The 3-Act Paradigm at Work: Monster's Ball

written by Milo Addica & Will Rokos

(based on a single theater viewing)


Monster's Ball portrays a love affair between two troubled souls, one a corrections officer with a racist upbringing, the other the black widow of a man he executed.

Structural Analysis

  1. Hook
    • The first thing a man does upon waking in the morning is throw up. What's going on?
  2. Complication
    • The man is our protagonist, a corrections officer. So was his father, a racist, and so is his son, who has black friends. After an altercation, the son commits suicide in front of his father.
  3. Call to Action
    • The man quits his job at the prison. He can't take it any longer. First by chance, and then by choice, he becomes acquainted with and helps the black widow of a man he executed.
  4. Act One Plot Point
    • He and the widow begin a love affair.
  5. Midpoint Plot Point
    • When the widow meets his racist father, she breaks up with him. He puts his father in a rest home. When the widow is evicted from her home, he takes her in. They begin living together.
  6. Act Two Plot Point
    • The woman discovers a portrait by her late husband of her lover, the former prison guard. She puts two and two together. It looks like it's over.
  7. Climax and Resolution
    • But she says nothing. He comes home with ice cream. "I think we're going to make it," he says. They need each other.

Notes

Monster's Ball is one of the best movies you can study for subtext. Strong visual storytelling and everything happens below the surface of the very spare dialogue. Deep emotions are communciated here, helped considerably by the very strong performances of the two major characters. What this story is about -- the need of two people with similar emotional issues for one another -- is never stated explicitly. This is a wonderful story driven by subtext.


MODULE 4: SCREENWRIGHT: the craft of screenwriting

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