Narrative technique · used in 1 film

Error-Driven Plot Escalation

Letting each fix a desperate character tries cause a bigger problem, so the story is driven by the hero's own bad choices. Every solution digs the hole deeper.

Examples

Where you can see it

  1. Good Time (2017) poster

    Good Time

    Josh Safdie, Benny Safdie · 2017

    Connie breaks out the wrong man from the hospital, and that mistake drags in a 16-year-old girl, a borrowed car and an amusement park guard. You keep hoping he will stop and think. He never does.

    Where to see it: The hospital breakout. Connie sneaks a bandaged patient out past a guard, then learns he has freed a different criminal named Ray, not his brother.

Questions

Quick answers

What is error-driven plot escalation in film?
Letting each fix a desperate character tries cause a bigger problem, so the story is driven by the hero's own bad choices. Every solution digs the hole deeper.
Which films use error-driven plot escalation?
Good Time (2017).
What kind of technique is error-driven plot escalation?
It is a narrative technique. Related narrative techniques include Ticking Clock Structure, Picaresque Structure, Symbolic Object.

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