The 3-Act Paradigm at Work: In the Bedroom

written by Robert Festinger and Todd Field

(revised version)


In the Bedroom is a first rate drama about a married couple having to cope with the murder of their son. It has an unusual first act but solid 3-act structure.

Structural Analysis

  1. Hook (1-11 min.)
    • Slow setup, re Frank having affair. Parents (Matt and Ruth) disapprove of their son's affair with an older, married woman who is separated from her husband.
  2. Complication (20 min.)
    • The estranged husband is very belligerent and dangerous.
  3. Call to Action (30, 33 min.)
    • First Matt, then Ruth, try to talk to their son to end the affair.
  4. Act One Plot Point (38 min.)
    • The estranged husband kills the son.
  5. Midpoint Plot Point (53-5 min.)
    • The husband/killer makes bail and with a fancy lawyer might get no more than 5-15 years. The parents feel like victims. There is no justice.
  6. Act Two Plot Point (86-90 min.)
    • The parents explode, accusing one another of being responsible for the son's death, a vicious ugly argument.
  7. Climax and Resolution (101-126 min.)
    • The husband, with help of his friend, kills and buries the murderer of his son. He gets away with it. The wife is pleased. Life goes on.

Notes

In the Bedroom has a more subtle structure than I saw at first viewing. This is about as "arty" as an American film gets and still find distribution. The critics loved it; however, in my town at any rate, it came and went so quickly that the box office must have been small. It's a powerful movie but low-key, moody and stylized. The published screenplay is much less efficient and crisp than the movie.

Notes about the adaptation.


MODULE 4: SCREENWRIGHT: the craft of screenwriting

[BACK TO TEXT]
1/02