Screenplay Structure Analysis
As Above, So Below
A brilliant archaeologist leads a team into the Paris catacombs to find the legendary Philosopher's Stone, only to discover the tunnels are a literal descent into hell where they must confront their darkest sins to escape.
Tone
Found footage horror with escalating dread, claustrophobic tension, and psychological terror grounded in alchemical mythology
Tension curve
Dramatic intensity across As Above, So Below from first page to last, sampled at 40 points on a 0–10 scale. Values: 7.1, 7.1, 6.7, 5.3, 4, 3.5, 4.2, 4.8, 4.8, 4.2, 3.9, 4, 5.2, 5.7, 6, 5.5, 5.2, 4.7, 5, 5.5, 6.6, 6.4, 5.9, 5.1, 4.7, 4.7, 4.7, 5, 5.6, 6.3, 6.8, 6.6, 7, 7.7, 8.3, 8.2, 8.4, 8.7, 8.8, 8.6.
Structure at a glance
- Inciting incident
- Page 17, 17% of the script: George translates Flamel's gravestone using the Rose Key, reading couplets about a winged vulture, heaven's reign, and a darkest gate; Scarlett realizes the stone is hidden beneath Flamel's grave in the catacombs, and George reluctantly agrees to help despite his reservations.
- Act 1 break
- Page 34, 33% of the script: The team enters the catacombs through the forbidden entrance, crossing the threshold from the ordinary world into the underworld.
- Midpoint
- Page 70, 68% of the script: Scarlett and the team discover the alchemist chamber they've been searching for, filled with gold, lit torches, and alchemical symbols, and Scarlett realizes the Philosopher's Stone must be hidden in the darkest shadow.
- Act 2 break
- Page 78, 76% of the script: Scarlett passes through the Gates (literal hell's gate) after the chamber collapse, entering a mirrored nightmare version of the catacombs where supernatural horror begins.
- Climax
- Page 98, 95% of the script: Scarlett places her hands over George's wounds and kisses him deeply, healing his wounds completely, then declares 'I am the stone' and tells them to follow her.
- Peak tension
- 8.8 out of 10, reached about 97% of the way through; the script averages 5.9.
- Average scene length
- 1.5 pages
Structural personality
This script employs a brilliant circular descent structure that mirrors Dante's Inferno. The first act establishes Scarlett's obsessive quest and assembles the team. Act Two is a literal descent through increasingly deeper levels of the catacombs, punctuated by character revelations and mounting tension. The structural genius occurs at scene 53 when they pass through 'The Gates' - the chamber they entered becomes a mirror version, and they must retrace their path backward through increasingly nightmarish versions of spaces they've already traversed. Each location becomes a personalized hell where characters confront their sins. The structure is both linear (deeper into the catacombs) and circular (retracing steps through transformed spaces), creating a claustrophobic inevitability. The final act reverses the descent into an ascent, but only after characters face their demons - literally. This isn't a traditional three-act structure but rather a descent-nadir-ascent pattern that serves the hermetic 'as above, so below' theme perfectly.
Pacing
Pacing is methodical in Act One (scenes 1-31), taking 34 pages to establish mythology, recruit the team, and build anticipation. Act Two (scenes 32-52) moves at a steady exploratory pace through 21 pages of discovery, with scene length averaging 1-2 pages as they navigate deeper. The structural rupture at scene 53 accelerates everything - Act Three (scenes 54-90) covers 50 pages with 37 scenes, creating a breathless 1.3 page average as supernatural chaos erupts. The script uses the found-footage conceit to justify rapid cuts between locations during the escape sequence (scenes 66-90), where single locations get multiple brief scenes as characters loop through them. Deaths punctuate and accelerate: Souxie (scene 55), Benji (scene 62), La Taupe (scene 65), creating mounting urgency. The final 15 pages (scenes 76-90) are pure survival sprint.
Themes
- Descent into hell as literal and metaphorical journey
- Guilt and the need for redemption
- The price of knowledge and ambition
- As above, so below - the hermetic principle that inner demons manifest externally
- Confronting one's past sins to achieve salvation
Similar shapes
Screenplays whose tension curve most closely matches As Above, So Below.
- Swiss Army Man by Daniels
- The Big Short by Charles Randolph and Adam McKay
- There Will Be Blood by Paul Thomas Anderson
Scene summaries and structural markers are generated by AI analysis of the screenplay text and may contain minor inaccuracies. ScriptGraph analyzes structure and does not reproduce screenplay text.
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