Unveiling the Hidden Secrets Behind “The Harder They Fall”: A Scene-by-Scene Revelation

Here is my take on this exercise from a previous series of posts — How To Read A Screenplay:

After a first pass, it’s time to crack open the script for a deeper analysis and you can do that by creating a scene-by-scene breakdown. It is precisely what it sounds like: A list of all the scenes in the script accompanied by a brief description of the events that transpire.

For purposes of this exercise, I have a slightly different take on scene. Here I am looking not just for individual scenes per se, but a scene or set of scenes that comprise one event or a continuous piece of action. Admittedly this is subjective and there is no right or wrong, the point is simply to break down the script into a series of parts which you then can use dig into the script’s structure and themes.

The value of this exercise:

• We pare down the story to its most constituent parts: Scenes.
• By doing this, we consciously explore the structure of the narrative.
• A scene-by-scene breakdown creates a foundation for even deeper analysis of the story.

Today: The Harder They Fall (2021). You may download the script here.

Screenplay by Jeymes Samuel and Boaz Yakin, screen story by Jeymes Samuel

Plot summary: When an outlaw discovers his enemy is being released from prison, he reunites his gang to seek revenge.

The Harder They Fall
Scene-By-Scene Breakdown
By Natalie Campbell-Reid
GoIntoTheStory.com

P. 1–4: Little Nathaniel, his father Theodore and mother Eleanor are sat down for dinner. Whilst saying grace they get an unexpected visit from a tall man in a trench coat. The man points guns at both Eleanor and Little Nathaniel while Theodore pleads for him to leave them out of it. The unidentified visitor shots Eleanor causing Little Nathaniel to scream and shortly after shoots Theodore. Little Nathaniel is screaming and being held in his seat by another unidentified man with a scorpion tattoo on his head as the shooter used a blade to cut Little Nathaniel on his forehead.

P. 4–7: Nat Love is waiting for Cortez in Father Esparaza’s church where Cortez has come to make a…