The explosive opening scene ends with the antagonist getting shot. He looks down in disbelief before falling off the cliff to his presumed death.
The rest of the film traces the protagonist’s journey to bring down the villain’s crime syndicate. Until we find the antagonist miraculously alive in the finale, with no explanation, to create a shocking plot twist.
This is an example of just one type of fatal flaw in screenwriting—logical inconsistency—that severely damages a film. But what exactly constitutes a fatal flaw when it comes to crafting movie scripts?
A fatal flaw in screenwriting refers to a major underlying problem with the film’s storytelling that critically hurts its quality, cohesiveness, plausibility, and audience impact.
These issues prevent viewers from suspending disbelief and fully investing in the fictional onscreen world and characters.
While minor plot holes or conveniences may be excusable given the constraints of runtime, fatal flaws are those that completely break or severely undermine the film due to their gaping and glaring nature.
Identifying and fixing these foundational script problems is key before projects get to the expensive production phase.
What Qualifies as a Fatal Flaw in a Screenplay?
Not all movie issues are classified as irredeemable fatal flaws. Elements like mediocre acting, stale cinematography, or generic scores can drag down the viewing experience. But a truly great script can transcend shortcomings in other areas of execution.
In contrast, some common red flags that signal potentially ruinous writing flaws include:
- Logical Inconsistencies: Events that contradict established facts, sequences that defy credulity or gaping plot holes that break the story world’s rules. For example, a character appearing alive after dying on screen with no clever plot twist explanation.
- Poorly Developed Characters: Leads with unclear motives, blank personalities, or background stories that don’t align with their depicted actions. If the audience cannot relate to or invest in the characters, there’s no emotional stakes.
- Lack of Clear Theme: Ambiguous takeaway messages or purposes can plague films with poorly defined central ideas or character arcs that don’t resolve satisfactorily. If the climax feels disconnected from lead’s journey, something likely got lost in script translation.
- Overly Predictable Story: Derivative beats with constant tropes and contrivances instead of fresh ideas make for a dull, unengaging viewing. For example, constantly set up heroes miraculously overcoming impossible odds can drain all narrative tension.
- Failure to Establish Mood/World: Inconsistent tones, settings that lack grounded rules or not outlining character connections can make some scripts read superficially. Without properly establishing context, events unfold in a vacuum so the audience struggles to care.
- Unrealistic Dialog: Clunky conversations where characters bluntly state plot points rather than speaking naturally are common missteps. Similarly, modern slang in period piece settings rips audiences from intended immersion.
- Sudden Unsatisfying Endings: Ambiguous, abrupt conclusions after lengthy builds offer minimal payoff for viewers after investing hours into story arcs and mysteries. They betray audiences rather than capitalize on narrative trajectories.
While not all these issues manifest the same way in every flawed film, their presence signals foundational writing problems at odds with satisfying movie storytelling.
Types of Fatal Flaws in Screenplays
Screenplay issues generally manifest through inconsistencies around characters, plot events, or fictional settings. Specifically, common fatal flaws fall into the buckets of:
Inconsistency in Characters
Since viewers experience films through the lens of central characters, their actions and choices must align with established traits and backgrounds.
Sudden shifts in intelligence, motives without inciting incidents, or drastic personality changes all point to underdeveloped characters. For example:
- Selfless protagonists inexplicably turn selfish/violent
- Genius characters suddenly making foolish rookie mistakes
- Idealistic character drastically shifting life philosophy overnight
World-Breaking Plot Holes
Events in films have cause-effect relationships that follow an internal logic- even in fantastical settings. So inconsistencies, gaps, or timeline issues hurt narrative immersion. Egregious examples include:
- Lead dying but reappearing later without explanation
- Time loop breaking own previously established rules
- Character displays new sudden convenient abilities
Lack of Causality
If events unfold randomly without plausible links between character choices and actions, then viewers struggle to remain invested. Backstories, motives, and consequences ground stories. For example:
- Villain pursuing vague world destruction without credible motivations
- Random background characters influencing key story events
- Lead abruptly giving up goal they spent the entire film pursuing
On-the-nose Dialogue
Script dialogue needs to advance stories or reveal character personalities organically. Otherwise, audiences get pulled out of scenes if conversations sound overly expository. Instances include:
- “As you know Bob, your brother dying traumatized you…”
- “I will get my revenge and kill you for murdering my family!”
- “But the prophesy stated only the Chosen One can defeat the darkness…”
Causes Behind Fatal Screenwriting Flaws
Why do many movie hopefuls end up with logically inconsistent stories littered with plot holes big enough to drive trucks through? Common culprits behind narrative train wrecks include:
- Rushed Writing – It’s tempting to race towards completing scripts in the heat of creative passion. But leaving no time for review cycles or seeking objective feedback can leave gaping blind spots.
- Unclear Character Motivations – Not properly planning lead motivations, backstories and emotional connections leads to actions feeling random rather than natural character choices.
- Twisting to Just Shock – Contriving overly convenient moments purely for dramatic flair ignores emotional consistency essential for credible narrative payoffs.
- No Logical Sense Checks – Without stopping to analyze events for plausible consistency, lack of contiguity goes unnoticed as writers get lost in creative frenzy.
Avoiding Fatal Flaws in Movie Screenwriting
Prevention is cheaper than cure when it comes to spotting story issues before sinking budgets into actual production. Some guiding principles for identifying deadly script problems include:
- Map Character Arcs – Thoroughly plan out protagonists beyond just names to understand what shapes their decisions from past influences to emotional connections.
- Construct Consistent World Rules – Outline boundaries of story universe and chains of events, especially around new worlds with innovative rules. Define character movements through time and space.
- Motivate Actions Organically – Character choices must flow naturally from constructed personalities rather than bending haphazardly to serve plot mechanisms.
- Show, Don’t Tell – Help audiences infer and deduce insights through well enacted visual scenes rather than spelling out everything explicitly through clumsy dialog exposition dumps.
- Pursue Feedback Iteratively – Whether via writers rooms or trusted readers, seek notes early and often during the script process to catch issues before final drafts.
By recognizing the narrative consistency essential for plausible cinematic storytelling, screenwriters can catch deadly flaws before derailing promising projects.
Avoid throwing character development, tightly woven plots, and authentic settings out the window for cheap sudden twists that betray viewers.
Case Study Film Examples
Even well-regarded films across various genres contain unavoidable hindsight flaws that passed initial production hurdles. Some examples that highlight notorious screenplay issues include:
Terminator Genisys (2015)
The Terminator franchise is built on internally consistent rules around time travel and mechanizations to maintain logical narrative coherence.
But Genisys throws previously established story world rules out for convenient plot gimmicks, like Sarah Connor meeting her future son’s father Kyle Reese as a child. This creepy disconnect jars viewers rather than providing clever twist payoffs.
Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen
Beyond the cluttered robot action, the story introduces irritating new racial stereotype robots before forgetting vital established details.
Insultingly, during the climax, Sam dies only to be randomly resurrected by robot dust. It strains all screenwriting logic just to force an extra plot twist.
X-Men: Origins Wolverine
This prequel aims to capitalize on Wolverine’s appeal by revealing a tantalizing backstory. But far-fetched leaps, like Logan conveniently discovering his immortal nature moments after Bone claws emerge undermine gravitas. Cartoonish plot devices like random memory bullets strain audience credulity too far.
Key Considerations
Suspension of disbelief makes immersive film storytelling possible. However, the unwritten contract demands maintaining internal logical coherence and compelling character development to earn sustained viewer investment.
By avoiding abrupt betrayals and keeping causal links consistent, screenwriters can amplify audience connection while still delivering shocking moments through smarter narrative foreshadowing.
In closing, a screenwriting fatal flaw constitutes any event that breaks established film world continuity or undermines the audience’s ability to buy into onscreen actions.
Beyond isolated plot holes, these issues shatter the overarching cohesiveness essential for satisfactory cinematic experiences due to inconsistent events, contradictory characters, or illogical settings that damage immersiveness past redemption.
Skillful writing requires avoiding conveniently contrived developments and plot gimmicks without set up in favor of credible narratives.
Frequently Asked Questions
What is an example of a fatal flaw?
An example of a fatal flaw is a protagonist suddenly abandoning their lifelong ideals that the entire film established, without any plausible explanation, just to force an unexpected plot twist. This breaks character continuity.
What is considered a fatal flaw?
A fatal flaw is considered a core problem with a film’s script that critically damages logical continuity or character believability. These issues ruin viewers’ immersion and emotional investment due to glaring gaps in storytelling cohesion.
What is the fatal flaw technique?
The fatal flaw technique refers to purposefully incorporating flaws in a protagonist’s core personality that feeds into their eventual downfall. Their own innate internal weaknesses contribute to tragic endings.
What is usually the fatal flaw of the protagonist?
Common fatal flaws of movie protagonists include excessive pride, uncontrolled emotions like anger or fear, one-track obsession over goals, a gullible nature, refusal to accept realities that counter their beliefs, addiction problems, competitive arrogance, etc.
What is the most common fatal flaw?
The most commonly occurring type of fatal flaw in screenwriting involves logical inconsistencies – events that contradict established facts about characters or plot events that shatter world continuity due to poor writing oversight.
What is the difference between hamartia and fatal flaw?
Hamartia refers specifically to inherent personality defects in a hero that contribute to their eventual undoing. In contrast, a fatal flaw refers to any major screenwriting problems like logical gaps, worldbreaking issues, or motivational inconsistencies that damage story cohesion.
What is a fatal flaw weakness?
A fatal flaw weakness is an inherent defect in a protagonist’s personality like bottled-up emotions, addiction, or anger issues that feed into causing their dramatic demise due to poor choices under pressure. Their innate psyche flaws open cracks for downfall.
Is fatal flaw a literary element?
Yes, the notion of fatal flaws is an enduring literary element traced back to Aristotelian concepts around heroes carrying innate defects fueling their tragic journey toward ruin or death despite overall noble qualities.
Is stubbornness a fatal flaw?
Yes, unchecked stubbornness leading figures to stick rigidly to their decisions without heeding warnings often constitutes a fatal personality flaw portrayed in literary or movie characters that meet its downfall through their own unyielding obstinance.
