The Relic script - Save the Cat beat sheet analysis

Introduces high-stakes urgency as Whittlesley forces a taxi toward the harbor at night.

Faster! We won't make it.

Margo’s excitement about the Superstition Exhibit hints at the dangers of unearthing the past.

Hello, Ian. Everything ready for the opening of the Superstition Exhibit?

We meet Whittlesley’s crates, Pendergast’s arrival, and Margo’s routine museum life.

Whittlesley discovers the vibrating crates and attempts suicide, signaling that something is very wrong.

Pendergast and Margo question whether to proceed as bodies pile up and the mystery deepens.

Any of your men go on board?

They commit to investigating the museum’s exhibit and Mbwun statue despite increasing danger.

Warrior deity of the Kothoga, an extinct South American tribe. Dr. John Whittlesley led an expedition that found...

The partnership and budding trust between Pendergast and Margo deepen as they share backgrounds.

Somehow, when all this happened... I knew it would come back to John. Is he really dead?

Investigative set pieces: interviews, autopsy, DNA analysis, and exploring hidden storage.

So... Tell us about this monster.

First direct confrontation with the creature in the sub-basement raises stakes dramatically.

Not yet. Let's try the fork to the left.

Creature attacks at the exhibit and museum, isolating characters and ratcheting tension.

Margo confronts the monster in the men’s room and realizes it’s Whittlesley—rock bottom moment.

Heartbroken revelation as Margo explains the virus origin and despair peaks.

That thing is John Whittlesley. I should have seen it before! The fibers are infected with a virus....

Pendergast chooses to negotiate rather than kill, pivoting to a final plan.

No. Wait! Let me talk to him first!

High-tension showdown where Pendergast and Margo confront and subdue the creature.

Get back! We're going to shoot!

Aftermath in the lab shows a return to normalcy but hints of lingering consequences.

No time for fishing anymore?