The Goldfinch (film)

Thirteen-year-old Theodore Decker's mother is killed in a bombing at the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York City. In the aftermath of the explosion, a dying man urges him to take a painting – The Goldfinch – and his engraved ring. Theo hides the painting at his apartment and is placed with the Barbours, the family of his childhood friend Andy. Theo reconnects with Andy and becomes close to Mrs. Barbour, who encourages his interest in antiques and art.

It is revealed that Theo and his mother were supposed to see Theo's principal because the school said he and classmate Tom Cable were smoking. They were early, so his mother took Theo to the museum on the day of the explosion. Theo continues to blame himself for his mother's death.

Following the instructions of the dying man, Theo locates the antiques shop run by James "Hobie" Hobart, whose partner Welton "Welty" Blackwell gave the ring to Theo to return. Hobie allows Theo to visit Pippa, Welty’s niece who was injured in the bombing, and the children bond before Pippa is sent to live with her aunt in Texas. Theo visits Hobie regularly and settles into life with the Barbours as Andy hints that his parents are considering adopting him. However, Theo's estranged father Larry, claiming to be newly sober, arrives with his girlfriend Xandra to relocate Theo to Las Vegas. Theo brings The Goldfinch and keeps it hidden.

In Las Vegas, Theo befriends Boris, a Ukrainian classmate with an abusive father, who has also lost his mother, introduces Theo to drugs and alcohol, which follow him into adulthood. Larry ends up in gambling debt and tries to convince Theo to transfer his education fund to an account. Theo is slapped by his father when he tries to understand. As Larry fails to extort Theo's education fund by phone, Theo learns that he's been using his social security number. Larry is later killed in a drunk driving accident. After a spout with Xandra, Theo runs away to New York, taking Xandra's dog Popper and the painting, but is unable to convince Boris to join him. Hobie allows Theo to live with him.

Eight years later, Theo has made Hobie’s shop successful, selling his restored antiques. He runs into Andy's older brother Platt, who reveals that Andy and their father were killed in a boating accident during one of Mr. Barbour’s bipolar episodes. Theo visits the ailing Mrs. Barbour and reconnects with her daughter Kitsey. Reeve, a disgruntled art dealer, confronts Theo for selling him a fake. Having deduced that Theo stole The Goldfinch, Reeve accuses him of using it as collateral to finance his shop. Unknown to anyone else, Theo keeps the wrapped painting in a storage locker.

Theo becomes engaged to Kitsey, but harbors a secret love for Pippa, who now lives in London. Theo catches Kitsey cheating on him with an adult Tom Cable, but they remain engaged due to being close to Mrs. Barbour and Kitsey's permissive attitude toward his drug habit. Theo later tells Hobie the truth about selling his restorations as “real” forgeries. Pippa visits Theo and they confess their feelings for each other, but she tearfully rejects him, citing the instability caused by their shared childhood trauma.

Seeking to buy drugs at a bar, Theo is reunited with Boris, who apologizes for stealing The Goldfinch years ago, using it to finance his life of crime before it was then stolen from him. At his storage locker, Theo discovers Boris had replaced the painting with a school textbook. After a visit from Reeve, a heartbroken Hobie confronts Theo for the theft and loss of The Goldfinch.

At Theo's and Kitsey's engagement party, Boris arrives with a plan to recover The Goldfinch. Theo accompanies him to Amsterdam, where Boris seizes the painting at gunpoint, but they are ambushed by another pair of criminals. Boris kills one of them but is shot and Theo is forced to kill the other assailant, but another man escapes with the painting. Theo tries to commit suicide in his hotel room, but is rescued by Boris, who explains that he had a tip called in to the police to recover the painting.

Organizing a raid, the authorities safely recover the painting along with other lost and stolen art, including a Rembrandt. Boris persuades Theo that this was all for the greater good: The Goldfinch survives and other lost works were recovered. The movie ends with Theo silently letting know Hobie know that The Goldfinch is safe and he goes to see Mrs. Barbour.

• Ansel Elgort as adult Theo Decker
• Oakes Fegley as young Theo Decker
• Aneurin Barnard as adult Boris
• Finn Wolfhard as young Boris
• Ashleigh Cummings as adult Pippa
• Willa Fitzgerald as adult Kitsey Barbour
• Aimée Laurence as young Pippa
• Ryan Foust as young Andy Barbour
• Sarah Paulson as Xandra
• Luke Wilson as Larry
• Jeffrey Wright as Hobie
• Nicole Kidman as Mrs. Barbour
• Denis O'Hare as Lucius Reeve
• Boyd Gaines as Mr. Barbour
• Peter Jacobson as Naaman Silver
• Robert Joy as "Welty" Blackwell
• Luke Kleintank as adult Platt Barbour
• Gordon Winarick as adult Tom Cable
• Nicky Torchia as young Tom Cable
• Hailey Wist as Theo's mother
• Robert Turano as Detective

In July 2014, film rights to the novel were sold to Warner Bros. Pictures and RatPac Entertainment with ICM Partners brokering the deal.[7] Two years later, John Crowley was hired to direct the film adaptation.[8] In August 2017, Warner Bros. finalized a deal with Amazon Studios to co-finance the adaptation, where Amazon would invest in more than a third of the project's budget and obtain streaming rights to the picture on its Prime service, while Warner Bros. would distribute the film in theaters worldwide.[9]

On October 4, 2017, after a two-month casting search, Ansel Elgort was cast in the lead role of Theodore "Theo" Decker, following his breakout turn in Baby Driver.[10] On the same day, cinematographer Roger Deakins revealed to Variety that The Goldfinch was his next project after Blade Runner 2049.[11] Later that month, in light of his recent performance in Dunkirk, Aneurin Barnard was cast as Boris.[12] On November 15, Sarah Paulson was cast as Xandra.[13] By late November, Trevor Gureckis was hired as the film's composer.[14] In December 2017, Willa Fitzgerald and Ashleigh Cummings joined the cast.[15][16] During the same month, Kelley Dixon from Breaking Bad and Better Call Saul was enlisted to be the film's editor.[17] In January 2018, Jeffrey Wright, Luke Wilson, Finn Wolfhard, and Luke Kleintank joined the cast.[18][19][20][21] Later that month, the rest of the cast was announced as principal production commenced.[22]

Principal photography began in New York on January 23, 2018,[22][23] before moving to Albuquerque on April 3, 2018 for the rest of production.[24]

Footage from the film was first shown at CinemaCon on April 2, 2019.[25] The first official images were released on May 28, 2019,[26] as well as the first official teaser poster of the film.[27] The first official trailer was released on May 29, 2019.[28] About six months prior to its release, following test screenings, Warner Bros. knew the film would possibly perform poorly and in turn "dramatically" trimmed their prospective marketing plan.[4]

The Goldfinch premiered at the Toronto International Film Festival on September 8, 2019.[29] It was theatrically released in the United States on September 13, 2019, after previously being set for October 11.[30][31]

• The Goldfinch at IMDb