Beat-by-beat Plotly.js charts tracking protagonist control across 30 films, ordered chronologically. Each chart scores how much control the protagonist has over their situation on a 0–100 scale, with hover tooltips showing the dramatic event at each beat, color-coded act bands, and key-moment annotations.
Rashomon (1950)
How Much Faith Does the Audience Have in Humanity? (Audience Perspective)
Four contradictory testimonies erode faith in human truth to zero, then an act of compassion -- adopting an abandoned baby -- restores it higher than it began.
High Noon (1952)
How Much Control Does Kane Have? (Audience Perspective)
Steady decline with failed recovery attempts. Every door Kane knocks on is a bump of hope followed by a steeper drop when they refuse. The church scene kills the last hope, and the will-writing is the nadir. Amy's intervention is a late, desperate bump.
The Sting (1973)
How Much Control Do Hooker and Gondorff Have? (Audience Perspective)
The line crashes when Luther is murdered, then climbs steadily as the crew builds the wire con, with threat-driven dips that never break the upward arc toward a triumphant 95.
The Taking of Pelham One Two Three (1974)
How Much Control Does Garber Have? (Audience Perspective)
Full control of a functioning system collapses in a single beat. The rest of the film is the long institutional grind to recover it -- the ransom, the bluff, the breakthrough, the sneeze.
Carrie (1976)
How Much Control Does Carrie Have? (Audience Perspective)
From absolute zero through the slow accumulation of power and self-possession, to the prom crowning that gives her everything and the blood dump that takes it all away.
Rocky (1976)
How Much Control Does Rocky Have? (Audience Perspective)
Opening from zero through the love story and training arc, peaking at the museum steps and the "going the distance" speech, then tested by the fight. Ends at 75 -- he lost the decision but gained everything that matters.
Logan's Run (1976)
How Much Control Does Logan Have? (Audience Perspective)
From peak Sandman authority through the computer's mission that strips his identity, to fugitive status and the testimony that crashes the system. Ends at 60 -- moral victory, not restored power.
Invasion of the Body Snatchers (1978)
How Much Control Does Matthew Have? (Audience Perspective)
From a routine day as a respected health inspector, through the invasion that strips every layer of authority, to the pointing scream. The decline is steady and irreversible.
Coma (1978)
How Much Control Does Susan Have? (Audience Perspective)
A competent resident whose evidence is systematically dismissed discovers an organ-harvesting conspiracy, then the system tries to process her as its next victim.
Dressed to Kill (1980)
How Much Control Does the Investigation Have? (Audience Perspective)
Kate's moderate autonomy collapses to zero when she's murdered in beat 8, and Liz Blake builds from nothing toward identifying the killer. The protagonist changes but the question persists.
Blow Out (1981)
How Much Control Does Jack Have? (Audience Perspective)
From an ordinary night recording sound, through the peak when Jack holds every piece of evidence, to the systematic destruction that leaves him with nothing.
Outland (1981)
How Much Control Does O'Niel Have? (Audience Perspective)
From a new posting through the investigation that peaks at confronting Sheppard, to total isolation against professional hitmen.
Scarface (1983)
How Much Control Does Tony Montana Have? (Audience Perspective)
From a refugee with nothing, through the systematic construction of a drug empire, to the cocaine-fueled collapse that strips everything away. The rise is deliberate; the fall is self-inflicted.
Body Double (1984)
How Much Control Does Jake Have? (Audience Perspective)
A claustrophobic actor manipulated into witnessing a murder he cannot prevent. The investigation rebuilds him, and the grave forces him to act for the first time.
The Untouchables (1987)
How Much Control Does Ness Have? (Audience Perspective)
From a naive agent humiliated by an umbrella raid, through the team Malone builds, to the losses that strip it away and the trial that requires abandoning the law he swore to uphold.
Carlito's Way (1993)
How Much Control Does Carlito Have? (Audience Perspective)
From prison freedom through the steady accumulation of escape money, to the two fatal decisions -- sparing Benny Blanco, committing to Kleinfeld -- that destroy him.
Speed (1994)
How Much Control Does Jack Traven Have? (Audience Perspective)
W-shape: high competence in the elevator, a long oscillating decline as the bus eliminates every option, a sharp recovery through camera-loop ingenuity, a second collapse when Payne kidnaps Annie, and a final climb on the subway.
Daylight (1996)
How Much Control Does Kit Have? (Audience Perspective)
From a disgraced rescuer rejected at the staging area, through the tunnel descent that oscillates between command and catastrophe, to the blowout that turns disaster into escape.
Dante's Peak (1997)
How Much Control Does Harry Have? (Audience Perspective)
From a respected volcanologist overruled by institutional caution, through the eruption that proves him right but strips every resource, to survival endurance.
Air Force One (1997)
How Much Control Does President Marshall Have? (Audience Perspective)
Deep V with sawtooth oscillations. Peak presidential authority collapses when the plane is hijacked, then a guerrilla recovery through the fuselage leads to "Get off my plane."
The Truman Show (1998)
How Much Control Does Truman Have? (Audience Perspective)
Opening from zero. Truman starts with no actual autonomy -- his entire life is manufactured. Each glitch noticed and experiment run is a step up, each countermeasure a dip. The sailboat escape and door walk-through are a near-vertical climb to 95.
Magnolia (1999)
How Much Control Does the Ensemble Have? (Audience Perspective)
Nine interwoven storylines erode from moderate agency to collective crisis. The "Wise Up" nadir and frog rain force physical reckoning. Ends at 33 -- not restoration, but the possibility of connection.
Training Day (2001)
How Much Control Does Jake Hoyt Have? (Audience Perspective)
V-curve. A rookie stripped of agency by a corrupt mentor, bottoming out at the bathtub execution, then clawing back through the wallet payoff and the neighborhood's refusal.
The Prestige (2006)
How Close Is Angier to Surpassing Borden? (Audience Perspective)
Sawtooth climb through rivalry and sabotage, a Colorado trough at beat 19 when the diary trap is sprung, a steep ascent to 98 at beat 30 when Angier tears up Borden's secret -- then the twin reveal collapses everything to zero.
Miami Vice (2006)
How Much Control Do Crockett and Tubbs Have? (Audience Perspective)
Control oscillates as Crockett and Tubbs earn cartel trust then watch it cost them everything -- Trudy in a hospital, Isabella in Cuba, Montoya untouched.
There Will Be Blood (2007)
How Much Dominion Does Plainview Have? (Audience Perspective)
Steady rise to empire, baptism humiliation at the trough, then a final savage peak at "I drink your milkshake" that collapses into pyrrhic isolation.
The Town (2010)
How Much Control Does Doug MacRay Have? (Audience Perspective)
From surgical heist competence through the peak of manipulating Claire, to the cascading collapse as Fergie, Frawley, and Jem each close a different trap — ending with geographic escape but total isolation.
Dunkirk (2017)
How Much Control Does the Evacuation Have? (Audience Perspective)
Deep U-shape across three timelines. Five beats at zero when the trawler floods and Gibson drowns. The little ships arrive and pull the line to 75 -- a victory, but Bolton stays for the French.
F1 (2025)
How Much Control Does Sonny Hayes Have? (Audience Perspective)
U-curve from exile to victory. Builds twice to 65, sabotage craters to zero, then a near-vertical Abu Dhabi recovery to 100. Settles to 85 -- chosen departure, not collapse.
Rental Family (2025)
How Much Control Does Phillip Have? (Audience Perspective)
Opening from near-zero with sawtooth complications. Phillip builds control through rental work that produces real connections, peaks when Mia gets into school, then the arrest and exposure crater him before the shrine mirror settles him at 55.