Things Hoped For

Seventeen-year-old violinist Gwendolyn "Gwen" Page returns from a lesson to the Manhattan brownstone she shares with her grandfather, Lawrence Page. She hears her great-uncle, Hank, inside, yelling at her grandfather about selling the building they co-own. To avoid the argument, Gwen goes to a café. When she returns hours later, her grandfather is gone. An answering machine message explains that he has to go away for an uncertain amount of time. He asks Gwen to maintain the house and, crucially, not to tell anyone he has left, especially Hank. He provides her with access to his bank accounts and signed checks. Feeling worried and alone, Gwen lies to a tenant, Jason, pretending her grandfather is home. She spends the evening practicing for her upcoming auditions at Juilliard and other top music schools, finding comfort in her basement studio, a special gift from her grandfather. Before bed, she reads a letter from her mother in West Virginia, which reminds her of her fiddle-playing roots and her Uncle Belden.

The next day, Friday, Gwen is distracted at her classes at the Latham Academy of the Performing Arts. She receives a call from Kenneth Grant, her grandfather's lawyer, who is checking on her at her grandfather's request. Gwen maintains the lie that everything is fine, though Mr. Grant is skeptical and offers his help. Later, Gwen finds Uncle Hank inside the brownstone, having used his own key. He aggressively demands to see her grandfather. Fearing Hank will discover the truth and disrupt her audition preparations, Gwen confronts him and threatens to call the lawyer, which forces him to leave. After a successful violin lesson, Gwen meets Robert Phillips, a trumpet player from Chicago who is also in town for auditions. He recognizes her from a summer music camp at Tanglewood and invites her to a jazz concert. She initially declines but changes her mind. After the concert, Robert reveals he is traveling alone and walks Gwen home.

Gwen invites Robert inside, where a new, threatening message from Uncle Hank is on the answering machine. He vows to return with the police if her grandfather does not call him. Gwen confides in Robert, explaining the entire situation. Robert reveals a talent for vocal mimicry, perfectly imitating her grandfather's voice, a skill he honed by playing a game with his girlfriend, Alicia, whose blindness makes the vocal mimicry more effective. He proposes a plan to stall Hank by impersonating her grandfather on the phone, giving Gwen the time she needs for her auditions. The next day, after they practice together in Gwen's studio, Robert successfully calls Hank. Impersonating Lawrence Page, he tells Hank to talk to the lawyer and ends the conversation. Gwen then invites Robert to stay at the house until his auditions are over, and he accepts.

On Sunday, Gwen and Robert go shopping at Niketown. Inside, Robert sees a faint, blurry shadow of a man against a wall, but no one is there to cast it. The shadow vanishes, leaving him deeply shaken. Outside, he reveals an incredible secret: he was invisible for nearly a month two years prior due to a scientific phenomenon. He believes the shadow was another invisible person. Gwen, trusting Robert and having seen the shadow herself, chooses to believe him. When they return home, they find Uncle Hank pounding on the parlor door. Robert again impersonates Gwen's grandfather from behind the locked door, convincing Hank to leave. Later that evening, Gwen and Robert decide to cook steaks from the large chest freezer in the utility room. Robert goes to get them but returns pale and empty-handed, telling Gwen she needs to look for herself. Gwen opens the freezer and discovers her grandfather's body inside.

In shock, Gwen is comforted by Robert, who insists on staying as a witness. Gwen calls Mr. Grant, then 911, and finally her parents. Just as the police are expected, Uncle Hank bursts in. When the police arrive moments later, Hank's genuine grief convinces Gwen of his innocence. During the investigation, Mr. Grant informs Detective Keenan about a registered letter he received from Lawrence, with instructions to open it only upon his death. A meeting is scheduled for the next day. After the police leave, an invisible man named William reveals his presence. He is the man from Niketown and has been invisible for three years. Having overheard Robert's story on the subway, he followed them. William is menacing, reveals he is a jewel thief, and demands to know how Robert reversed his condition before he finally leaves.

The next morning, Gwen's father arrives from West Virginia. Robert secretly visits Detective Keenan, providing William's juice glass from the previous night to be tested for fingerprints against recent high-end jewelry thefts. At the police precinct that afternoon, Mr. Grant opens the letter. It contains a note from Gwen's grandfather explaining that he knew he was dying and placed himself in the freezer to spare his family difficult end-of-life decisions. The letter also revises his will, providing funds for Gwen's entire musical education and for a new violin and bow. Detective Keenan then reveals that the coroner confirmed her grandfather died of natural causes. As they leave, a commotion erupts from the conference room, and Gwen hears William's voice. Robert later explains he had warned the police that the invisible thief would likely attend the meeting. This allowed them to set a trap and capture him with an infrared camera.

That evening, feeling overwhelmed, Gwen is unable to practice until Robert's girlfriend, Alicia, calls at his suggestion. Gwen plays a Paganini caprice for her over the phone and has a musical breakthrough, connecting her classical training with the passion of her fiddle-playing roots. Afterward, she opens her personal letter from her grandfather. Inside are his WWII dog tags, inscribed with a reference to John 15:13, Greater love hath no man than this, that a man lay down his life for his friends. Gwen finally understands that her grandfather's final act was a sacrifice to give her the peace she needed for her auditions. The next morning, with a new sense of purpose and a deeper understanding of her life, Gwen walks into her Juilliard audition, confident and ready to play.