How do epic movies like Close Encounters, 2001 Space Odyssey, Arrival, Contact and others capture our imagination? Do they break the rules of conventional screenwriting?

When I studied the screenplays for these films, I perceive a pattern. The progression and the emotional response don't fit themes like in Star Wars, Strain, or even Avatar.

In Sci-Fi, sometimes there's an emotional arc of horror:

Curiosity → Fear → Dread

Or there's the conventional hero's journey:

Reluctance → Struggle → Mastery

But this is something different. The pattern builds progressively, recursively, through each act. That rhythm repeats like a spiral staircase.

Progressive Epic

Each of the three stages meets with an emotion.

Core Cycle (repeats 3-4 times, escalating)

  1. Encounter → Transformation → New World
  2. Fear → Curiosity → Awe

4 Elements of a Progressive Epic

  1. Summons – Irreversible experience rewires the protagonist
  2. Sacrifice – The call to transformation comes at great cost
  3. Recursion – The encounter-transformation repeats with higher stakes
  4. Ascent – The final cycle resolves through transcendence instead of closure

Let's start with 2001 Space Odyssey.

4 Acts, Not 3

Why is Space Odyssey so epic and strange? The dialogue is rather infrequent, and the final act has no dialogue. There are four acts, or short films, woven into one. Similar to movements in a symphony instead of the usual song and dance. Plus the protagonist seems to change. How many times? Thrice. That's right—the Moonwatcher is the first. Floyd is the second, then it's Bowman. The fourth time Bowman transforms into Star Child.

How can that be? In this film, the protagonist is humanity. Even so, I'll refer to the protagonists as such.

I'll minimize my commentary on the first act (I don't like it at all) to maintain composure and objectivity (enter Mystery Science Theater 2000). The cinematography is excellent, but this one movie brought science fiction from the B-Movie rubber monster costumes to the well-researched sci-fi we have today. It redefined the entire genre. Yup, it was epic!

Screenplay

The 65-Page Screenplay doesn't include anything from what I refer to as Act 4 in the movie. You can find it on the DailyScript or download it from ScriptSlug. Biggest surprise? What wasn't the monolith. If you want to review it, I've marked Parts 1-3 in the outline.

What Monolith?

The monolith is referred to as a completely transparent cube. This crystalline device is 15 feet on a side. It sends them a frequency. Then projects a vision (a lesson).

Excerpt from 2001 Space Odyssey Screenplay featuring the Cube

Another point: the monolith is the ubiquitous technology of an extraterrestrial species, likely Type 3 on the Kardashev Scale. We are 0.7 on that scale. Today we have the smartphone; will we defeat it like Bowman defeated HAL?

2001 Space Odyssey 4-Act Recursive Structure

Act I: Apes and Earth Monolith

Protagonist: Moonwatcher (Part 1)

  1. Moonwatcher's tribe struggles with drought, apes, predators.
  2. Monolith appears (not crystal). They react with fear, then curiosity
  3. Moonwatcher discover's the bone-as-weapon
  4. Tribe reclaims waterhole and Moonwatcher kills rival leader
  5. Bone tossed skyward, match cut to spacecraft.

Act II: Floyd and Lunar Monolith

Protagonist: Dr. Heywood Floyd (Part II)

  1. Orion-III spacecraft carries Floyd to Space Station 5
  2. Floyd arrives at the Clavius Base and gets a classified briefing.
  3. Rocket bus to TMA-1 excavation at Tycho Crater.
  4. Floyd descends into the pit; sunlight touches the monolith.
  5. Superloud Radio Signal from the Monolith screaming at Jupiter (who is totally chill ;)

Act III: Bowman and Jovian Monolith

Protagonist: David Bowman (Part III)

  1. Bowman, Poole, HAL 2000 on Discovery on the way to Jupiter.
  2. Poole wonders about mission's purpose; HAL deflects questions
  3. HAL reports defective AO-Units; Mission Control says HAL is neurotic
  4. HAL kills crew, Bowman disconnects
  5. Floyd's message: mission to investigate monolith signal to Jupiter

Act IV: Transcendence

Protagonist: Bowman Becomes Starchild

  1. Bowman discovers the monolith orbiting Jupiter
  2. Enters the Star Gate and abstract light corridor
  3. Bowman is in the neoclassical hotel room (alien zoo for humans)
  4. Watches himself age rapidly, reaches towards monolith
  5. Transformed into the Star Child, returns to Earth Orbit

Recursive Encounter Structure

Encounter → Transformation → New World → Encounter → Transformation → New World...

2001's Recursion

Encounter Transformation New World
Apes meet the monolith Moonwatcher discovers tools/weapons Human civilization (match-cut)
Floyd meets the lunar monolith Signal sent to Jupiter The Jupiter mission
Bowman meets HAL's breakdown Bowman defeats HAL, learns the truth Alone with the mission's real purpose
Bowman meets the Jupiter monolith Star Gate / death / rebirth The Star Child — whatever comes next

Principle of Rule Breaking

2001 Space Odyssey's opening image is of a species, not a character. Which makes sense, as the protagonist changes three times. Which doesn't make sense (apes are not humans). Just saying. But the standard frameworks are just patterns.

Save the Cat!, 3-Act Structure, and Freytag are examples of patterns that hold an audiences attention. Otherwise they'd just walk out of the movie theater. What about a Progressive Epic?

The structure repeats recursively. That emotional arc increases in altitude — the message is the pattern itself. The message is progressive transformation.

The link has been copied!