Genre: Drama
Director: Ang Lee
Writer: Clive Steinbeck
Based on the novel by Donna Tartt
Cast: Timothee Chalamet, Ansel Elgort, Josh Hutcherson, Chloe Grace Moretz, Freddie Highmore, Alex Wolff, Ewan McGregor
Plot: Richard Papen (Timothee Chalamet) leaves his small home town in California to go to Hampden College in Vermont. In Vermont, Richard tries to continue his study of Ancient Greek, only to be denied admittance to the course, as Classics professor Julian Morrow (Ewan McGregor) limits his enrollment to a tiny hand-picked group. Richard becomes obsessed with the group, observing them around campus and noting what he considers a cold attitude toward the world around them.
Eventually, Richard manages to ingratiate himself with the group by helping to solve a Greek grammar problem. Soon after, armed with advice from the group on how to impress Morrow, Richard meets with him and is finally admitted to the Classics tutorial. The group includes fraternal twins Charles (Freddie Highmore) and Camilla (Chloe Grace Moretz) Macaulay, as well as Francis Abernathy (Alex Wolff), whose secluded country home becomes a sanctuary for the group, linguistic genius Henry Winter (Ansel Elgort), an intellectual with a passion for the Pali canon, Homer, and Plato; and back-slapping Bunny Corcoran (Josh Hutcherson), a bigoted jokester.
Richard is baffled by the friendship between Henry and Bunny, which becomes more mystifying when Bunny announces that he and Henry will spend winter break together in Rome, even though Henry appears to barely tolerate Bunny, and Bunny cannot afford such an expensive vacation himself. It is soon revealed that Henry is paying for the whole trip. Richard takes a job on campus and spends winter break, the coldest in a years, in an unheated warehouse. He nearly dies from hypothermia and pneumonia, but is taken to the hospital by Henry, who has returned early from Italy.
After winter break, Richard sees the relationship between the others and Bunny becoming even more strained. Finally, he learns the truth from Henry and Francis, that during a party, Henry accidentally killed a local farmer who lived near Francis' estate. Bunny uncovered the truth during the trip to Italy by reading Henry's journal, and has been blackmailing the group since. The group, led by Henry, now view Bunny as a danger.
No longer able to meet Bunny's demands, and fearing that he will report them, the group decides to kill Bunny. After a drunk Bunny tells Richard about the killing, the group confronts Bunny while he is hiking and Henry pushes him down into a ravine to his death.
Charles develops a drinking problem and becomes increasingly abusive towards his sister Camilla. Francis confirms to Richard that the twins are having sexual relations. Francis himself begins to suffer panic attacks. Morrow discovers a pleading letter sent to him by Bunny, imploring him to help him. He never reports the crime, instead leaving the faculty.
Henry begins living and sleeping with Camilla, which drives Charles further into alcoholism. When Charles is arrested for drunk driving incident with Henry's car, Henry fears Charles will let something slip to the police. Charles, jealous of Henry, barges into Camilla and Henry's hotel room and tries to kill Henry with Francis' pistol. Henry gets hold of the gun. The others in the group pile on him, and Charles ends up shooting Richard in the abdomen. Henry kisses Camilla farewell and shoots himself in the head. His suicide leads the police to believe that Henry shot Richard, legally saving Charles.
With Henry's death, the group disbands. Francis attempts suicide, and even though he is gay, is forced by his rich grandfather to marry a woman in order to gain his inheritance. Charles is sent to rehab, but runs away with a married woman. Richard, after recovering from his wounds, becomes a lonely academic with an unrequited love for Camilla.
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