After months of anticipation and seventeen selfies from the movie’s star, The Goldfinch’s movie trailer has finally arrived. Book fans and Ansel Elgort fans alike have anxiously awaited the film adaptation of the 2013 Donna Tartt novel, and they are now one step closer to seeing it. The somber two-minute clip, narrated by Elgort, provides a glimpse into a lifetime of trauma, loss and adventure.
The Goldfinch follows the story of accidental art-thief, Theo Decker (Ansel Elgort) through his traumatic childhood and troubled adolescence after surviving a terrorist attack that took his mother’s life. His story is riddled with abandonment, instability, failed romance and substance abuse. It follows his journey from New York City to Las Vegas, as well as his criminal endeavors in Amsterdam.
The story’s timeline spans from middle school all the way into Theo’s twenties. This adds a unique element to the book, but more so to the movie, as multiple actors tell the same story. Oakes Fegley portrays a young Theo alongside Finn Wolfhard, who plays his childhood friend and partner-in-crime, Boris. Their friendship is a major and consistent theme throughout the whole story, as Boris is the only constant in Theo’s life throughout both adolescence and adulthood.
Photo via IMBD
In the trailer, we see many of his important relationships. The clip begins with a dramatic conversation cut short with his mother, the person he loves most who is abruptly torn from his life. He is then passed from his close family-friends to his absent father’s troubled girlfriend. It perfectly exhibits his rough childhood and family relations, while emotionally introducing his friends and love-interests. He is seen longing for Pippa (Ashleigh Cummings), a fellow survivor of the accident. It shows how she slowly becomes less emotionally available to him—the girl he can never have. And while many readers deny the relationship, his affection and deep feelings towards Boris is also clearly shown.
Image via The Goldfinch trailer
Image via The Goldfinch trailer
The trailer itself is stunning, with old antique shops and beautiful desert shots. Dozens of scenes so carefully described in the book are suddenly brought to life, now available to the reader’s eye. The scenes are dreary, with dark colors and darker themes. The beauty doesn’t only come from the cinematography, though. The story itself is stunning, as well. We see Theo in many different states, but he is mainly grieving and depressed, as well as struggling with his drug addiction. The characters surrounding him are just as broken and afflicted as he is, their interactions are deep and emotional. We get the true essence of the heartbreaking story in just such a short amount of time.
The movie is directed by John Crowley and based on renowned author, Donna Tartt’s lengthy novel. It is her third novel over a span of nearly thirty years and Pulitzer Prize-winning. Many fans are anxiously awaiting the film, as it is the first of Tartt’s books to make it to the big screen. With just under 800 pages, many also feared that the book would be a difficult adaptation. But from what we’ve seen so far, it seems as though The Goldfinch movie is destined for success.
The Goldfinch is in theaters September 13th, 2019.
Featured Image via Macall Polay
