Babygirl
“Unfaithful” Reimagined in a Corporate World
ESTIMATED domestic box office revenue
$18 – 34MM
Mythosis universal quests used
2
Audience appeal
0.51% – 0.62%
Hidden potential
$325 – 370MM
Babygirl, directed by Halina Reijn is about a high-powered CEO’s affair with her intern. The plot structure of Babygirl is a sub-set of the 2002 movie “Unfaithful.” Instead of the domestic setting Babygirl transposes the narrative to a corporate office. The story replaces a housewife and an antiques dealer with a CEO and her intern.
1. The invisible plot structure of Babygirl
1A. The script of Babygirl borrows 91% of its events from 2 mythological tales
Romy’s quest is driven by the desire to explore and discover. The quest borrows events from the tale of Eve in Abrahamic mythology. Both Eve and Romy are unable to resist temptation.
Samuel’s quest is driven by the desire to dominate others. The quest borrows events from the tale of Circe in Greek mythology. Both Circe and Samuel take control of gullible victims.
Jacob has an underdeveloped quest of vengeance. Esme doesn’t have any quest.
NOTE: Detailed mirroring of each character’s primary quest to their respective mythological tales is in section “3A. Quests of characters and their mythological counterparts”
Mythosis plot structure
#205
Tales interweaved
Eve & Circe
I. How does interweaving mythological tales lead to infinite story plots?
II. Can the pursuit of a Desire have more than one quest?
2. The potential of Babygirl's plot structure: $18 – 34MM
The interweaving of 32 mythological tales can generate a billion unique stories. By using these 32 tales, we can extract the plot structure of any story across various genres. Our study of blockbuster, hit, and flop plot structures led to the discovery of the Mythosis Code, a set of principles for creating compelling stories. The plot structure of a story is analyzed to see how well it adheres to these storytelling principles.
2A. Plot structure evaluation of Babygirl
- All Blockbusters have at least 3 universal quests. Babygirl uses 2 universal quests of Curiosity & Power
- In Blockbusters, each universal quest is mirrored by ONLY ONE character. Romy mirrors the universal quest of Curiosity. Samuel mirrors the universal quest of Power.
- Every Blockbuster character borrows at least 35% of the universal quest. Romy borrows 36% from the universal quest of Curiosity whereas Samuel borrows 10% from the quest of Power.
- Blockbusters have a quest interweaving threshold of 0.5. Interweaving occurs when events of 2 quests occur simultaneously in the story. Babygirl’s quest interweaving score of 0.33 is below par.
An example of interweaving the quests of Romy & Samuel:
2B. Box office revenue estimation of Babygirl
The script of Babygirl relies on just one quest that severely limits its appeal.
The Script Score measures a plot structure’s adherence to the four principles of Mythosis Code. We use the Script Score to estimate a movie’s audience appeal & revenues. Blockbuster plot structures have a score of at least 0.64 and appeal to 20% of the audiences.
Script Score
0.02
Audience appeal
0.51% - 0.62%
I. How is Mythosis Code used to estimate revenues?
II. Aren’t box-office revenues influenced by several factors beyond just the story plot?
3. The ideal plot structure of Babygirl
We have identified 32 mythological tales, the superset of all tales across cultures. The quests of these tales have also recurred over time periods. They represent human behaviours that are deeply embedded in our shared memories. Each tale is the richest expression of the pursuit of a human desire. The tales have a unique pattern of events spread over 5 major arcs.
Mapping a character’s quest to the relevant mythological tale reveals the gaps in their quest, if any. Plugging these gaps with the missing events deepens the character quest. The missing events also provide an opportunity for interweaving the various quests. These events strengthen the story and unlock its hidden potential.
3A.Quest of characters and their mythological counterparts
Quest 1: Romy mirrors the universal quest for Curiosity
Romy’s desire for Curiosity stems from the need to explore & discover. The tale of Eve from Abrahamic mythology is the universal quest for Curiosity.
Quest 2: Samuel mirrors the universal quest for Power
Samuel’s desire for Power stems from the need to dominate others. The tale of Circe from Greek mythology is the universal quest for Power.
3B.Gaps in the current plot structure
The plot structure of 2002 movie Unfaithful uses 3 universal quests of Curiosity, Power & Vengeance. Even though Babygirl reimagines the plot of Unfaithful in the corporate world, it fails to incorporate the quest of Vengeance. Replacing it with another universal quest would have created a unique story.
Babygirl’s plot structure ends up being a poorer version of Unfaithful due to relying on a singular quest.
3C.Unlocking the hidden potential
The script of Unfaithful is a subset of Mythosis Plot structure #6,213.
- A pure re-imagination of its plot structure would have enhanced Babygirl’s revenues by ~5X!
- However, the plot structure of Unfaithful hasn’t leveraged the full potential of the 3 quests.
- Babygirl could have unlocked the hidden potential by borrowing missing events from the 3 universal quests.
Explore Mythosis Plot structure #6,213 to enhance current revenues by ~17X!
Tags: Circe, Power, Eve, Curiosity, Halina Reijn, 2AM, A24, 2024