In the last issue of Flawlessly Human, I taught you how to engineer an impactful Plot Point #1, and the Inciting Incident that leads to it…
Today, we’ll focus on the meat and potatoes of your movie, Act II, and architect the two most impactful events that define Act II: the Midpoint, and Plot Point #2.
We’ll also see what the “All Is Lost” moment is, and WHY it is SO CRUCIALLY IMPORTANT!
First, let’s talk about the Midpoint:
It’s called the Midpoint simply because it happens more or less exactly halfway through the movie.
Consequently, the MIDPOINT splits the entire movie, and more importantly, Act II, into two distinct parts.
Act II is where 90%+ of the movie really happens…
If we were to ignore the Resolution, which always happens in Act III, for all intents and purposes Act II IS the movie!
What I mean by that is that all the actions the protagonist, the Hero, takes to overcome their limitations in order to be able to achieve their visible goal; all the testing and all the struggle; and also all of the transformative work, happens entirely in ACT II.
The Midpoint is important because it splits Act II into two parts: the first part where the plot happens to the Hero, and a second part where the Hero starts happening to the plot!
This change in the character of the protagonist, in his or her willingness to ACT, to take control over the circumstances around them and MAKE THINGS HAPPEN, is catalyzed by the events of the MIDPOINT.
BEFORE the Midpoint hits, the Hero has been mostly reacting to the events set in motion by Plot Point #1.
AFTER the Midpoint, the Hero formulates a new plan and begins to take the fight directly to the antagonist.
The Hero stops reacting, and STARTS ACTING.
Let’s see now what the main characteristics of this super-important plot point are:
MIDPOINT’S MAIN CHARACTERISTICS:
It happens at or around the 50% mark of your story.
It’s a PIVOTAL POINT in the Story (usually a REVERSAL)
It shifts the protagonist from a state of reaction to one of proactive action
It raises the stakes significantly, often making the conflict personal for the protagonist.
It changes the Hero's goal, or, at the very least, their understanding of the goal.
It often marks the end of the "fun and games" section of the story, and signals that things are about to get serious!
One important thing to keep in mind is that the Midpoint is not a one-size-fits-all event. It can manifest in a variety of different ways, depending on the story.
These are some of the most common ones:
A Major Revelation: The protagonist –and the audience– learns a crucial piece of information that changes everything they thought they knew about the conflict, the villain… or themselves!
Example: The detective discovers the person they're protecting is the real killer!
A Point of No Return: The protagonist makes a conscious, irreversible decision that fully commits them to their journey. They “burn the bridges” behind them!
Example: The hero publicly denounces the corrupt king, making them a fugitive!
A False Victory: The protagonist seemingly achieves their goal, only to discover it's not what they wanted; either it was a trap, or it creates an even bigger problem!
Example: They steal the money, but soon discover it’s counterfeit. And now the crime syndicate is after them!
A False Defeat: The protagonist suffers a massive setback that seems like the end, but within that failure lies the very tool, knowledge, or ally they need to ultimately succeed.
Example: Their ship is destroyed and they are captured, but inside the enemy prison they find the one person who knows the villain's weakness!
A "Mirror Moment": An introspective moment where the protagonist is forced to look at themselves and confront who they have become. It "mirrors" their internal state and shows how far they must still go.
Example: The rebel soldier, after sacrificing a village to win a battle, realizes he just gave the same monstrous order he once saw his enemy give!
This is a useful checklist you can use to make sure you nailed the Midpoint of your story:
Checklist: Have You Nailed Your Midpoint?
☐ Does the hero learn something that reframes the entire conflict?
☐ Do the stakes suddenly become much more personal?
☐ Does the hero stop reacting and start planning an attack?
☐ Is there a false "win" or a false "loss" that propels the story in a new direction?
☐ Does the pace, tone, or sub-genre of the story change here?
☐ If you removed this scene, would the second half of the story make any sense? –If not, you likely have a strong Midpoint!
Let’s apply this framework to The Matrix…
The Midpoint of The Matrix occurs almost exactly around the 50% mark of the film, when Neo is taken to see the Oracle.
Let’s remember what a Midpoint is meant to do:
It's a major revelation that changes the protagonist's understanding of their goal.
It raises the stakes and often makes the conflict personal.
It shifts the hero from a STATE OF REACTION to a STATE OF ACTION
The Oracle scene does all of this perfectly:
The Revelation: The Oracle tells Neo that he is NOT “The One”.
This revelation shatters the entire premise of his journey so far!
But she also gives him a crucial piece of new information:
"...you'll have to make a choice. On the one hand, you'll have Morpheus's life, and on the other hand, you'll have your own. One of you is going to die. Which one, will be up to you."The Stakes are Raised: The abstract, epic quest to be "The One" is suddenly replaced by a concrete, terrible, and intensely personal choice.
It's no longer about saving the world; it's about who will live and who will die!The Hero is Propelled into ACTION: When the time comes, Neo will have to make a choice. A life-or-death choice.
The final outcome is entirely in his hands, and he won’t be able to stay passive any longer!
This scene is the pivot on which the entire film turns.
Of course, if you’ve seen the movie you know that the Oracle is not telling Neo the literal truth about his identity here, but instead, is giving him the exact psychological push he needs.
So, while it is a Revelation, it's not a revelation of external plot facts. It's a revelation of:
The True Stakes: The conflict is no longer an abstract war; it's a personal, life-or-death choice between himself and his mentor.
His Internal Flaw: The Oracle holds a mirror up to his self-doubt ("you're waiting for something…"). She makes him conscious of his own internal obstacle.
The best way to categorize this Midpoint is as one of Personalization and Confrontation.
It's the moment the external war becomes Neo's internal, personal battle.
The Oracle's "test" forces the stakes to become so high that Neo can no longer afford to "keep waiting for another life."
He is now on a collision course with a choice that he must actively make.
That’s the very essence of a great Midpoint!
Let’s now talk about Plot Point #2, and the All-Is-Lost Moment.
The All-Is-Lost moment is also known by screenwriters by many other names, including Stunning Surprise #2, and the very descriptive name of The Dark Night Of The Soul.
These are two points that are commonly confused, and while they’re intimately related to each other, and happen back-to-back, they’re quite different:
The easiest way to think of it is as CAUSE and EFFECT.
Plot Point #2 is THE EVENT (The Cause): This is the external, physical disaster.
It is the moment the antagonist delivers their most crushing blow, and the Hero's original plan is utterly shattered. PLOT POINT #2 is a plot event.
In The Matrix, Morpheus is captured by Agent Smith. This is the objective disaster.
The All-Is-Lost moment is THE REACTION (The Effect): This is the internal, emotional consequence of Plot Point #2.
It's the moment of despair where the Hero, their allies, and the audience all feel that all hope is gone and failure is inevitable. It is both a character and theme beat.
In The Matrix, the crew on the Nebuchadnezzar realize the full implications of Morpheus's capture.
The plan is to unplug him –they must kill their leader in order to save the last human city.
Cypher's betrayal has left them decimated. This is the moment of utter hopelessness.
As you can see, Plot Point #2 is the lightning strike; the All-Is-Lost moment is the deafening thunder that follows, signaling the true devastation that has taken place.
Let’s see now the main characteristics of Plot Point #2:
PLOT POINT #2’s MAIN CHARACTERISTICS:
It happens at or around the 75% mark of your story.
It functions as the true climax of Act II.
It shows the full power of the antagonistic force (The Villain)
It makes the hero's original goal appear impossible to achieve.
It creates a seemingly insurmountable obstacle for the protagonist.
It pushes the hero to their absolute lowest point, forcing them to face their greatest fears and flaws without their usual support system –mentors, plans, tools.
Just like with the Midpoint, Plot Point #2 comes in different flavors.
These are some of the most common ones:
The Death of a Mentor or Key Ally: The Hero loses their guide or a crucial friend, forcing them to stand completely alone for the first time.
The Apparent Victory of the Antagonist: The villain achieves their primary goal –e.g., gets the super-weapon, acquires the company, etc–, seemingly ending the story in failure.
A Devastating Personal Failure: The Hero's own actions, hubris, or flaws directly lead to the disaster, creating immense personal guilt on top of the external failure.
The "Whiff of Death": A moment that brings the hero into close contact with death —either their own, an ally's, or the death of the dream they were fighting for.
Here’s your checklist:
Checklist: Have You Nailed Your Plot Point #2?
☐ Does my antagonist score their biggest, most devastating win here?
☐ Is my hero's original plan now completely useless?
☐ Does this event force my hero to confront their deepest fear or flaw head-on?
☐ Is all hope seemingly lost as a direct result of this event?
☐ Does this disaster lead directly to a new, desperate, all-or-nothing decision that will start Act III?
In summary, the Midpoint is an external event that hits the Hero in their journey.
The devastating feeling of defeat that comes as a direct result of this event; that moment of despair and hopelessness that immediately follows where both Hero and audience feel that the quest has irremediably failed and there is no way the protagonist could possibly achieve his goal now…
That’s the aptly named “All Is Lost” moment!
But here’s the thing:
Plot Point #2 is not just a disaster; it's a catalyst.
It forces the hero to make a final, deeply transformative choice.
It is this relationship between the All Is Lost moment and the Hero’s Final Reversal that’s the crucible of the Hero's Journey!
The All-Is-Lost moment works by stripping the Hero of everything external: their mentor, their plan, their allies' hope, their tools.
When all outside help is gone, the Hero is forced to look inward for a new source of strength.
To overcome this ultimate low point, the Hero must make a last, all-or-nothing decision.
This decision cannot be based on the original plan that is now shredded to pieces…
It must come from a place of internal strength and newfound understanding; from a place of profound internal transformation.
The Hero must finally face head-on the character flaw that has been holding them back all along, and overcome it once and for all to make a final, decisive move against the antagonist!
In summary, the Hero’s Final Reversal is the turning point where the Hero:
Overcomes their FLAW.
Makes a new, ALL-OR-NOTHING plan.
Commits to the FINAL CONFRONTATION, launching the story into Act III!
Let’s see how all of this works in The Matrix:
Neo's FLAW is his lack of self-belief.
The All-Is-Lost moment –Morpheus is going to die!– creates the needed catalyst for Neo to finally embrace the change he so desperately needs but has been rejecting for the entire movie.
The old plan is gone. The only thing that can save the day is for Neo to finally stop "waiting for the next life" and choose to believe in himself.
His decision to go back for Morpheus is Neo’s Reversal.
It is a direct refutation of his old, doubtful self.
He is no longer acting because someone told him he is The One –thanks to the Oracle, he’s free from this belief now–; he is acting because he has decided to be.
This decision, born from the ashes of the All-Is-Lost moment, is what launches him into THE FINAL CONFRONTATION of Act III.
But…
Where exactly does Act II end and Act III begin in The Matrix?
EXACTLY at this precise moment where despair turns into resolve, launching the final, climactic plan!
Act II ends with Neo's DECISION.
After processing the All-Is-Lost reality, he stands up and rejects the plan to kill Morpheus.
He says: "I'm going in."
Trinity confronts him, saying:"No one has ever done anything like this."
Neo, now fully committed, responds: "That's why it's going to work."
This moment of new, seemingly insane resolve is the definitive end of Act II!
Act III Begins immediately after, with the PHYSICAL, VISIBLE MANIFESTATION OF THAT DECISION.
The tone shifts sharply from hopelessness to COMMITMENT; from despair to ACTION.
Trinity joins him, and they walk toward the weapons locker.
Tank asks, "What do you need?"
Neo's iconic response, "Guns. Lots of guns," is the official kickoff of Act III with its climactic assault on the heavily guarded building where Morpheus is being kept captive, and THE FINAL CONFRONTATION between Neo and Agent Smith.
That’s how the Hero’s Reversal, brought to existence by the Hero having hit rock bottom in the All-Is-Lost moment, acts as THE BRIDGE between the end of Act II and the beginning of Act III!
Let’s now use this knowledge to come up with the Midpoint for the story we have been working on in this series: Tom’s story.
Let’s first pick the story’s Plot Point #1 from the couple of options we discussed in the past issue:
Let’s say that our Antagonist is now a Chinese hacker who’s trying to steal vital intelligence through Tom’s lab systems.
Maybe this hacker is not only good, but inhumanly good, because he’s leveraging a host of AI hacking models he has trained to breach systems at inhuman speed, and without being detected even by the most sophisticated anti-hacking systems in the world.
Now, this is great because, if you have noticed, now we have an Antagonist that’s the dark reflection –the Shadow– of our Hero: someone who believes the same LIE the Hero believes in!
However, as the Shadow has developed this LIE to its full extent, he is MUCH MORE POWERFUL than the Hero is –as every Antagonist should be!
As you can see, this is a completely different movie, even when the human core of the story is exactly the same:
A person who used to be brilliant, but now is convinced that there is no way for a human to outsmart AI… having to outsmart the most powerful AI system on Earth using only his human intelligence and ingenuity.
Ok, now that we have picked the story we’ll be telling, let’s imagine together what would be a great midpoint for this story…
One thing that I find really helpful is to think of the Midpoint like a major change of course in the story.
Actually, I think of all these plot points as either “leading points” or “pivot points”.
In my mind, there are THREE major external “Pivot Points” in a 3-Act Story Structure: Plot Point #1, the Midpoint, and Plot Point #2.
There are also TWO major external “Leading Points” that lead to these major reversal points: the Inciting Incident, which leads to Plot Point #1; and the Midpoint, that leads to Plot Point #2.
All these plot points are external, that is, they are all plot-based points.
They are EVENTS, things that happen TO the Hero.
Contrastingly, there is only ONE internal, transformative Pivot Point in the entire story: The Hero’s Reversal.
This internal Pivot Point has its own internal Leading Point: the All-Is-Lost moment.
It’s good to point out here that the All-Is-Lost moment is directly provoked and brought into existence by Plot Point #2; here’s where the internal, emotional journey of the Hero, and the external circumstances of the plot finally collide!
You can think of the plot –the external events of the story– and the character arc –the emotional and transformational journey of the Hero– as two concentric circles that run one inside the other, at different speeds and, sometimes, even in different directions!
But at times, these two mostly independent circles get into direct contact, acting on each other, and provoking some reflection, deep insight, or inner change in the Hero.
The major points of contact between these external and internal circles are:
Plot Point #1 forces the Hero to make an internal decision to engage.
The Midpoint often forces an internal realization, or a new level of personal commitment on the part of the Hero.
Plot Point #2: forces the Hero to finally connect with their NEED and let go of their FLAW. In other words, it makes them commit, finally, to the INNER TRANSFORMATION the entire story is about.
With all of this in mind, let’s think of the story we have so far, and use these Pivot Points to change course, with the ultimate goal of pushing the Hero to the transformation they must go through in order to embody the movie’s THEME.
We know Plot Point #1:
Tom discovers that an AI-enhanced hacker is using his lab’s systems to smuggle crucial intelligence that can be used to render all national security systems useless, and open the doors for a devastating blow from a foreign superpower…
This sets the course of Act II, where our hero will make everything in his power to stop this infiltration…
But as expected, he’ll struggle and fail several attempts along the way, facing ever increasing stakes, until he finally arrives at the Midpoint with a seemingly working plan…
We know what the functions of the Midpoint are, so let’s pick one flavor of Midpoint we think can work well with this story…
Will it be a Revelation, a Point of No Return, a False Victory, a False Defeat or a Mirror Moment?
All of them can work, so there is no right or wrong answer here!
For me, I’ll go with my favorite: Revelation (and a pinch of False Victory for added flavor!)
Let’s say that Tom finally manages to scrape together a plan, and in a moment of brilliance he reverses some of the encrypted code implanted in the lab’s systems, and uses this knowledge to create a reverse connection to the hacker’s C2 (Command & Control) mainframe.
Tom is now inside the remote computer and is getting ready to run a bash script he wrote that will delete all the collected information and render all the installed backdoors inoperable, shutting down the entire hacker’s operation…
For that to work though, he needs root privileges in the remote system, so Tom is checking all directories he has access to, frenetically seeking for a SSH key, a root password, or any other way to escalate his privileges in the host to run the script before he’s caught and kicked out of the system…
That is when he saw it…
At first they looked like random image files sitting in a random directory.
But Tom didn’t have access to a tool to visualize images through the SSH tunnel…
Thinking he might be able to get some crucial information about the hacker in one of these images…
Maybe a picture, or a GPS location that he could report to the authorities?
He manages to zip them and exfiltrate them down to the lab’s computer using the encrypted tunnel he had created…
He quickly opens the files and find that they are, indeed, photos.
There are no recognizable people in them though…
Well… wait!
YES, that’s the guy he saw in the TV, the hacker who’s behind all these attacks!
But wait a minute…
This is not Russia… or China as he was expecting.
These streets feel way too familiar…
Tom quickly opens up a special software to extract the GPS metadata from the pictures to confirm the location…
It’s HERE!
It’s in North Carolina!
Wait…
This picture…
NO. IT CAN’T BE TRUE.
Tom fell into his chair, lifeless, like a sack of potatoes.
IT CANNOT BE.
But deep down, he knew it was true.
There was no foreign country trying to use these defense codes to destroy the US.
IT’S US!
He closed the lid of the laptop with unusual force, as if crashing the screen could make his sudden realization go away.
IT’S US! IT HAS ALWAYS BEEN US!
How is that for a Midpoint reversal?
I think we achieved our goal: a False Victory and a Revelation that launches the movie in a completely new direction!
The enemy is home, and has powerful, local allies.
Whatever the plan Tom was operating on, it’s now shattered to pieces!
If he has any hope of winning this war he will have to ACT…
The reacting game is over.
There is no hiding behind a computer anymore… and the AI co-researchers he has relied on so heavily for years won’t be able to assist him on this one!
The war is home, and all of a sudden it has become much more personal… and deadly!
Did we hit all the notes for a good Midpoint?
We have changed course dramatically, that’s for sure!
Where is the next stop from here?
Plot Point #2 of course!
But I’ll leave that one to you for practice…
At least until next week, where I’ll close this series with an in-depth treatment of Act III, and the Final Confrontation between the Hero and The Villain.
See you then!
Leonardo
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