Movies thrive on narrative, the art and craft of constructing a story with a particular plot and point of view. Narrative film depicts characters pursuing goals and confronting obstacles to those goals. In general, narrative follows a three-part structure, consisting of a beginning, a middle, and an ending – an opening state is disrupted in the middle of the narrative, and that disruption leads to a reestablishment of order in the ending.

Storytelling has always been a central part of societies and cultures. Stories spring from both personal and communal memories and reconstruct the events, actions, and emotions of the past through the eyes of the present.