Night Swim
EST V ACT domestic box office revenue
$24 – 30MM V $32MM
Mythosis universal quests used
3
Audience appeal
0.68 – 0.84%
Script Score
0.02
Night Swim is Bryce McGuire’s feature directorial debut. The story is about a family who move into a new home with a backyard swimming pool that is haunted by a malevolent force.
1. The invisible plot structure of Night Swim
1A. The script of Night Swim borrows 87% of its events from 3 mythological tales
The Pool’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 The Pool create a façade of godliness to take control of gullible victims.
Ray’s quest is driven by the desire to protect. The quest borrows events from the tale of Oedipus in Greek mythology. Both Oedipus & Ray fail to protect due to an error in judgement and sacrifice themselves.
Every human desire has a fulfilled and an unfulfilled quest. Night Swim uses both the universal quests for “Family”.
Eve’s quest is driven by the desire to protect & nurture. The quest borrows events from the tale of Demeter in Greek mythology. Both Demeter and Eve embark on finding the abductor & recover their loved ones.
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
# 17,981
Tales interweaved
Circe, Oedipus & Demeter
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 Night Swim's plot structure: $24-30MM
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 Night Swim
- All Blockbusters have at least 3 universal quests. Night Swim uses the quests of Power and both quests of Family.
- In Blockbusters, each universal quest is mirrored by ONLY ONE character. Ray mirrors the unfulfilled quest of Family whereas Eve mirrors the fulfilled quest. The Pool mirrors the quest of Power.
- Every Blockbuster character borrows at least 35% of the universal quest. Ray’s character borrows 18% events from the unfulfilled quest of Family. The Pool borrows 21% events from the quest of Power. Eve borrows 12% events from the fulfilled quest of Family.
- Blockbusters have a quest interweaving threshold of 0.5. Interweaving occurs when events of 2 quests occur simultaneously in the story. Night Swim’s quest interweaving score of 0.33 is below par.
An example of interweaving the quests of Ray & The Pool:
2B. Box office revenue estimation of Night Swim
Night Swim’s plot structure is disjointed due to the shallow usage of quests.
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
0.68 – 0.84%
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 Night Swim
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: The Pool mirrors the universal quest for Power
The Pool’s desire for Power stems from the need to dominate others. The tale of Circe from Greek mythology is the universal quest for Power.
Quest 2: Ray mirrors the unfulfilled quest for Family
Ray’s desire for Family stems from the need to nurture & protect. The tale of Oedipus from Greek mythology is the universal unfulfilled quest for Family.
Quest 3: Eve mirrors the fulfilled quest for Family
Eve’s desire for Family stems from the need to nurture & protect. The tale of Demeter from Greek mythology is the universal fulfilled quest for Family.
3B.Gaps in the current plot structure
Night Swim’s plot structure has three shallow quests that makes interweaving difficult and creates plot gaps.
3C.Unlocking the hidden potential
Night Swim’s plot structure is a sub set of Mythosis Plot Structure # 17,981. It interweaves the tales of Circe, Oedipus & Demeter.
Unlock the potential of Night Swim with Mythosis Plot Structure # 17,981
Tags: Circe, Demeter, Oedipus, Family, Power, Bryce McGuire, Blumhouse Productions, Atomic Monster, Universal Pictures, 2024