Afraid
A travesty of storytelling
EST V ACT domestic box office revenue
$04 – 07MM V $07MM
Mythosis universal quests used
2
Audience appeal
Negligible
Hidden Potential
NA
Directed by Chris Weitz, AfrAId is the story of a family whose life spirals into chaos after they bring home a sentient AI. The story explores basic human desires of power, preservation and self-interest. However, the plot structure of the movie borrows primarily from the Greek tale of Circe.
1. The invisible plot structure of Afraid
1A. The script of Afraid borrows 91% of its events from 2 mythological tales
AIA’s quest is driven by the desire to dominate others and mirrors the tale of Circe from Greek mythology. Circe & AIA create a façade to lure & capture unsuspecting victims.
AIA’s quest is also driven by the desire to protect loved ones and mirrors the tale of Demeter from Greek mythology.
Iris’ quest is underdeveloped. Her quest is driven by the desire of selfishness and mirrors the tale of Valmiki from Hindu mythology. Both Valmiki and Iris are self-centered, to the point of even sacrificing the well-being of their family.
Curtis’ quest is subsumed in the quest of AIA since he plays the role of Picus in Circe’s quest.
None of the other characters have a 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
# 594
Tales interweaved
Circe & Valmiki
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 Afraid's plot structure: $04 – 07MM
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 Afraid
- All Blockbusters have at least 3 universal quests. AfrAId uses 2 universal quests of Power & Family. The quest of Accumulation is used sparingly.
- In Blockbusters, each universal quest is mirrored by ONLY ONE character. AIA mirrors the quest of Power & the quest of Family.
- Every Blockbuster character borrows at least 35% of the universal quest. AIA borrows 37% of events from the quest for Power and 6% from the quest for Family. Iris borrows 7% from the quest of Accumulation.
- Blockbusters have a quest interweaving threshold of 0.5. Interweaving occurs when events of 2 quests occur simultaneously in the story. None of the quests in Afraid are interwoven.
2B. Box office revenue estimation of Afraid
The script of AfrAId relies on the single quest of AIA.
Moreover, the quest of AIA is inconsistent since she pursues two desires – dominate others & protect loved ones.
Since the quest of other characters aren’t well-developed there is no interweaving. As a result, the plot structure is disjointed.
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
0.004
Audience appeal
Negligible
I. How is Mythosis Code used to estimate revenues?
II. Aren’t box-office revenues influenced by several factors beyond just the story plot?
Tags: Circe, Valmiki, Demeter, Power, Accumulation, Family, Chris Weitz, Columbia Pictures, Blumhouse Productions, Sony Pictures Releasing, 2024