Plot Summary

Gone Baby Gone follows private investigators Patrick Kenzie and Angela Gennaro, portrayed by Casey Affleck and Michelle Monaghan, longtime partners both professionally and romantically. Reluctant at first, the couple is drawn into the disappearance of four-year-old Amanda McCready (Madeline O'Brien), after persistent pressure from the child’s desperate aunt.

Amanda’s mother is far from an ideal parent—irresponsible, self-destructive, and deeply troubled—while her aunt Bea McCready (Amy Madigan) is consumed by guilt and fear. Believing that someone must take responsibility for finding the missing child, Patrick and Angie ultimately agree to take on the case, aware that every passing hour drastically reduces the chances of Amanda being found alive.

Although the police are reluctant to cooperate, Patrick and Angie possess street-level connections and local knowledge that law enforcement lacks. Their investigation leads them deep into Boston’s criminal underworld, where drug dealers, small-time criminals, and morally compromised authority figures blur the line between justice and corruption.

As layers of deception, betrayal, and moral ambiguity are stripped away, the case reveals disturbing truths that challenge every notion of right and wrong. With Amanda’s fate hanging in the balance, Patrick and Angie are forced to make devastating choices—decisions that will test their values, their relationship, and the personal cost of doing what they believe is right, even when justice offers no clear answers.