Plot
In 1973, 16-year-old John Paul Getty III, grandson of the world's richest private citizen, oil tycoon J. Paul Getty, is kidnapped in Rome, where he lives, by the 'Ndrangheta, a Mafia-like organized crime group based in Calabria. A ransom of $17 million is demanded, but Paul's mother, Gail Harris Getty, is unable to pay it, as she rejected any alimony in exchange for full custody of her children when she divorced Paul's father, John Paul Getty Jr., in 1971 due to his drug addiction. She travels to Getty's estate in England to beseech him to provide the money, but he refuses, stating that doing so would encourage further kidnappings of his family members, and instead asks Fletcher Chace, a Getty Oil negotiator and former CIA operative, to investigate the case and secure Paul's release. The media quickly picks up on the story, and Gail is constantly hounded by paparazzi.
Paul is kept hostage in a remote location in southern Italy. Initially, his captors, particularly Cinquanta, do not treat him overly harshly, as he causes them few problems, but as months go by without the ransom being paid, far longer than the captors anticipated, the situation grows increasingly tense. One of the kidnappers accidentally shows his face to Paul, but, before he can kill Paul so he cannot be identified, another kidnapper shoots him dead. His burned and disfigured body is found in the sea, and, at first, investigators think it is Paul. Gail is brought in to identify her son, but immediately sees that the corpse is not him.
Once they determine the correct identity of the body, the Carabinieri are able to determine where Paul is being held. A raid is conducted, during the course of which all of the kidnappers who are present are killed, but Paul is not found, as he has been sold to a different 'ndrina, or crime family, who hire Cinquanta to keep looking after Paul and negotiating with Gail. Paul's new captors are much less patient, and more ruthless, than his former ones, and, after he almost escapes, they cut off one of his ears and mail it to a newspaper, claiming they will continue mutilating the boy until the ransom is paid.
After repeated negotiations between the captors and Gail and Chace, the ransom is lowered to $4 million. Getty finally agrees to pay, but only if Gail signs over full custody of all of her children to their father, who is in a near-vegetative state due to his drug use. Knowing she is really giving custody to Getty, Gail signs the documents, but Getty only provides $1 million, as it is the maximum amount his lawyers can figure out a way to claim as tax-deductible. Gail announces she has the full ransom, hoping she and Chace can figure out a way to get Paul back alive anyway, and the desperation of this, coupled with a biting resignation speech given by Chace, unintentionally convince Getty to provide the full ransom and give Gail back the custody of her children.
Following precise instructions from the captors, Gail and Chace leave the money in a remote location and, once it is counted, receive a call to pick up Paul from a construction site. Based on advice from Cinquanta, Paul has run away, so Gail and Chace begin to search for him. The captors also begin to search for Paul, intending to kill him, after they discover Chace broke his word by leading the police to them. Everyone converges on the nearby town of Lauria after dark, and some of the criminals are arrested, but one of them finds Paul. Cinquanta attacks the man to allow Paul to escape, and Paul is reunited with Gail and brought to safety.
When Getty dies in 1976, Gail is tasked with managing her children's inherited wealth until they are adults. Getty's estate was set up as a charitable trust, which allowed him to avoid paying taxes, but also meant he could not spend his income. He could invest it, however, and amassed an enormous collection of paintings, sculptures, and other artifacts, most of which now reside in the J. Paul Getty Museum in Los Angeles.
