Joy Ride
EST V ACT domestic box office revenue
$10 – 12MM V $13MM
Mythosis universal quests used
2
Audience appeal
~0.30%
Script Score
0.01
Joy Ride released in 2023 is Adele Lim’s feature directorial debut. The story follows an overachieving lawyer realizing the importance of friends and family during a business trip.
1. The invisible plot structure of Joy Ride
1A. The script of Joy Ride borrows 85% of its events from 2 mythological tales
Audrey’s quest is driven by selfishness. The quest borrows events from the tale of Valmiki in Hindu mythology. Both Valmiki & Audrey are self-centred but eventually have a change of heart and sacrifice their interest.
Kat’s underdeveloped quest is driven by the desire for companionship. The quest borrows events from the tale of Psyche in Greek mythology. Both Psyche and Kat win back their loved ones after getting deserted.
Lolo & Vanessa don’t have a distinctive 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
# 149
Tales interweaved
Valmiki & Psyche
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 Joy Ride's plot structure: $10-12MM
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 Joy Ride
- All Blockbusters have at least 3 universal quests. Joy Ride uses one universal quest of Accumulation. The quest of Social contact is sparsely used.
- In Blockbusters, each universal quest is mirrored by ONLY ONE character. Audrey mirrors the universal quest of Accumulation whereas Kat mirrors the quest of Social Contact.
- Every Blockbuster character borrows at least 35% of the universal quest. Audrey borrows 42% events from the quest for Accumulation & Kat borrows 7% events from the quest for Social Contact.
- Blockbusters have a quest interweaving threshold of 0.5. Interweaving occurs when events of 2 quests occur simultaneously in the story. Joy Ride doesn’t have a second quest, hence there's no interweaving.
2B. Box office revenue estimation of Joy Ride
The plot structure of Joy Ride is based on ONLY ONE universal quest.
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
0.01
Audience appeal
~0.30%
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 Joy Ride
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: Audrey mirrors the universal quest Accumulation
Audrey’s desire for Accumulation stems from the need to collect & own. The tale of Valmiki from Hindu mythology has a robust expression in Dicken’s character of Scrooge which is the unfulfilled universal quest for Accumulation.
3B.Gaps in the current plot structure
The movie promises four characters but has built only one of them.
3C.Unlocking the hidden potential
The plot of Joy Ride is a sub set of Mythosis Plot Structure # 149. It uses the tale of Valmiki & a few events from Psyche’s quest. A redraft of the script is required since it doesn’t adhere to the first principles of storytelling.
Contact us for Joy Ride’s plot Structure # 149
Tags: Psyche, Valmiki, Social contact, Accumulation, Adele Lim, Point Grey Pictures, Lionsgate, 2023