Save the Cat rankings

Anonymous script analysis

Anonymous script - Save the Cat beat sheet analysis

The film follows Ben Jonson’s dangerous entanglement in the secret authorship of Shakespeare’s works and the political intrigues surrounding Edward de Vere, the Earl of Oxford. Through flashbacks and interrogations, themes of power, identity, and legacy emerge as Jonson becomes Oxford’s frontman. The narrative builds to a riotous Globe Theater performance and culminates in Oxford’s deathbed trust and Jonson’s struggle to preserve the manuscripts.

35 Save the Cat fit score 12% analysis confidence / 146 parsed scenes

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1

Opening Image

Scene 1 / Page 1 / 1% target

10%

Introduces the play within the play and sets a theatrical frame.

2

Theme Stated

Scene 4 / Page 1 / 5% target

15%

Prologue questions authorship and truth of the works.

Soul of the Age! The applause, delight, the wonder of our stage! Our Shakespeare, rise...
3

Set-Up

Scenes 5-8 / Pages 1-3 / 10% target

10%

Jonson’s flight, capture, and interrogation establish stakes.

4

Catalyst

Scene 9 / Page 3 / 12% target

20%

Interrogation reveals the true author is Oxford.

We are not interested in your plays, Jonson. We are interested in the plays given to you by...
5

Debate

Scenes 18-20 / Pages 4-5 / 20% target

10%

Jonson hesitates to become Oxford’s frontman.

I can't very well use my name, can I? I'm the seventeenth Earl of Oxford. The Lord Great...
6

Break into Two

Scenes 20-21 / Pages 5-6 / 25% target

10%

Jonson agrees to stage Oxford’s manuscript.

7

B Story

Scenes 28-29 / Page 7 / 30% target

10%

Jonson and Shakespeare discuss Jonson’s poetic ambitions.

I tell you Will-- I came to London to become a great poet, to, to, be the conscience...
8

Fun and Games

Scenes 42-49 / Pages 9-10 / 40% target

10%

Staging of Henry V and brawling theater showcase Shakespeare’s rise.

9

Midpoint

Scene 54 / Page 10 / 50% target

15%

The Hamlet performance caricatures Cecil, raising stakes politically.

...Beware of entrance to a quarrel, but being in, bear it that the opposed may beware of thee....
10

Bad Guys Close In

Scenes 67-71 / Page 12 / 65% target

10%

Marlowe’s suspicion and Marlowe’s death heighten danger for Jonson.

Why do you think Will hasn't been arrested? You or I make the slightest joke about a nobleman...
11

All Is Lost

Scenes 95-97 / Page 14 / 75% target

10%

Drunken Jonson’s breakdown leads him to Tower to betray manuscripts.

12

Dark Night of the Soul

Scenes 119-120 / Page 17 / 80% target

10%

Oxford collapses as cannons fire, symbolizing ultimate ruin.

He hated you, Edward, how he hated you. And yet he married his only daughter to you. I...
13

Break into Three

Scenes 134-135 / Page 19 / 85% target

15%

Jonson confronts dying Oxford and is entrusted with his manuscripts.

Come over here, Jonson...
14

Finale

Scenes 140-146 / Pages 20-21 / 95% target

10%

Jonson secures manuscripts, witnesses court performance under James I.

O-- for a muse of fire... that would ascend the brightest heaven of invention...
15

Final Image

Scene 146 / Page 21 / 99% target

12%

Prologue closes with epilogue on characters’ fates.

Robert Cecil remained the most powerful man in the Court of King James, though he could not prevent...