Soul Surfer

Inciting Event: Bethany wins a surf competition and gets a major sponsor.
This sets up the basis of the conflict. This isn’t a story about a competition; it’s
a story about a girl who loses her arm and re-learns how to surf. But the surf
competition is the vehicle that provides her goal, the obstacles she will face,
and therefore the stakes. That had to be set up in a major way prior to the
First Plot Point.

First Plot Point: Bethany is attacked by a shark while out surfing and loses
her arm. This is a really excellent First Plot Point. There’s no question that
Bethany’s life has just been rocked irrevocably. Even though the physical
setting never changes, she has obviously forever left the Normal World of the
First Act.

First Pinch Point: Bethany’s bandage comes off, revealing the stump of her
missing arm, and she struggles to understand how this tragedy could be part
of God’s plan for her. The entire section of the story from the First Plot Point
to the Midpoint is pretty “pinchy”—everything from the reporters waiting
outside Bethany’s house when she returns to the hospital to her inability to do
common chores. But the bandage coming off is the clear turning point that
drives all of this home.

Midpoint: Bethany decides to try surfing again and, after much struggle, is
finally able to stand up on the board and catch her first wave with just one
arm. This is a clear example of the conflict shifting from reaction to action. Up
to this point, Bethany has been struggling to get used to her new life with just
one arm. At the Midpoint, she makes the decision to return to surfing, and
from this moment on, she is actively pursuing her goal of getting back into
surfing shape for competition.

Second Pinch Point: At the regional competition, Bethany comes in last

and breaks her board. This pinch point emphasizes her inability to compete–
which is the antagonistic force standing in the way of her goal.

Third Plot Point: Bethany’s emotional low point actually arrives quite a bit
before the Third Plot Point, when she is crying on the beach with her dad after
losing at regionals. This isn’t the best timing for the emotional low point,
which is better placed at the Third Plot Point, but the movie does a good job
maintaining that emotional low right up through the Third Plot Point, which
happens when Bethany goes to Phuket, Thailand, in the wake of the tsunami.
She witnesses the suffering there and gets a new perspective.

Climax: The national competition begins with Bethany once again

competing. This is the final showdown with the antagonistic force (Bethany’s
physical limitations), which is just what the Climax should be. It’s also worth
nothing that the movie did a good job of personifying this antagonistic force in
a nasty competitor. The competitor is a pretty one-note character, but
she does offer a physical manifestation of Bethany’s conflict.

Climactic Moment: Bethany catches a last big wave—which would have

won her the competition if it hadn’t been seconds too late. In her own personal
conflict, however, “it counted.”

Resolution: Bethany decides to finally give an interview to the reporters

following her, so she can explain her mindset and reach out to others like her.