Screenplay Structure Analysis

Don't Look Up

Written by Adam McKay · Dark Comedy/Satire · 123 pages · 172 scenes · 3-act natural structure · linear organization · Analysis confidence: High

Two astronomers discover a comet heading toward Earth and struggle to warn humanity through a media and political landscape more interested in ratings and profits than survival.

Tone
Satirical, increasingly frantic, apocalyptic

Tension curve

Dramatic intensity across Don't Look Up from first page to last, sampled at 40 points on a 0–10 scale. Values: 2.1, 3.2, 4.6, 5.6, 5.6, 6.2, 7, 7.8, 7.1, 6.5, 5.6, 5.5, 5.1, 4.7, 4.7, 4.8, 4.9, 4.6, 4.7, 5.2, 5.3, 5.2, 5.2, 6, 6.7, 7.1, 7.1, 6.8, 6.8, 6.8, 6.8, 6.5, 6.2, 6.1, 6.6, 6.8, 7.2, 7.5, 8.1, 8.3.

Structure at a glance

Inciting incident
Page 8, 7% of the script: Kate estimates the object is 135 to 150 kilometers wide while the grad students express disbelief at the massive size.
Act 1 break
Page 32, 26% of the script: The scientists leave the White House after being dismissed, marking the end of their initial attempt to warn authorities and the beginning of their media campaign.
Midpoint
Page 77, 63% of the script: Colonel Drask shakes in the shuttle cockpit six minutes from booster dump, making racist and homophobic comments to everyone on Earth before Mission Control cuts him off.
Act 2 break
Page 87, 71% of the script: The Bubba Gump's restaurant incident leads to the scientists being arrested and discredited, ending their public influence and beginning the final countdown to impact.
Climax
Page 121, 98% of the script: As the house shakes violently and they discuss coffee, the asteroid impacts Earth, splitting the planet apart in a massive explosion of debris.
Peak tension
8.3 out of 10, reached about 100% of the way through; the script averages 6.0.
Average scene length
1.2 pages

Structural personality

This script follows a classic disaster movie structure but inverts it through satirical lens. Rather than building toward heroic triumph, it chronicles systematic failure at every institutional level. The first act establishes the threat and initial bureaucratic indifference. The second act becomes a media circus where the message gets corrupted by celebrity culture and political spin. The third act abandons all pretense of salvation, focusing instead on human connection amid inevitable doom. The structure mirrors the comet's trajectory - starting small and distant, gaining momentum and visibility, until it dominates everything.

Pacing

The pacing accelerates dramatically after scene 69 when the mission launches, then maintains breakneck speed through rapid-fire montages and cross-cutting between locations. The final act slows to intimate moments between characters while simultaneously showing global chaos, creating emotional whiplash that serves the satirical purpose.

Themes

Similar shapes

Screenplays whose tension curve most closely matches Don't Look Up.

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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