Creating A Theme For Your Screenplay
Every great screenplay has a theme, which is the message of the story. The theme of the film,
Invasion of the Body Snatchers, is that our ability to feel and express the emotion of love is what makes us human.
In this film, the theme is defined by the struggle of public health inspector Matthew Bennell to
prevent his coworker, Elizabeth Driscoll, from being duplicated and killed by alien plant pods.
Matthew discovers that the alien plants have infested the entire city of San Francisco and are replacing people with
duplicate aliens devoid of emotion.
One of Matthew's friends, Dr. David Kibner, reveals that he's an alien-human hybrid. He tells Matthew and Elizabeth that they won't have any need for love once they become
aliens.
Elizabeth then tells Matthew, "I love you."
Elizabeth and Matthew's need to preserve their love for each other motivates them to fight the alien invasion. Their battle against the aliens
moves the plot forward.
Defining the theme of your screenplay will help to create a strong plot
.
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