Kauai. Though he has been able to manage his money, most of Matt's cousins are broke from squandering their share of the inheritance. The trust will expire in seven years because of the rule against perpetuities, so the King family has decided to sell the land to Kaua'i native Don Holitzer for development. Just before family members are ready to formally endorse the deal, a boating accident near Waikīkī renders Matt's wife, Elizabeth, comatose.
The Kings have two daughters, 10-year-old Scottie (Amara Miller) and 17-year-old Alex (Shailene Woodley). With Elizabeth in a coma at Queen's Hospital, he is forced to confront Scottie's inappropriate behavior with other children and Alex's destructive ways. Matt learns that Elizabeth will never awaken from her coma, which means that under the terms of her living will she must be disconnected shortly from life support. When Matt tells Alex the news, she reveals that Elizabeth was having an affair at the time of the accident, which has caused a major rift between mother and daughter.
