Another Year
During a year, a very content couple approaching retirement are visited by friends and family less happy with their lives.
Despite its tight budget of $8.0M, Another Year became a commercial success, earning $18.1M worldwide—a 127% return.
Plot Structure
Story beats plotted across runtime
Narrative Arc
Emotional journey through the story's key moments
Story Circle
Blueprint 15-beat structure
Arcplot Score Breakdown
Weighted: Precision (70%) + Arc (15%) + Theme (15%)
Another Year (2010) demonstrates carefully calibrated dramatic framework, characteristic of Mike Leigh's storytelling approach. This structural analysis examines how the film's 15-point plot structure maps to proven narrative frameworks across 2 hours and 9 minutes. With an Arcplot score of 6.7, the film balances conventional beats with creative variation.
Characters
Cast & narrative archetypes
Tom Hepple
Gerri Hepple
Mary
Joe Hepple
Ken
Katie
Ronnie
Main Cast & Characters
Tom Hepple
Played by Jim Broadbent
A geologist and devoted husband who provides a stable, grounded presence. Part of a happily married couple who serve as the emotional anchor of the film.
Gerri Hepple
Played by Ruth Sheen
A counselor with warmth and wisdom who tends her garden and friendships with equal care. Tom's wife and the nurturing heart of their social circle.
Mary
Played by Lesley Manville
A lonely, needy coworker of Gerri who desperately seeks romantic connection and validation. Her deteriorating state reveals the toll of unresolved emotional needs.
Joe Hepple
Played by Oliver Maltman
Tom and Gerri's thirty-something son, a solicitor who is kind but cautious in romance. His budding relationship becomes a painful mirror for Mary.
Ken
Played by Peter Wight
Tom's old friend, an overweight, heavy-drinking man consumed by loneliness and self-pity. His visit exposes the dark side of isolation.
Katie
Played by Karina Fernandez
Joe's new girlfriend, a bright and optimistic woman who brings fresh energy to the Hepple household. Her presence unwittingly devastates Mary.
Ronnie
Played by David Bradley
Tom's bereaved brother who struggles with grief after his wife's death. His awkward visit reveals family bonds strained by loss and emotional distance.
Structural Analysis
The Status Quo at 1 minutes (1% through the runtime) establishes Tom and Gerri's harmonious home in spring. They work in their allotment garden together, embodying contentment and partnership - the stable center around which others orbit.. Of particular interest, this early placement immediately immerses viewers in the story world.
The inciting incident occurs at 15 minutes when Mary reveals her desperate loneliness and romantic fantasy about a younger colleague. Her neediness and delusion begin to impose on Tom and Gerri's peaceful world.. At 12% through the film, this Disruption aligns precisely with traditional story structure. This beat shifts the emotional landscape, launching the protagonist into the central conflict.
The First Threshold at 32 minutes marks the transition into Act II, occurring at 25% of the runtime. This indicates the protagonist's commitment to Summer arrives. Joe brings his new girlfriend Katie to meet his parents. Mary must now confront the reality that her fantasy attachment to Joe is impossible., moving from reaction to action.
At 65 minutes, the Midpoint arrives at 50% of the runtime—precisely centered, creating perfect narrative symmetry. Structural examination shows that this crucial beat Mary drinks too much at a gathering and makes a scene, her bitterness toward Katie barely concealed. The mask of cheerfulness cracks, revealing the depth of her despair., fundamentally raising what's at risk. The emotional intensity shifts, dividing the narrative into clear before-and-after phases.
The Collapse moment at 88 minutes (68% through) represents the emotional nadir. Here, Ken's pathetic attempt to connect with Mary fails catastrophically. His drunken vulnerability meets her cold rejection. The "whiff of death" - emotional death, the death of hope for connection., illustrates the protagonist at their lowest point. This beat's placement in the final quarter sets up the climactic reversal.
The Second Threshold at 97 minutes initiates the final act resolution at 75% of the runtime. Winter arrives - literally and emotionally. Mary appears unannounced, having driven aimlessly. Tom and Gerri realize they cannot save her; they can only witness and endure., demonstrating the transformation achieved throughout the journey.
Emotional Journey
Another Year's emotional architecture traces a deliberate progression across 15 carefully calibrated beats.
Narrative Framework
This structural analysis employs systematic plot point analysis that identifies crucial turning points. By mapping Another Year against these established plot points, we can identify how Mike Leigh utilizes or subverts traditional narrative conventions. The plot point approach reveals not only adherence to structural principles but also creative choices that distinguish Another Year within the drama genre.
Mike Leigh's Structural Approach
Among the 5 Mike Leigh films analyzed on Arcplot, the average structural score is 6.9, demonstrating varied approaches to story architecture. Another Year takes a more unconventional approach compared to the director's typical style. For comparative analysis, explore the complete Mike Leigh filmography.
Comparative Analysis
Additional drama films include Eye for an Eye, South Pacific and Kiss of the Spider Woman. For more Mike Leigh analyses, see Mr. Turner, Topsy-Turvy and Secrets & Lies.
Plot Points by Act
Act I
SetupStatus Quo
Tom and Gerri's harmonious home in spring. They work in their allotment garden together, embodying contentment and partnership - the stable center around which others orbit.
Theme
Gerri counsels a deeply unhappy patient who cannot sleep, asking "Are you happy?" The question that defines the film: can happiness be found, earned, or only endured in its absence?
Worldbuilding
Introduction to the ensemble: Tom and Gerri's comfortable marriage, their son Joe, and their orbit of lonely friends - Mary, Ken. The contrast between contentment and yearning is established.
Disruption
Mary reveals her desperate loneliness and romantic fantasy about a younger colleague. Her neediness and delusion begin to impose on Tom and Gerri's peaceful world.
Resistance
Spring continues: Mary becomes increasingly present in Tom and Gerri's life, attending barbecues and family gatherings. Her desperation grows as she fixates on Joe, their son.
Act II
ConfrontationFirst Threshold
Summer arrives. Joe brings his new girlfriend Katie to meet his parents. Mary must now confront the reality that her fantasy attachment to Joe is impossible.
Mirror World
Joe and Katie's relationship blossoms, providing a thematic mirror: young love finding its way, contrasted with Mary's inability to connect. What Tom and Gerri have, others seek.
Premise
Summer unfolds: barbecues, gatherings, Mary's jealousy of Katie intensifies. Ken visits, equally lonely and alcoholic. The seasonal rhythm reveals the persistence of unhappiness.
Midpoint
Mary drinks too much at a gathering and makes a scene, her bitterness toward Katie barely concealed. The mask of cheerfulness cracks, revealing the depth of her despair.
Opposition
Autumn arrives. Tom's brother Ronnie is mourning his wife. The layers of sadness accumulate: Mary's loneliness, Ken's alcoholism, Ronnie's grief. Tom and Gerri's patience is tested.
Collapse
Ken's pathetic attempt to connect with Mary fails catastrophically. His drunken vulnerability meets her cold rejection. The "whiff of death" - emotional death, the death of hope for connection.
Crisis
The dark autumn continues. Ronnie's grief pervades everything. Mary arrives uninvited, her desperation now undeniable. The gatherings feel hollow, burdened by unspoken pain.
Act III
ResolutionSecond Threshold
Winter arrives - literally and emotionally. Mary appears unannounced, having driven aimlessly. Tom and Gerri realize they cannot save her; they can only witness and endure.
Synthesis
The winter gathering: Joe arrives with Katie, Mary sits in frozen silence, Ronnie grieves. Tom and Gerri hold space for everyone's pain without being able to fix it. Love persists, suffering persists.
Transformation
Mary sits silently at the table, defeated and isolated even in company. Tom and Gerri exchange a glance - still together, still stable, but now bearing witness to the intractable loneliness around them. The year cycles on.