Script Analysis: “I’m Your Woman” — Part 4: Themes

Read the script for this gripping crime drama featuring a head-turning performance by ‘The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel’ star Rachel Brosnahan.

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 I’m Your Woman. You may download a PDF of the script — free and legal — here.

Written by Julia Hart, Jordan Horowitz, directed by Julia Hart.

Plot Summary: In this 1970s set crime drama, a woman is forced to go on the run after her husband betrays his partners, sending she and her baby on a dangerous journey.

Writing Exercise: Explore the themes in I’m Your Woman. 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 Priya Gopal for doing this week’s scene-by-scene breakdown.

To download a PDF of the breakdown for I’m Your Woman, go here.

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

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

For Part 3, to read the Character discussion, go here.

To access over 90 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: I’m Your Woman.