As we continue our journey into the 10-minute sequence structure, let’s focus on a genre that over the last decade has become the equivalent of cinematic comfort food:
THE ROMCOM
And what better film than the highest grossing romcom of 2023, ANYONE BUT YOU.
Loosely inspired by MUCH ADO ABOUT NOTHING, the film stars Sydney Sweeney and Glenn Powell and went on to gross over $220 million dollars at the box office on a $25 million dollar budget.
Directed by Will Gluck and co-written by Gluck and Ilana Wolpert
As you continue your journey as a writer it’s imperative to watch films and read scripts. I also feel it’s very educational to break down films and identify the structural and character patterns within them. Good and bad films.
A lot of my friends and clients are surprised when I tell them ANYONE BUT YOU is one of my guilty pleasures. Is it a great film? Meh. Is it well-crafted in terms of story and character? Yes. Can we learn from its structure and character craft? Always!
And, well, audiences loved it to the tune of a 10x return on its production budget. A hit’s a hit. And who doesn’t want as many people as possible to see their film?!
So, let’s examine the 10 minute sequence structure of ANYONE BUT YOU (currently streaming on Netflix).
CAST OF CHARACTERS:
Sydney Sweeney plays BEA
Glenn Powell is BEN
Gata plays Ben’s best friend PETE
Charlee Fraser plays Ben’s ex Margaret
Darren Barnet plays Bea’s ex Jonathan
The plot is pretty simple and definitely not original –
At a lavish destination wedding, two singles whose one date ended badly pretend to be a couple to pacify her interfering parents and make his ex-girlfriend jealous.
SEQUENCE #1: PAGES 1-10
As always, in the first ten minutes we want to set up our main characters, their situations and their problem.
We start right off with our MEET CUTE. Ben saves Bea from an embarrassing bathroom moment in a coffee shop by pretending to be her husband. We establish they both appear more confident than they are as Bea calls her best friend for advice on how to handle the meet cute and Ben fiddles with his tucked in shirt while he waits for her to join him from the bathroom.
“So, you gonna ask me out now?” says Bea.
And we have a first date montage.
We are jumping right in. No time wasted.
We establish Bea is studying to be a lawyer but her heart may not be into it (that’s an open story question that will hang over her character the whole film).
Ben’s a day trader.
We introduce integrated elements The grilled cheese. The large wrench Ben has on display in his house which is a gift from his mother.
AND WE ESTABLISH THE LARGER IDEAL OF THE MOVIE:
Ben’s mom always said to him: “No matter how broken something is, there’s always a way to fix it.”
That statement is the invisible thread that connects all the storylines to come as we’ll see that multiple relationships will possibly break, but they’ll all find ways to fix them.
It’s what the movie is REALLY ABOUT.
Bea spends the night. NO SEX. All innocent. She sneaks out and immediately calls her friend to exclaim “this guy is fucking great.”
MISUNDERSTANDINGS are a key component of conflict in romcoms. And…
She dashes back to Ben’s to tell him she thinks he’s great only to overhear Ben say to his friend PETE, “this girl’s a nothing. I couldn’t get her out of here fast enough.”
She’s devastated. So much for that.
And there’s our PROBLEM.
In our first ten minutes we’ve set up character/situation/problem.
SEQUENCE #2: PAGES 10-20
SIX MONTHS LATER
We establish our first SUBPLOT. Ben’s friend and Pete’s sister CLAUDIA and her partner HALLE. It will be their destination wedding where most of the film will take place.
And then we meet Halle’s sister: BEA!
Uh oh.
Complication. And CONFLICT.
What I see a lot of early rom com writers struggle with is conflict. They write perfect characters who have perfect romances. But the best romcoms are about keeping our lovers APART as long as possible.
We establish through some very on the nose dialogue that Bea was on a break from her boyfriend JONATHAN when she met and spent that day with Ben. We also establish that Ben felt ghosted by Bea which is why he said what he said about her to Pete.
MISUNDERSTANDINGS ABOUND
Oh, and Bea is now ENGAGED to Jonathan. Another complication.
But Bea isn’t the only one engaged. We cut to a video invitation to Halle and Claudia’s destination wedding which will take place in SYDNEY, AUSTRALIA.
It’s SIX MONTHS LATER
Ben and Bea are stuck on their flight to Australia together!
**remember, the best films are about characters who are TRAPPED – they are trapped on this flight together; later they’ll be trapped in a lie and also in others’ expectations of them**
And…they’re trapped together when they land as we discover everyone is staying at the same location in Sydney.
Complications keep on coming.
SEQUENCE #3: PAGES 20-30
In this sequence we meet the rest of the wedding party.
Which creates more complications (and subplots)
MARGARET, Ben’s ex is there. Her story will ultimately complicate things but also create the opportunity for change and growth. And she’s got a new boyfriend, BEAU.
We introduce Halle and Bea’s parents (LEO AND INNIE) and get more insight into Bea including the fact that everyone thought she’d be the first to get married.
We are reminded of Bea and law school as she gets a email acknowledging she is no longer enrolled in the Boston University Law School. So now she’s got a secret…
Her dad immediately asks upon seeing her for the first time “how’s our future lawyer?”
Yikes.
Bea’s parents pressure her to rekindle her relationship with Jonathan (they are no longer engaged). Raises the emotional stakes even more.
Bea is under pressure to be the perfect daughter. And nothing about her current situation is perfect (stuck here with Ben and lying about being in law school).
First dinner together for all the characters. We also introduce Claudia and Pete’s parents ROGER and CAROL.
Bad fireworks accident caused by Ben and Bea.
Rumblings about Ben and Bea destroying the wedding.
SO, CLAUDIA, HALLE, ROGER AND CAROL COME UP WITH A PLAN: THEY ARE GONNA GET BEN AND BEA TO FALL IN LOVE WITH EACH OTHER
And now we have a story!
And that’s the END OF ACT ONE.
In three ten-minute sequences we set up all the major characters. The situation. The larger emotional and story problem. The theme. And all the major relationships and storylines.
And we have a tangible, physical goal we can film: getting Ben and Bea together and everyone making it through the wedding week intact.
SEQUENCE 4: PAGES 30-40
Now we expand and accelerate the story.
The first attempt to get Ben and Bea to reunite. Roger and Pete talk loudly just out of sight of Ben about how Bea is hot for Ben.
Then Halle and Claudia talk loudly about how crazy Ben is for Bea within earshot of Bea.
Bea tells Ben that everyone is trying to get Ben and Bea back together.
But before they can finish their convo Carol interrupts and demands they retrieve Roger’s sunglasses – from a boat a couple hundred yards offshore.
Then the next complication: THE ARRIVAL OF JONATHAN.
Bea’s parents flew him in.
So, Bea suggests she and Ben play the game and pretend to be a couple.
Great reversal to the end of previous sequence. Raises the stakes.
Perfect end to the sequence.
SEQUENCE 5: PAGES 40-50
Bea and Ben go all in. Exaggerated couple stuff. The complication: Jonathan.
Ben goes overboard with Jonathan in trying to come across as Bea’s boyfriend.
They realize they’re really bad at this and they need to come up with a game plan.
They decide to be more publicly affectionate. Leads to a goofy set piece on the group hike.
And of course by pretending to be together, Ben and Bea will see each other with fresh eyes and actually become closer.
And we see this in a quiet moment between them where Ben apologizes to Bea for saying she was a “one night nothing.”
Don’t forget – movies aren’t just physical journeys. They’re also emotional ones.
This sequence ends with Bea and Ben actually getting closer to each other.
SEQUENCE 6: PAGES 50-60
The next complication: Jonathan.
He and Bea play chess. Good example of giving characters something to do in a scene (life sized chess board).
Ben sees Bea and Jonathan. From a distance they look like they’re having a great time.
Ben’s complication: Margaret.
Margaret thinks Ben and Bea are together. So he goes to Bea panicked to find a way to make it appear as if Ben and Bea are just in a situationship so that there could be an opening for Margaret in relation to Ben. So Margaret would be willing to break girl code.
They need to take it up a notch. Make it appear as they’re in the “gaga stage.”
Great complication. And escalation.
The Rehearsal Dinner. On a yacht. Too romantic. Super romantic dance together.
And all the romantic stories collide.
Time to close the deal. “Titanic me” Bea tells Ben.
They have a moment together. And everyone watches. Deal closed.
And that’s our midpoint twist. They’re actually falling for each other.
SEQUENCE 7: PAGES 60-70
BEA FALLS INTO THE WATER!
She admits it was super romantic of Ben to dive into the water to save her.
She tells Ben she quit law school and that she has no idea what she’s going to do with her life.
They’re vulnerable with each other. She tells him why she snuck out that first morning. He tells her how hurt by it he was.
THEY’VE FALLEN IN LOVE
They’re rescued and she helps him not be afraid of getting lifted up by the helicopter by getting him to sing his serenity song.
Back at the house…late night GRILLED CHEESE together.
AND THEY KISS. AND CONSUMATE THEIR RELATIONSHIP
Great escalation and the exclamation point on the end of the sequence.
SEQUENCE 8: PAGES 70-80
But, it’s short lived.
Ben: “We’re getting pretty good at faking it.”
Bea: “I don’t know what’s real anymore. Everything I do feels like a mistake.”
Oh no. The roles are reversed. Hurt by her comment, Ben slips out while Bea sleeps. Just like she did to him in the beginning.
And now it’s WEDDING DAY!
Pete pushes Ben to commit to one woman or the other. Ben doesn’t know what to think or feel anymore.
Margaret asks Bea if she can have a go at Ben. The complications keep coming. And the stakes get higher.
And the response from Bea is great writing. She doesn’t say yes and she doesn’t say no. She says “I know Ben really likes you.”
Another complication. Bea’s parents find out Bea quit law school. Ben told Pete who told the parents.
Major blowout. The truth comes out. Bea tells Ben to fuck off.
Anyone But You…
And that’s our low point/end of act two.
SEQUENCE #9 PAGES 80-90
The ceremony.
Bea sees Margaret kiss Ben. She storms off.
SEQUENCE #10: PAGES 90-100
Ben realizes his mistake with the help of all the supporting characters.
He loves Bea. And he rushes to the Sydney Opera House to find her there.
“I didn’t kiss Margaret. She kissed me.”
They argue. And apologize.
And we realize that no matter how broken something is there’s always a way to fix it.
The beginning of the movie is the promise of the end.
So many set ups for pay offs.
Each sequence has a beginning/middle/end.
The end of each sequence is a cliffhanger, complication, and major step forward toward the narrative story conclusion and character arcs.
Study the films in the genre you’re writing. The good ones and the not so good ones. And you’ll see that so many movies that should be wildly difference from each other actually share the same structural patterns.
Tim Albaugh