Beasts Clawing at Straws
A struggling restaurant owner, caring for his sick mom, finds a bag of cash in a sauna locker, while a customs officer gets into trouble when his girlfriend runs off with money he borrowed from a loan shark.
The film earned $5.7M at the global box office.
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%)
Beasts Clawing at Straws (2020) reveals deliberately positioned story structure, characteristic of Kim Yong-hoon's storytelling approach. This structural analysis examines how the film's 15-point plot structure maps to proven narrative frameworks across 1 hour and 48 minutes. With an Arcplot score of 6.9, the film balances conventional beats with creative variation.
Characters
Cast & narrative archetypes
Yeon-hee
Joong-man
Tae-young
Mi-ran
Jin-tae
Young-gook
Main Cast & Characters
Yeon-hee
Played by Jeon Do-yeon
A battered woman trapped in an abusive relationship who discovers a bag of money and sees it as her escape.
Joong-man
Played by Jung Woo-sung
A struggling customs officer drowning in debt who becomes entangled in the chase for the money.
Tae-young
Played by Bae Sung-woo
A ruthless loan shark enforcer who tracks the missing money with cold determination.
Mi-ran
Played by Shin Hyun-bin
A money launderer working at a sauna who becomes a key player in the hunt for the cash.
Jin-tae
Played by Jung Ga-ram
Yeon-hee's violent and abusive husband who works as muscle for criminals.
Young-gook
Played by Jung Man-sik
A small-time gangster who loses the money and desperately tries to recover it.
Structural Analysis
The Status Quo at 1 minutes (1% through the runtime) establishes Joong-man works at a shabby sauna, barely surviving, desperate and deeply in debt to loan sharks who threaten him daily.. Significantly, this early placement immediately immerses viewers in the story world.
The inciting incident occurs at 13 minutes when Joong-man discovers a bag containing an enormous amount of cash hidden in a sauna locker - a life-changing discovery that will set the deadly chain of events in motion.. 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 27 minutes marks the transition into Act II, occurring at 25% of the runtime. This shows the protagonist's commitment to Joong-man makes the active choice to keep the money and use it to pay off his debts, crossing the moral threshold from which there's no return., moving from reaction to action.
At 54 minutes, the Midpoint arrives at 50% of the runtime—precisely centered, creating perfect narrative symmetry. Structural examination shows that this crucial beat The narrative reveals that the money belongs to dangerous criminals, and everyone who's touched it is now marked for death - what seemed like salvation is actually a curse., fundamentally raising what's at risk. The emotional intensity shifts, dividing the narrative into clear before-and-after phases.
The Collapse moment at 81 minutes (75% through) represents the emotional nadir. Here, Multiple murders occur as the web of violence collapses inward; Joong-man's hopes are completely destroyed as he realizes the money has cost him everything, including lives., illustrates the protagonist at their lowest point. This beat's placement in the final quarter sets up the climactic reversal.
The Second Threshold at 86 minutes initiates the final act resolution at 80% of the runtime. The final confrontation is set in motion as the last characters standing realize they must face the consequences - there's no escape from the beast they've become., demonstrating the transformation achieved throughout the journey.
Emotional Journey
Beasts Clawing at Straws's emotional architecture traces a deliberate progression across 15 carefully calibrated beats.
Narrative Framework
This structural analysis employs proven narrative structure principles that track dramatic progression. By mapping Beasts Clawing at Straws against these established plot points, we can identify how Kim Yong-hoon utilizes or subverts traditional narrative conventions. The plot point approach reveals not only adherence to structural principles but also creative choices that distinguish Beasts Clawing at Straws within the mystery genre.
Comparative Analysis
Additional mystery films include Oblivion, From Darkness and American Gigolo.
Plot Points by Act
Act I
SetupStatus Quo
Joong-man works at a shabby sauna, barely surviving, desperate and deeply in debt to loan sharks who threaten him daily.
Theme
A character remarks that "people become beasts when they're desperate" - foreshadowing how greed and desperation will transform everyone who touches the cursed money.
Worldbuilding
Introduction to the interconnected web of desperate characters: Joong-man at the sauna, Yeon-hee trapped with an abusive husband, customs officer Tae-young with his girlfriend Mi-ran, and others all struggling in their own ways.
Disruption
Joong-man discovers a bag containing an enormous amount of cash hidden in a sauna locker - a life-changing discovery that will set the deadly chain of events in motion.
Resistance
Joong-man debates what to do with the money while the narrative reveals how other characters are connected to the cash - each contemplating their own desperate choices about the money.
Act II
ConfrontationFirst Threshold
Joong-man makes the active choice to keep the money and use it to pay off his debts, crossing the moral threshold from which there's no return.
Mirror World
The narrative shifts to reveal Yeon-hee's parallel story - another desperate soul whose decisions mirror Joong-man's moral compromises, showing how desperation affects everyone similarly.
Premise
The nonlinear narrative explores the "fun" of the premise - watching how each character discovers, steals, or fights for the money, revealing the intricate web of connections and betrayals.
Midpoint
The narrative reveals that the money belongs to dangerous criminals, and everyone who's touched it is now marked for death - what seemed like salvation is actually a curse.
Opposition
Violence escalates as characters turn on each other; the criminals close in, and the body count rises as each person's greed and desperation leads to increasingly brutal choices.
Collapse
Multiple murders occur as the web of violence collapses inward; Joong-man's hopes are completely destroyed as he realizes the money has cost him everything, including lives.
Crisis
The surviving characters face the devastating consequences of their choices, processing the horror of what their desperation has driven them to become.
Act III
ResolutionSecond Threshold
The final confrontation is set in motion as the last characters standing realize they must face the consequences - there's no escape from the beast they've become.
Synthesis
The final violent confrontations play out as the narrative threads converge; the cyclical nature of greed and violence completes as the money passes to yet another desperate person.
Transformation
The closing image mirrors the opening - another desperate person finds the money, suggesting the cycle of greed and violence will continue endlessly; humanity transformed into beasts by desperation.