Plot summary

A boy, Theo, is noticeably shaken and being held by the police. His mother has died after an explosion during a visit to the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York. He feels he is responsible for the death of his mother. The whereabouts of his father are unknown. He has given the police the name of a mother, Samantha Barbour, whose family he knows from school. The woman agrees to take responsibility of him as an obligation since no one in Theo's family is available. He is clearly emotionally devastated, but shows no sign of crying. Police repeatedly ask him questions about his location, his mother's location, who and what else he has seen around the time of the explosion, etc. The woman stands up for him and his apparent lack of memory. Theo goes home with the mother. He makes good friends with Andy, the curly-haired son who is just under his age. The family is somewhat dysfunctional, especially visible in incidents involving the strong-willed father and the impudent oldest son, Platt.We learn that Theo had received a ring from a man killed in the blast. He was asked to return it to Hobart and Blackwell. Theo resourcefully finds the address of Hobart and Blackwell in the phone book and ventures out to deliver the ring. He is invited in and develops a friendship with the antique dealer, Hobie, who had lost his business partner Welty in the blast. Hobie is taking care of Pippa, the red-haired daughter of Welty Blackwell who Theo admired immediately before the blast. Pippa has major head injuries and spends most of her time in bed and is discouraged from listening to music since she needs rest more than music practice. Pippa and Theo have a strong bond since both just lost the main part of their families in the explosion. Pippa's mother had already passed away prior to the explosion due to illness.Theo spends time at both the Barbour family and the Hobie's shop and home. He learns about antique restoration from Hobie. He develops stronger ties to Andy and Mrs. Barbour. Theo is invited to join them for their summer vacation. However, soon after that invitation, Theo's father shows up along with his girlfriend. Theo disappointedly is required to travel off to live with his father, Larry, and the father's girlfriend, Xandra, in a mostly foreclosed neighborhood at the edge of the desert. Life is lonely at the new school and in the neighborhood, until Theo meets another loner named Boris. Boris is an awkward classmate who has lived many places as his father is a miner. Boris has no mother and his father is typically away. This allows plenty of time for Boris to shoplift, experiment with drugs, and get into other mischief. Some of these habits are adopted by Theo as well.Through flashbacks, we learn that Theo immediately after the explosion had been encouraged by Welty to take the valuable painting, The Goldfinch, as Welty was dying. Theo had kept it wrapped up, sporadically hugging it as it was a source of comfort, his mother's favorite painting, and the last art he had seen before his life was radically changed. It becomes more and more clear that Theo's life all began its downward spiral right at the moment of that terrible explosion.Larry happens to be in serious debt trouble and attempts to get Theo to transfer $65,000 out of the inheritance from his mother. The plan fails as the money can only be transferred directly to a school. Larry is in despair and ends up getting extremely drunk and killing himself in an auto accident. Theo and Boris learn of the father's death during one of their drug trips. Soon after, Theo decides that he must leave before he is assigned to a foster home. He heads back to New York and moves in with Hobie.The next scene shows Theo after a few years have passed, and we see Theo as a young man -- no longer a boy. Hobie has taught Theo about antique restoration and Theo joins Hobie's company, working as the sales arm of Hobart and Blackwell. His assistance leads to increased financial success, although it becomes clear that sometimes Theo is selling the reproductions as authentic antiques and not just as stated, high-quality reproductions of antiques as Hobie had intended.A dissatisfied customer complains to Theo that he had been tricked during his purchase of furniture that was offered to him as an authentic. To further avoid trouble, Theo offers to buy it back even beyond the purchase price. However, the customer actually knows far more, has done extensive research, and announces that he knows that Theo had taken "The Goldfinch". Theo does not let on that he took it or has it. Tensions are high and the customer later divulges his knowledge to the highly honest Hobie. Hobie confronts Theo about the new information, and Theo regretfully confesses to a much disappointed Hobie that the claim is true.Other tragedies have occurred. Andy and his father had passed away during a storm on the open seas, and this has hit Mrs. Barbour hard. As for Theo's love life: Theo's true love, Pippa is committed to another man. Theo has therefore focused his affection for the now grown-up daughter, Kitsey, of Mrs. Barbour. However, Theo finds that even while engaged, Kitsey has been and remains romantically involved with another man who she loves -- clearly not to the liking of Theo.In coping with the continued tragedies, Theo continues his drug habits, and this once again brings him by chance in contact with the now grown-up Boris. Boris is more wealthy now and has his own driver. Boris confesses that he had actually taken the painting "The Goldfinch" years ago from Theo. Theo had last opened it up during one of their drug trips, of which Theo had no recall. Boris had actually during the high-school days, secretly taken the painting and unbeknownst to Theo, replaced it with a Civics book.Since then, the painting was truly lost and out of the country, no longer in Boris's possession. However, Boris had a plan to get it back, to set things right again between him and Theo. The plan involved money and guns and dealing with professional crooks and did not go well. The painting was again lost. Theo was now at the bottom of his spiral, took a lethal dose of drugs and began hallucinating. Just then, Boris rushes into the hotel room, forces Theo to vomit the drugs out and returns Theo back to life. Boris also had served as an informant about the missing painting and delivers Theo the news that the police have finally found "The Goldfinch" and have returned it to its rightful place in the museum. The movie allows one to wonder after his second chance if Theo can overcome and achieve the life to eventually surmount the terrible event.