Three Act Structure "The Descent"

When it comes to film narrative structures one of the if not the most common is the Three Act Structure. An example that follows this template faithfully is The Descent, a 2005 film by Neil Marshall. The basic premise of the story follows a group of girlfriends exploring a cave system. They get trapped and realizing that no one knows they are down there the mood turns to a race against time. They further face a problem when discovering a humanoid breed of creatures they realize that they have also become preys. The film is an intense ride of adrenaline and survival.

The story starts out by introducing us to a group of characters and establishing the main character, a young mother who recently lost both her husband and daughter to a car accident. They gather together and are about to embark on a journey through some caverns. About thirty minutes into the film shortly after they descend down the cave we are confronted by a conflict. The cave collapses and they become trapped. The plot point of that act is that they have been tricked by one of the members of the group into thinking that they were exploring certain caverns when in fact the cave system has never been explored before. That ends the first act and we transition into the second act.

The second act is mainly about the conflict of them venturing, and trying to find a way out before the batteries on their lights run out. Soon one of the group memebers falls and breaks her leg, and then trough rising suspense we also come to realize that they might not be alone. In an act of desperation and disorientation as they are trying to find a way out the stumble accross animal reamains. Soon a new problem arises when they are attacked by some creatures. That is the second plot point that transitions us into the third and final act. This second act covers a time of thirty to forty minutes in the film.

In the third act things have become far more complicated than expected which in turn limits their chances for survival. Not only are they trapped with no visible way out, but they are also being hunted by some fiendish creatures. The film has now become a race against time and a fight for survival. The third act reaches the climax when only two of the group members reamain and being close to the way out, they are greeted by numbers of the creatures waiting to stop their exit. Both characters brutally battle the creatures and remain victorious. Then in a twist of revenge one of the girls stabs the other in the leg and leaves her to be attacked by the creatures. This  is the final plot point as the characters become aware of their personal conflicts. One has betrayed the other by having her husband (who is now dead) cheat on the main character. So the movie ends in the succesful escape of our main character. This all happening in the last twenty to twenty five minutes.

Below I have posted the trailer for the film.