In 1922, war veteran Nick Carraway moves to New York and rents a cottage beside the mansion of the mysterious millionaire Jay Gatsby. Across the bay live Nick’s cousin Daisy and her wealthy husband Tom Buchanan, whose marriage is damaged by his affair with Myrtle Wilson, the wife of garage owner George Wilson.

At one of Gatsby’s lavish parties, Gatsby tells Nick that he built his fortune to reunite with Daisy, whom he loved before the war but was considered too poor to marry. Nick reluctantly arranges their meeting. Daisy learns that her father destroyed Gatsby’s wartime letters, and the two revive their relationship. Meanwhile, Nick grows closer to Daisy’s friend Jordan Baker.

Believing Daisy will leave Tom, Gatsby neglects his dealings with Meyer Wolfsheim and recreates the world of their earlier romance. At the Plaza Hotel, he demands that Daisy declare she never loved Tom. She cannot do so, and Tom reveals that Gatsby’s wealth came from bootlegging. Daisy retreats from her promise to run away with him.

Driving Gatsby’s yellow Rolls-Royce, Daisy strikes and kills Myrtle, who is pregnant with Tom’s child. Gatsby intends to accept responsibility and remains convinced that Daisy will return. Tom tells the grieving George that Gatsby owned the car. George goes to Gatsby’s mansion, shoots him, and then kills himself.

Nick is almost alone at Gatsby’s funeral. Jordan, disillusioned by the tragedy, ends her relationship with him. When Nick confronts Daisy, she prepares to leave for Honolulu with Tom and admits that she hopes her daughter will become a beautiful, obedient rich wife rather than seek more from life.

Disgusted by their carelessness, Nick decides to return to the Midwest. Visiting Gatsby’s abandoned mansion one last time, he remembers the man whose impossible dream was fixed on Daisy and the green light across the bay.