Movie Script Scene-by-Scene Breakdown: “Encounter”

Here is my take on this exercise from a previous series of posts — How To Read A Screenplay:

After a first pass, it’s time to crack open the script for a deeper analysis and you can do that by creating a scene-by-scene breakdown. It is precisely what it sounds like: A list of all the scenes in the script accompanied by a brief description of the events that transpire.

For purposes of this exercise, I have a slightly different take on scene. Here I am looking not just for individual scenes per se, but a scene or set of scenes that comprise one event or a continuous piece of action. Admittedly this is subjective and there is no right or wrong, the point is simply to break down the script into a series of parts which you then can use dig into the script’s structure and themes.

The value of this exercise:

• We pare down the story to its most constituent parts: Scenes.
• By doing this, we consciously explore the structure of the narrative.
• A scene-by-scene breakdown creates a foundation for even deeper analysis of the story.

Today: Encounter (2021). You may download the script here.

Encounter
 Scene-By-Scene Breakdown
 By Ryan Canty
 GoIntoTheStory.blcklst.com

Pages 1–2: We see vibrant clusters of stars in space. Five asteroids travel through the stars and space. The asteroids make it to Earth — it’s early morning. They are on the dark side of the planet. The Earth gets larger and fills the screen. We see city lights. The asteroids flame- pas they burn in the atmosphere. One of the asteroids — now a raging fireball — flies across the sky. It explodes into dozens of meteorites. The fragments splinter off into separate directions. A delayed BANG is heard. The meteorites vaporize. In a forest, meteor dust sprinkles an expanse of woodland. The dust particles glimmer in the morning light. The dust lands on leaves, ferns, and other forest detritus. We go in closer, and see small insects chewing on nectar, pollen, leaves, and the meteor dust. MACRO CLOSE on the particles — the particles aren’t “dust” but tiny parasites. Larger insects attack and eat the smaller insects. We then see human skin. A mosquito lands on the human skin and its proboscis pierces the skin. Inside the human, we are in a VEIN. The parasite flows downstream through the blood. it claws onto a fibrous wall. Then, we end up in the BRAIN, which is a dark cavernous landscape of canyons, arches, and twisting stalactites. The parasite penetrates the brain tissues. It convulses, and hundreds of long, sinuous worms burst from its body. WE TRACK towards the writing worms until the fill the frame.

TITLE CARD: INVASION/ENCOUNTER

Pages 3–6: Northern California. MALIK KHAN wakes up and turns his alarm clock off in a hotel room. We hear news playing in the background on the TV. Malik inspects his eye in the bathroom mirror. Malik sprays his face with insect repellent. Malik comes back into the bedroom. He turns off the TV and hears a pulsating hum. A red wasp crawls out of a crack above his bed. Malik kills it with the bible on the bedside table. He pulls a map of America off another wall. More wasps come out of the crack as Malik packs his bag. He sprays them all with insect repellent. Meanwhile, in Southern Oregon, Malik’s oldest son, JAY KHAN, is drawing an astronaut on a piece of paper. Jay’s mother PIYA comes in and watches him. She tries to speak to him, but he doesn’t respond. Malik is in his car in the motel parking lot. He sees a child in the car next to him, staring at him. Malik makes faces at the child, making him laugh. But the child’s mother arrives and asks what Malik is doing. Malik tells her being a dumbass. The mother tells him to leave them alone. Malik looks at the woman. He drives off.

Pages 7–10: Jay is drawing a spaceship on the inside window of a tractor. His younger brother, BOBBY KHAN, sits next to him. Their stepfather Dylan drives the tractor. He picks Bobby up and puts him on his lap. Jay looks at Dylan. He doesn’t trust him at all. Malik is driving on a California highway. He drives past a road rage brawl in process. Malik slows down to watch. Piya and Dylan are having dinner with the boys. It’s awkward. Dylan tells Piya that Bobby drove the tractor by himself. Bobby says Jay was too scared to do it. Jay calls him a dumbass. Piya goes to ask what’s wrong with him but winces. She gets up and leaves the kitchen. The boys look at each other and are concerned. Jay asks Dylan is their mom is okay. Dylan says it’s just a bug. Dylan offers to take them both fishing. Bobby is excited about this. Jay isn’t. Jay sees Dylan scratch a swollen insect bite on his wrist. Dylan tells Jay his picture is awesome and says he can frame it. Jay slowly scrunches the drawing up. Dylan tells Jay to go to bed. Later that night, Jay is in bed reading letters from his father. He hasn’t seen Malik in a long time. Now, Malik is driving down an Oregon highway. Later that night, Malik walks into Jay and Bobby’s room. He wakes Jay. He hugs his father. Malik flashes a penlight in Jay’s eyes. Jay squints from the light. Malik searches for clothes. Malik tells him to get changed. Jay wakes up Bobby. Bobby hugs him. Malik checks his eyes with the penlight. Malik pulls Bobby’s clothes out. He tells Bobby they’re going on vacation. Bobby asks if Piya is coming. Malik says no.

Pages 11–14: Malik leads the boys through the farmhouse. The boys put their shoes on. Playing a game, Malik the boys race to the car. They all get in and driveaway. Malik tells them to put on their seatbelts and they do. Jay asks why Piya didn’t tell them about the road trip. Malik said she wants it to be a surprise. Bobby asks where they’re going. Malik says that’s a surprise. Bobby thinks it’s Disney Land, but Malik says a ride broke and lots of children died. Jay asks why Piya and Dylan aren’t coming. He says they’re going on their own vacation to Canada. Malik tells them to not speak to anyone “No telling whose a Zoid” he says to them. And he tells them to keep themselves sprayed with insecticide. Malik sees a cop car in his rear-view window. He tells the boys to put their heads down. The cop car slides up next to them. Discreetly, Malik pulls his Glock out of his duffel bag and put it on his lap. Jay sees this.

Pages 15–18: The cop car speeds off. They drive to a gas station. Malik gives them presents and goes to get gas. They open the gifts and play with them. Jay sees a file sticking out of Malik’s bag. He scans the pages — a scientific paper on ‘mind-control parasites. He sees pictures of electron microscope images of parasitic organisms. Jay is mesmerized by this. The boys jump when a pressurized hose sprays against the window of their car. A lone man is washing the outside of the station with it. Malik goes to cashier and pays for his gas and food for him and the boys. Malik hears warped screaming and asks what it is. The cashier turns up the volume on the stereo and asks what was what? Back in Oregon, we see large barn doors beneath the house. We hear banging — something trying to break free. Malik drives the boys to the California State Park. Bobby is asleep as Jay stares out the window. Malik tells him he kept the letters he sent to him. Malik says he kept the drawings Jay sent him. Jay tells him about the file he saw in Malik’s bag. Malik tries to explain what Jay saw in his file.

Pages 19–23: They pull over to go to the bathroom. They get back in the car. Jay slams the door hard, waking up Bobby. A state trooper gets out of his car in front of them. He asks what they’re doing. Malik tells them they’re on a road trip. The trooper keeps asking Malik questions. He asks Malik to put his hands on the trunk and spread his legs. The boys watch from inside the jeep The trooper finds Malik’s Glock and asks if he has a permit for it. Malik says he doesn’t have it on him. The trooper opens the magazine and sees its full. The trooper asks about other concealed weapons on him. Malik says no. He says he’s a Marine and gives the trooper his Marine I.D. Malik tells him he’s taking his boys on a camping trip in Tahoe for the weekend. The trooper tells him he’s under arrest. Malik is shocked he’s being arrested for a misdemeanor and a traffic violation. Malik sees a parasitic worm slither across the White of the trooper’s eye. Malik, scared, walks to his driver’s door, trying to figure out what to do. The trooper tells him to stop. The trooper fires his taser into Malik’s chest. Malik collapses to his knees as 50,000 volts surge through his body. The shock ends and Malik rushes the trooper and grabs his gun. They wrestle for control of the weapon. Malik’s Glock falls from the trooper’s belt and onto the ground. We hear gun shots — one fired into the air and the other one fired at the road. The gun is twisted towards the jeep and goes off. A bullet pierces the window. Bobby screams. Malik cries out, yanks the gun away from the trooper, and pistol whips the trooper. The trooper falls to the ground as Malik runs to the jeep. He checks if the boys are okay. They are. Malik grabs his gun, goes to the Trooper’s car, and rips out the receiver. He goes back to his car and drives away.

Pages 24–29: They drive off. Malik calms the boys down, who are shellshocked with fear. They both beg to go home. Malik says he’s not taking them home. He tells them to breathe in and out to calm themselves down. Malik tells them their trip isn’t a road trip, but it’s a rescue mission. He pauses on whether he should tell them about his mission. He tells them about aliens/parasites and explains to them what they are and how he’s involved with fighting them. He says everyone is infected with them. Jay asks if their mom is an alien. Malik says she has one inside of her. This makes the boys cry. But Malik says he’s going to save her and everyone. Later that day, the trooper Malik beat up comes to. He’s alive. The Alien-Trooper rises, showing what was left of his face — collapsed eye socket, dislocated jaw, broken nose. But he doesn’t seem like he’s in pain. He gets into his car. The trooper reaches into his mouth, yanks out a molar and throws it out the car window. He drives away. The trooper eventually pulls into the same parking lot that Malik and the boys are at. He gets his shotgun from the car and walks up to the jeep. He sees Jay and Bobby asleep in the backseat. The trooper watches Jay. The Trooper aims his shotgun against the window Jay’s head is leaning on and FIRES — Jay wakes up and takes a deep breath. Jay checks his surroundings. Bobby is asleep next to him. Malik is sitting on the hood of the car. Jay gets out of the car and goes to his father. Malik tells him about mind control parasites and Malik tells him about the kind of parasites that are infecting people. Later that morning, they’re eating breakfast at a diner.

Pages 30–35: Malik continues explaining what the parasites are to his sons. They eat, clearly confused by that and everything that has happened so far. Bobby won’t eat. Malik tells him too. Meanwhile, HATTIE HAYES, drives through a town in California. She drives to the motel Malik was staying at. A man lets he into Malik’s hotel room. She sees a picture of Malik, Piya, and the boys as younger kids on a mini-fridge and takes it off. At the shopping center Malik and the boys are at, Malik goes to get more supplies and tells him to watch Bobby. Jay watches people going in and out of the shopping mart as Bobby plays with his action man in the back of the car. Bobby runs off when a frenzied woman walks up to their car. Bobby sprays himself with insect repellent. He runs off when the woman looks through the bullet hole in their car window. The woman asks for ten dollars, as Jay grabs Malik’s Glock from the glove box. He aims it at her and she laughs. He runs after Bobby. He goes into the supermarket, bumping into people along the way. Jay runs into Malik and tells him Bobby ran off. Malik gets mad at Jay, but Jay tells him that an alien came, and Bobby ran off scared. They find Bobby in the health care aisle, spraying himself down with two cans of insect repellent.

Pages 36–40: Malik lectures Bobby about running away and Jay for not watching him. They buy groceries as Hattie speak to one of her parolees in her office. She calls someone about Malik and asks if they’ve seen him. Malik and the boy are now driving through a canyon. Malik tries to make up for lost time with the boys.

Pages 41–45: Malik stops speeding. He continues catching up with his kids. Jay asks about the parasites and tells Malik that Piya has been throwing up and eating weird things. Malik stops the car when he realizes what that means. But doesn’t say anything to the boys. Malik calls Hattie, who is in the town they were just in earlier. Hattie tells him that he didn’t turn up for work. Hattie is shocked when Malik tells him he has his sons. Hattie tries to convince Malik that he kidnapped them. But he tells Hattie that Piya and Dylan are in the garage. We see the police enter the garage at Piya and Dylan’s farmhouse in Oregon and find Piya and Dylan bound and gagged with gaffer tape and zip ties. Now freed, Piya and Dylan are talking to two FBI agents, SHEPARD WEST, and LANCE DUNN. Piya tells them how Malik was able to tie them up. Hattie is also there, watching the conversation in progress as FBI personnel and local cops come in and out of the house.

Pages 46–50: Hattie tries to insert herself in the conversation, but Shepard dismisses her and pushes her out of the room. Later, they all speak in the kitchen. They introduce themselves to each other. Hattie tells them about Malik and his history. Lance tells Hattie about the trooper Malik pistol whipped and how serious his injuries are. Hattie gets angry when Shepard questions her judgment about Malik. Shepard tells Hattie that Malik could be a family annihilator. Hattie doesn’t believe that. Shepard explains to her how Malik fits all the boxes for being a family annihilator: isolation from his children, dishonorable discharge from the one thing he did well. No benefits, no healthcare or pension, etc. Hattie becomes even more concerned when Shepard tells her that he has a gun with him and didn’t pack any clothes for the boys. Shepard tells Hattie that they need to stop Malik, because he will kill himself and his children just to get the ultimate revenge on his ex-wife Piya.

Pages 50–55: Malik is driving as the boys play in the back. Malik tells Bobby to keep his hand in the window as he plays with his action figure. Malik says he’s not going back if Bobby drops the figure. Bobby drops the figure as the car keeps moving. Bobby starts crying and asks Malik to turn around. Malik refuses to and Bobby has a huge tantrum, hitting Malik. In turn, Malik nearly crashes the car. Miraculously, the car doesn’t crash. Jay tells his father to leave him alone. Bobby cries, pees on himself, unbuckles his seat belt, and runs off. Malik runs after him. Malik eventually catches him. Bobby fights Malik and Malik continues to hold him to calm him down. Later, Malik backs the jeep up alongside the action figure, laying on the gravel without an arm. We see Bobby’s hand reach down and pick the action man up. They end up at a lake in Alabama Hills. Jay watches as Bobby and Malik swim in the water. Jay is very scared of Malik. Malik encourages Jay to jump in. Eventually, after thinking about, Jay jumps in. Meanwhile, Hattie goes to a bowling alley. She meets her daughter ZOE, who is with a larger party of people. Hattie sits next to her husband ERNIE. Ernie massages Hattie’s shoulder and cracks a joke about how tense she is. Hattie tells Ernie about her not making the best judgment — this is indirectly about Malik and what she learned about him earlier. Hattie sees a man dressed in military fatigues — around Malik’s age, playing an arcade game and it makes her think.

Pages 56–60: Malik covers the boys’ bodies in insect repellent and sprays the earth. He dabs the mud he created on the boys faces, like camouflage make-up. As he does this, Shepard West is at FBI headquarters telling the dozen or so agents about Malik. Piya is in Jay and Bobby’s bedroom, looking around. She struggles to hold back tears. As Shepard wraps up with the agents, Dylan enters the bedroom. He has tears in his eyes. They hold each other, crying. Hattie in her living on her computer, looking at Malik’s Facebook page. Ernie asks if those are the boys. Hattie turns around and watches a news report about the abduction. Jay and Bobby’s school pics are on the screen. Meanwhile, Malik and Jay sit next to each other near a campfire as Bobby sleeps. Jay tells Malik not to be so hard on him. Malik admits that Bobby is just like him, and that Jay is completely different. Jay asks Malik how he met their mother, and Malik tells him. Malik stops and looks up at sky. He asks Jay if he saw the meteors. Jay doesn’t see them but pretends to and tells him there are a hundred of them in the sky. Later, Malik flashes his flashlight on a flat front tire. He doesn’t have a spare. Hattie does to a sports bar and walks over to RAUL, who’s at the bar.

Pages 61–65: Raul is shocked that Malik kidnapped his kids. Hattie tells them about how he got them. She asks Raul if they were close and what kind of Marine Malik was. Hattie asks him about the assault on his captain. Raul says that wasn’t Malik and tries to explain what kind of headspace he was in then. Hattie asks if Malik was resentful about his divorce from Piya. Raul says that he wasn’t — Malik asked for the divorce. Hattie asks him for some letter. Raul tells her about how out there the letters are. Hattie looks through them and wonders how she missed this. Hattie asks him if he thinks he’d hurt his boy. He says Malik loves them but isn’t sure (and references the letters). The jeep drives down a dirt road, leaning on one side. Malik looks for a place for them to stay as Jay asks him questions about the aliens and why no one knows about it. Malik sees a ranch house up the road and eventually stops at it. Malik takes his penlight out and flashes it in Jay’s eye. Malik does it to Bobby and Bobby screams at him to stop. Malik does and tells them to pack their things. Malik goes up to the house. Malik tries and opens the back door. He goes inside and walks through the kitchen. He gets to the dining room and stop as the sound of a gun is cocked. Malik yanks out his Glock, turns and faces Grant, the owner of the ranch. He tells Malik the description of him and the boys from the news. Malik tells him his car broke down and Grant accuses him of planning to take his. Grant asks if Malik’s gun is loaded and notices he’s in the military by what he’s wearing.

Pages 66–70: Grant tells Malik to put his gun away so they can talk. Malik tucks his gun in his pants. Grants steps forward and Malik sees what appears to be clusters of tiny holes in Grant’s skin. Yellow larvae writhe to the surface. Grant lets out a horrifying sound. Malik panics and runs to the door. Grant fires his gun at Malik, but misses. Malik runs back into the living room, jumps over the couch. Grant shoots again. Malik lands on the floor as his gun scatters away. He looks down at his shirt and see that he’s been shot beneath his ribs. Grant loads his gun again. Malik grabs a wooden floor lamp, swings, and smashes the lamp into Grant’s head. Grant drops to the floor. Malik sees that Grant is perfectly human. Malik is in shock. The boys watch from outside in the Jeep. They hear the gunshots. Bobby asks if Malik shot an alien. Jay doesn’t know. Jay grabs Malik’s cell phone from the dashboard, turns it on, and sees 23 missed calls listed. He tells Bobby he’s calling base. Jay calls Hattie’s number. Hattie is driving down an empty road. Jay and Hattie talk. Hattie tells Jay that Malik has been in jail for two years. Hattie asks where they are. He tells them they’re in Nevada. Jay asks her how he knows that she’s not an alien just as a car pulls up. Hattie tries to tell him that he’s been kidnapped. Jay hangs up when Malik gets out of the car. They drive off. Jay notices Malik has been shot. Malik opens the door and vomits. Malik offers to teach Jay how to drive.

Pages 71–75: Later, Jay drives and Malik and Bobby sleep in the car. They eventually make their way to an abandoned house in a mining town. Jay breaks into the house. Malik follows him carrying Bobby. They all fall asleep in the house. Hattie is in the Sacramento FBI field office. Shepard West comes out of an office and is surprised to see her. Hattie tells Shepard she feels guilty and shows him the letters Raul gave her. Hattie doesn’t think Malik is going to hurt his kids. She thinks he wants to save them. Hattie asks Shepard to let her come with them when they go to apprehend Malik — she tells him she’s an asset since Malik called her and Jay called her. Shepard caves in and says yes. At the Grant’s house, two men pull up in a car and go inside the house. DWIGHT MCKINLEY and KURT MCKINLEY freeze when they see Grant on the floor. Dwight approaches his father and cradles his head in his hand, thinking he died. Grant groans. Later, Jay wakes up to Bobby standing over him. Bobby asks if Malik is turning into an alien. Bobby thinks it’s because Malik smells funny. Jay tells Bobby that Malik is just wounded. Jay and Bobby leave the house and walk around the town. They come back to the car and see that Malik’s bag has been torn to shreds and is next to the car. Bobby asks if the aliens ate their food. Jay says yes. Then, they break into an abandoned house and look around. Later, Jay and Bobby are in the car, driving down a road.

Pages 76–80: Jay and Bobby drive up to a store. Jay gives Bobby money to buy food, and he buys medicine for Malik. They head inside. Jay asks the owner Dexter what to get for Malik. Dexter tells him. He comes from around the corner and tells Jay what he should get. Jay gets it and pays for it. Dexter is concerned because Jay is so young. Jay leaves and gets in the car. Dexter follows him. He asks if he’s driving the car. Jay says no and waits for Bobby. Jay is shocked when he hears an announcer on the radio give an alert about Malik. Bobby gets in the car, and they drive off. Dexter is called back into the store by a customer before he can say anything. Meanwhile, Malik is back at the abandoned house, slowly coming to after being asleep. Kurt and Dwight are driving towards Los Lunas and are passed by Jay and Bobby in their father’s Crown Vic car, hip-hop blasting out the radio. They turn around and follow the boys. Shepard is on his laptop on a plane. Lance is next to him asleep. Hattie sits across from them. Shepard notes that Hattie is a nervous flier when he sees that her hands are gripping the arm rest. Hattie asks Shepard why he asked her to check on Piya if he wants to kill his family. Shepard tells her that the revenge is greater if the kids survive. He then tells her about a case that is like Malik’s. Shepard tells Hattie they’ll be there soon, and she closes her eyes.

Pages 81–85: Jay drives up to the house and the boys get out of the car. They walk up to the house and talk about Malik and if he will be okay. They start fighting each other. Jay shoves Bobby backwards and Bobby slams his head on the ground and cracks his skull. Jay asks if he’s okay, but Bobby runs off. Bobby runs through the abandoned houses and is grabbed by Kurt and pulls him behind a tree. Kurt says he and Dwight are here to save him. Bobby screams for Jay but Kurt covers his mouth. After giving up trying to run after him, Jay heads back to the house to Malik. He gives Malik what he bought. Jay tells Malik he’s lying about aliens. Malik tries to explain but Jay is angry with him. Kurt calls out Malik’s name from outside the house. Kurt tells him he’s under arrest for kidnapping his sons and the assault of their father Grant and stealing his car. Dwight shoots at the houses when the window blows a door open. Malik grabs Jay and covers him on the floor as the bullets fly. Bobby runs off. Kurt tells Dwight to go in and get Malik and Jay as Kurt runs after Bobby.

Pages 86–90: Malik asks Jay where his gun is. Jay says the car. Jay gives Malik the keys to the car. He tells Jay to stay in the house. Jay nods as Malik sprints out to the car. Dwight sees him and shoots at Malik and the car. Malik gets inside. He speeds up to Dwight and collides into him. Kurt sees Dwight’s body vault off the car. Kurt shoots at the car. Malik flips the car seat back and drives backward, trying to pull behind a house. The car stalls. Kurt continues firing but runs out of bullets. He puts a new clip in but is shot in the chest by Malik. Kurt’s bulletproof vest knocks him backwards. Malik grabs his gun and runs away as Dwight shoots at him. Malik runs over to Bobby, who is nearby. He calms him down and tells him to close his eyes and count to 600. Malik runs through the trees lining the outside of the mining town. Dwight finds Jay in the house, grabs him in a headlock and takes him outside. Dwight fires at the other abandoned houses. Malik runs up behind him, putting a gun barrel nozzle against the back of his head. Malik takes Dwight’s gun and tells Jay to run back into the house. Dwight reminds Malik that he broke into his father’s house and attacked him and shot at him. Malik takes Dwight’s flask. Later, Malik watches and Kurt and Dwight handcuff each other to a road sign. Malik gets Bobby, who is still counting and hiding in a ditch. Malik and Bobby go back to the house. They take Kurt’s car and drive away. They drive to a café and Malik calls Piya.

Pages 91–95: Bobby is still in shocked from what happened earlier. Malik orders food for the boys. Malik tells the boys that Piya and Dylan are “cured” and that they want to see him. Malik then tells the boys that he must keep fighting. He tells them someone will come and get them. He gives them money for ice cream and leaves. Jay watches him go to the restroom. He tells Bobby he loves him, and they hug each other. Malik is in the bathroom. He takes the bullet out of his wound, dresses it and washes his hands. Malik sees a thin worm wriggling under his skin. He tries to scratch at it. Then, he sees dozens of worms writhing under his skin. He screams out. We see him claw his body in the mirror. No worms. Malik stops and sees himself in the mirror. He shakes. Malik lets out a primal scream. Meanwhile, an FBI helicopter is flying over an extinct volcano in the Nevada desert. A convoy of FBI and police cars are speeding down the interstate. Hattie is in an FBI Tahoe with Shepard and Lance. A police officer sees Bobby by himself at the café. At his home in Oregon, Piya picks up the phone. She hears Bobby’s voice and starts crying. Malik drives down a highway and see Jay hiding under a blanket in the back seat. Malik is upset with him about not staying with his brother, but Jay reminds him that he needs to be looked after. Malik looks out the window as a helicopter fly over them. In the helicopter, the pilot sees Malik and relays this information to Shepard. Shepard is relieved that Jay is in the car with him. He tells the pilot to get a Bear vehicle to stop Malik from crossing the border. Malik pulls off to the side road. He tells Jay to get up front and they drive off.

Pages 96–99: A Bearcat vehicle follows them in pursuit. It pulls up beside Malik’s car and hems the car within the dry lake. Malik pulls away, and the Bearcat follows. Malik sees a Humvee charging toward them. Malik turns off, with the cars barely skimming each other. We can barely see the cars in the dust storm they all cause driving around each other. Malik drives through a salt flat and comes to the stop. He sees cop, swat, and FBI vehicles in front of him. Malik looks at the cars and looks at his son. The helicopter is flying above. We see police vehicles come up behind Malik’s car, boxing him in. Everyone gets out of their cars; guns drawn and aim at Malik. Jay watches all of this from the front seat. In the FBI Tahoe, Hattie asks Shepard why they need all the guns. He tells her it’s standard procedure. She goes to open the door as Shepard leaves the car. Lance tells her to stop. Shepard walks in front of the police vehicles. Shepard calls Malik and introduces himself to him. Malik lets him know Jay is in the car and Shepard says he knows that. Shepard gestures for the officers to put their weapons down. They do. Malik sees Hattie in the Tahoe and asks if Hattie’s here. Shepard is angry when Hattie gets out of the car. Malik demands that Shepard put her on. Shepard puts Hattie on the phone. Hattie walks to the front-line but is stopped by a cop. She talks to Malik on the phone and tries to reason with him.

Pages 100–103: Hattie sees snipers creep up behind Malik’s car. Hattie calls out. Malik sees this, turns, and sees a sniper. Malik fires a round outside the car. Hattie and everyone else duck. The snipers behind the car fall back except one. He takes cover behind the trunk. It’s starting to get dark. Malik and Jay are in the car. Jay watches as Malik claws at his scalp and fingers. Jay fears that Malik will kill himself. Malik tells him to leave. Jay refuses. Malik tells him to look around and says he didn’t care of him. Jay assures his father he did. Malik closes his eyes and nods. Jay sees the sniper coming up behind the car. Jay gets out of the car and sprints to the back of the car. Jay screams for the sniper to get back. Malik opens his eyes. On instinct, Malik unbuckles his seat belt, opens the door, and get out of the car. Malik runs out and throws up his arms, drawing everyone’s attention away from him. The helicopter switches the spotlight on Malik. A sniper trains his gun at Malik in his chest. Jay points Malik’s gun at the sniper. Malik tells him to put the gun down. Jay refuses. Malik tells him he’s giving up. Jay puts the gun down and runs to his father. Malik drops to the ground, arms open wide. Jay runs into him and hugs him. The helicopter downdraft sends dust swirling around them. Jay looks up at the helicopter’s bright lights, ready to be beamed up. Malik closes his eyes, and the buzzing he’s always heard stops.

Writing Exercise: I encourage you to read the script, but short of that, if you’ve seen the movie, go through this scene-by-scene breakdown. What stands out to you about it from a structural standpoint?

You may download a PDF of the breakdown here.

Kudos to Ryan Canty for preparing this scene-by-scene breakdown.

For 100+ more movie script breakdowns, go here.