The Goldfinch

Right now you can watch The Goldfinch in Australia on Netflix, and in the UK on Netflix and HBO Max Amazon Channel — and it holds up to as much attention as you give it. A tight runtime that never overstays its welcome. 943 viewers have already rated it on TMDB — the kind of consensus that does not happen by accident. Ansel Elgort's performance alone is worth the time investment. Available now on Netflix — press play and find out why people keep recommending it.

There is a reason The Goldfinch keeps coming up in conversation. The writing in The Goldfinch treats its characters as people first, plot devices second. A boy in New York is taken in by a wealthy family after his mother is killed in a bombing at the Metropolitan Museum of Art. In a rush of panic, he steals 'The Goldfinch', a painting that eventually draws him into a world of crime. Ansel Elgort and Oakes Fegley lead a cast that brings real weight to the material. It was released in 2019. The performances in The Goldfinch do a lot of work in the silences between the dialogue. It delivers reliably on what it promises, which is more than most of its competition manages.

Viewers drawn to character-driven storytelling will find plenty to sit with in The Goldfinch. It has built its own audience without needing a direct comparison. It is a manageable watch, easy to fit into a single evening. Ansel Elgort is the centre of it, and it is one of their strongest performances on record. The patience it asks of you early on is paid back with interest.