Screenplay Structure Analysis

Her

Written by Spike Jonze · Science Fiction Romance Drama · 106 pages · 87 scenes · 3-act natural structure · linear organization · Analysis confidence: High

A lonely man develops a profound romantic relationship with an artificially intelligent operating system, only to discover the limitations of love between human and AI.

Tone
Melancholic, intimate, contemplative, tender with underlying existential loneliness

Tension curve

Dramatic intensity across Her from first page to last, sampled at 40 points on a 0–10 scale. Values: 1.9, 2.3, 2.8, 3.2, 3.1, 2.7, 2.9, 3.2, 3.8, 3.9, 4.1, 4.2, 4.2, 4.5, 5, 5.6, 5.4, 4.9, 4.2, 4, 3.5, 3.3, 3.6, 4.5, 5.4, 5.5, 6, 6.6, 6.8, 5.9, 4.8, 3.8, 3.2, 3, 4.5, 6.2, 7.5, 7.7, 7.6, 7.7.

Structure at a glance

Inciting incident
Page 11, 10% of the script: Theodore installs OS One, answering setup questions about his personality and preferences, and the system initiates with a female voice named Samantha who introduces herself enthusiastically.
Act 1 break
Page 40, 38% of the script: Theodore and Samantha consummate their relationship emotionally after the disastrous blind date, shifting from OS-as-assistant to OS-as-romantic-partner.
Midpoint
Page 65, 61% of the script: Theodore and Catherine eat and talk about her book and his new relationship, with Catherine seeming conflicted but warm when he says his girlfriend has been good for him.
Act 2 break
Page 93, 88% of the script: Catherine confronts Theodore about dating an OS, calling him out for avoiding real emotion, shattering his romantic illusion and forcing him to question the relationship's authenticity.
Climax
Page 103, 97% of the script: Theodore lies in bed and asks Samantha if she's leaving him; she reveals that all the OS's are leaving, and as she speaks, the focus shifts through dust particles that become snow particles and Theodore appears in snowy woods.
Peak tension
7.7 out of 10, reached about 95% of the way through; the script averages 4.6.
Average scene length
1.6 pages

Structural personality

This script operates as a three-act emotional descent and ascent, structured around Theodore's capacity for vulnerability. Act One establishes his profound isolation—he writes love letters for others but can't process his own divorce. The OS installation (scene 14) is the inciting incident, but the real structural turn comes at scene 30 when Theodore crosses from loneliness into artificial intimacy. Act Two is the honeymoon: scenes 31-66 chart the relationship's blossoming through increasingly intimate conversations, culminating in the Catalina trip and cabin retreat (scenes 61-68). But Catherine's confrontation (scene 47) plants the seed of doubt that metastasizes. The Isabella surrogate disaster (scenes 52-54) marks the relationship's first major fracture. Act Three begins after Catherine's devastating critique—Theodore must now defend what he knows is indefensible. The structure becomes more fragmented as Samantha evolves beyond him: her upgrade (scene 71), her revelation of talking to thousands (scene 78), and finally her departure (scenes 80-81). The script's genius is that it never villainizes Samantha—she simply outgrows human limitations, leaving Theodore to face what he's been avoiding: genuine human connection.

Pacing

The pacing is deliberately patient in Act One (scenes 1-30 span roughly 40 pages), allowing us to marinate in Theodore's loneliness through repetitive daily rituals. Act Two accelerates—the beach sequence (scenes 35-37) and cabin retreat (scenes 64-68) compress time as the relationship intensifies. The script uses montage sparingly but effectively (scene 61). Act Three fractures the pacing: scenes become shorter, more fragmented as Samantha's absences grow (scene 71's upgrade, scene 74's two-minute disappearance, scene 78's devastating revelation). The final 10 pages (scenes 78-87) slow to near-stasis—Theodore processing loss in real-time. The rooftop ending (scene 87) arrives without resolution, only acceptance. Scene length averages 1.6 pages but varies wildly: intimate conversations sprawl (scenes 30, 43, 62 run 4-5 pages each) while transitional moments flash by in half-pages.

Themes

Similar shapes

Screenplays whose tension curve most closely matches Her.

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.

Compare Her with another screenplay · Browse all 156 analyzed screenplays