Script Analysis: “A Quiet Place” — Part 4: Themes

Read the script for the hit horror movie and analyze it all this week.

Reading scripts. Absolutely critical to learn the craft of screenwriting. The focus of this bi-weekly series is a deep structural and thematic analysis of each script we read. Our daily schedule:

Monday: Scene-By-Scene Breakdown
Tuesday: Plot
Wednesday: Characters
Thursday: Themes
Friday: Dialogue
Saturday: Takeaways

Today: Themes.

I have this theory about theme. In two parts. First, a principle: Theme = Meaning. What does the story mean? Second, while there is almost always a Central Theme, there are multiple other Sub-Themes at play in a story. Therefore the question, What does a story mean takes on several layers of meaning?

Time to ponder themes in A Quiet Place. You may download a PDF of the script — free and legal — here.

Screenplay by Bryan Woods & Scott Beck and John Krasinski, story by Bryan Woods & Scott Beck.

IMDb plot summary: In a post-apocalyptic world, a family is forced to live in silence while hiding from monsters with ultra-sensitive hearing.

Writing Exercise: Explore the themes in A Quiet Place. What is its Central Theme? What are some of the related Sub-Themes?

Tomorrow we shift our focus to the script’s dialogue.

Major kudos to Mark Furney for doing this week’s scene-by-scene breakdown.

To download a PDF of the breakdown for A Quiet Place, go here.

For Part 1, to read the Scene-By-Scene Breakdown discussion, go here.

For Part 2, to read the Major Plot Points discussion, go here.

For Part 3, to read Characters discussion, go here.

To access 69 analyses of previous movie scripts we have read and discussed at Go Into The Story, go here.

I hope to see you in the RESPONSE section about this week’s script: A Quiet Place.

Onward!