Save the Cat rankings

AFTER.LIFE script analysis

AFTER.LIFE script - Save the Cat beat sheet analysis

After.Life juxtaposes the emotional death of a marriage with literal death, following Anna’s journey as she awakens in a funeral home and Paul’s desperate search for her. The story explores themes of love, loss, and acceptance through intersecting character arcs in both the living and the dead world.

45 Save the Cat fit score 35% analysis confidence / 197 parsed scenes

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1

Opening Image

Scene 1 / Page 1 / 1% target

10%

Title page sets a stark, reflective tone that mirrors the film’s exploration of life and death.

2

Theme Stated

Scene 6 / Page 1 / 5% target

40%

Mrs. Ayres’s question about death hints at the movie’s central theme of understanding mortality.

ELIOT Or perhaps the Aegean? Solid bronze exterior. Hand brushed finish with Grecian bronze highlights.
3

Set-Up

Scenes 2-5 / Pages 1-2 / 10% target

45%

We see Paul and Anna’s estranged marriage, Anna’s professional life, and Eliot’s funeral home setup.

4

Catalyst

Scene 43 / Page 3 / 12% target

50%

Anna awakens on the mortuary slab and learns she has died in a car accident, triggering her arc.

5

Debate

Scene 52 / Page 4 / 20% target

50%

Anna struggles to accept her death and debates whether to escape the locked prep room.

ELIOT How can I hurt you? You're already dead.
6

Break into Two

Scenes 63-66 / Pages 4-5 / 25% target

45%

Paul arrives at the funeral home confronted with Anna’s death while Anna remains trapped and begins to accept her new reality.

7

B Story

Scene 86 / Page 6 / 30% target

40%

Jack’s ability to see the dead and his friendship with Eliot provides the emotional B-story.

ELIOT Can I help you?
8

Fun and Games

Scenes 78-88 / Pages 6-7 / 40% target

45%

Anna explores the funeral home’s prep rooms, encountering the dead and testing the boundaries of her state.

9

Midpoint

Scenes 93-95 / Pages 7-8 / 50% target

50%

Anna steals Eliot’s keys and escapes, gaining agency in her limbo, a false ‘win.’

ELIOT It's your dress. For your funeral. Your mother brought it round this morning.
10

Bad Guys Close In

Scenes 97-100 / Pages 8-9 / 65% target

45%

Eliot realizes Anna has escaped and races to recapture her as she frantically attempts to free herself.

11

All Is Lost

Scenes 103-105 / Page 9 / 75% target

50%

Anna finds herself cornered back in the funeral home entrance with no escape, and Eliot locks her in.

12

Dark Night of the Soul

Scenes 111-116 / Pages 9-10 / 80% target

50%

Anna’s frantic phone calls to Paul and her alone in an upstairs room mark her lowest emotional point.

ANNA Please pick up. Please pick up.
13

Break into Three

Scenes 159-160 / Page 12 / 85% target

45%

Anna and Eliot reach an understanding; Anna confesses her regrets and accepts her fate, preparing for her funeral.

ELIOT When Paul came. You did the right thing. You let him go.
14

Finale

Scenes 173-181 / Pages 12-14 / 95% target

40%

Paul and Anna’s intertwined attempts to rescue each other culminate in Anna’s funeral and Paul’s burial of her, followed by her entombed struggle.

15

Final Image

Scene 183 / Page 14 / 99% target

30%

Eliot pins Anna’s photograph among the dead, reflecting on the world moving on as she remains unseen.

ELIOT (O.C.) Imagine Anna. The whole world, your mother, your fianc e, your friends. Everyone has buried you....