In many respects, the plot structure for The Tomorrow War echoes the tripartite structure of The Hero's Journey:
Separation. Initiation. Return.
Or:
Life. Death. Resurrection.
In The Tomorrow War, the Protagonist (Dan) begins in the ordinary world (his suburban neighborhood and family life). When he gets drafted into fighting against alien invaders (Whitespikes) in the future, that separates him from his old life. The war experience represents his initiation into not only an extraordinary world (the Future filled caught up in a war for the survival of the human race), but also a "war" within himself to discover who he truly is.
[We will get into this in our Characters discussion, but at the beginning of the story, Dan is so caught up in closing a "deal" which can "save the world," his drive to be "the best" driven by a troubled relationship with his father, that he is neglecting familial responsibilities, particularly noticeable with regard to his wife (Emmy). Thus in a way, all of the fighting and pyrotechnics of the future war serves Dan's personal transformation to discover what is truly important to him].
Near the midpoint of the story (75), Dan has a near-death experience. Directly after, he meets his now adult daughter Muri, not only a colonel in the army, but also a lead researcher into finding a way to defeat the Whitespikes. Again, we will get into this in the Characters discussion, but what Dan learns about his role in Muri's life (iPad photos of her past show him as less and less of a presence) and his own drunk-driving car-crash death feeds his psychological transformation.
Then the Return. In this case, it's back to the Present where the Tomorrow War becomes Today's War (in Russia).
Thus, the overall structure of the plot aligns with the trajectory of the Hero's Journey., but several things to note:
--The script is long (150 pages). So is the movie (138 minutes). These type of science fiction spectacle movies give a writer some leeway in terms of page count. What's helpful in this script is the shift from the Future to the Present on 114. In other words, just about the time a conventional two-hour movie would be wrapping up, The Tomorrow War sets into motion a whole new scenario: Finding the alien ship on Earth in the present and wipe out the aliens before they get a chance to replicate.
--That said, everything that happens occurs after conventional page count (especially true if you buy into the restrictive Save the Cat paradigm). For example: Dan doesn't enter the Future until 45-48. So much for the "break into Act Two" on 25!
--The story's midpoint, as noted above, doesn't occur until 75. While that is precisely the middle of the script as written, it lands 20 pages or so after a conventional midpoint.
--The end of Act Two / All Is Lost point (here where adult Muri dies and Dan is plunged back into the Present) hits on 113. Again, 20 or so pages after the conventional page count.
Which is to suggest -- once again -- that page count, what happens and where it lands is less important than the characters and their journeys. If a writer can make us (audience) care, that is 99.9% of the battle.
And what is the universal point of human connection in this story? It's about a guy who's so caught up in pursuit of "business" success, he's missing out on what's truly important: his family. We've seen that story 100s of times... and we'll see it again 100s more. Because everybody knows the challenge of balancing their personal and professional lives.
I can hear you saying, "So Scott, you're telling us that this bombastic science fiction movie about people fighting aliens for the survival of the human race is really about a guy fighting to become the family man he needs to be?" And my answer is this: From a psychological perspective, that is precisely the point. Consider the very last lines of the script:
Emmy turns Dan to her. She looks into his eyes. He’s here.
EMMY
You’re back.
DAN
I’m home.
THE END
That's the emotional moment the story builds to, the feeling the writer wants the audience to carry away with them. Yes, Dan has helped to save the world. But like Dorothy in The Wizard of Oz, he has also save himself... and found his way home.
More on the characters in our next post.
