At school, an assembly features a well-dressed woman with cornrows, demonstrating a talking collection bin. She explains the euro changeover and how pooled small change can fund projects like building wells. When Damian correctly answers a math question, she rewards him with a currency converter. He anonymously deposits several thousand pounds into the bin, horrifying Anthony, who warns that such a large donation is dangerously suspicious.

At home, Anthony shows Damian a news article about a recent train robbery, in which thieves stole bags of old sterling notes and threw them off. Damian is devastated to learn that their money is not from God; it is stolen. Anthony warns that the robbers will be searching for it and could be anyone, including the woman with cornrows.

The following Monday, the woman and the principal visit their class, seeking the large donor. Tricia falsely confesses to giving £10. The principal asks the real donor to come to his office. Anthony intercepts Damian and confesses to the principal that they stole money from their Mormon neighbors. When their father arrives, Anthony feigns grief about their dead mother, causing the adults to end the meeting quickly.

A community policeman accompanies them to return the £3,000 to the neighbors, who inadvertently corroborate Anthony’s story. Anthony theorizes that the neighbors may be connected to the robbery, since they live near the railway tracks and have recently installed a surveillance camera. He concludes that the robbers now know that the boys have the money.

The next day, they skip school to open a bank account but are refused without an adult signature. After a disappointing trip to a toy store, they return home to find the talking bin in their hallway and learn that Dorothy, the woman from school, is inside with their father, whom she met when he came to pick them up from school.

Dorothy has brought her bin for Dad to repair. While he works, she helps prepare dinner and ends up cooking lasagna from scratch with Damian assisting, drawing out Dad’s formerly cheerful personality.

When carolers arrive, Dorothy gives them two euros, unaware that they are Tricia’s family, whom Anthony has secretly paid £3,000 to pose as carolers after they came asking for money to save their business.

The family and Dorothy watch “Who Wants to Be a Millionaire?” together. Dorothy reveals that she works for an agency that contracts to collect for charities. Dad says that with money, he would pay off the mortgage and spend more time with his sons. Damian nearly tells him about their fortune, but Anthony stops him.

Shortly after Dorothy leaves, police cars arrive: The neighbors’ house has been burglarized by someone apparently searching for something specific, as nothing valuable was taken. Anthony now believes that Dorothy is part of the robbery gang and that her accomplices targeted the wrong house. He suggests hiding the money in Damian’s hermitage, but Damian reminds him that the man with the “glass eye” has already seen it. Anthony insists they cannot trust anyone, not even their father.

Anthony transfers all the money into their school bags, insisting they carry it at all times. To maintain their cover story, they need roles in the nativity play. Anthony bribes every other boy in Damian’s class with £20 not to volunteer for Joseph, securing Damian the part. Anthony is cast as Melchior, the king bearing gold.

That night, while filling Water Aid donation envelopes with £20 notes, Damian has a vision of St. Peter. The saint warns him not to include his address, as charities share mailing lists. He then tells Damian his version of the feeding of the 5,000: It was not a divine multiplication of food, but a miracle of human generosity, in which one boy sharing his lunch inspired thousands to share what they had been hoarding. St. Peter compares Damian to that boy and tells him to keep the key to their old house safe. Following the vision, Damian takes the key from his windowsill to keep it with him.

On the night of the nativity play, the man with the glass eye corners Damian backstage, quietly identifying himself as one of the robbers and demanding the money. When other students arrive, Damian escapes. A mysterious figure that looks like St. Joseph takes his place in the play, buying him time. He quickly empties his school bag of money and transfers the money into the play’s wooden donkey’s saddlebags, fleeing the school.

Damian abandons the donkey in a bus shelter and boards a bus with the saddlebags. He travels to their former house, still empty, and lets himself in with the key St. Peter told him to keep. He climbs into the attic and hides the saddlebags behind the water tank.

Someone enters downstairs. Damian pulls the attic ladder up and hides, but his videophone, a recent purchase, rings and gives him away. The hatch opens—it is his father, who noticed the missing key. Damian breaks down and confesses everything. Dad retrieves the money and assures them that they will simply hand it in and will not be in trouble. Driving home through the Christmas lights, Damian feels relieved. They arrive to find Dorothy waiting at their door.