Coma
Lead character fell into coma and searching exit from his memory.
Despite its small-scale budget of $2.3M, Coma became a solid performer, earning $9.5M worldwide—a 322% return. The film's fresh perspective found its audience, illustrating how strong storytelling can transcend budget limitations.
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%)
Coma (2020) exhibits carefully calibrated dramatic framework, characteristic of Nikita Argunov's storytelling approach. This structural analysis examines how the film's 15-point plot structure maps to proven narrative frameworks across 1 hour and 50 minutes. With an Arcplot score of 7.5, the film showcases strong structural fundamentals.
Structural Analysis
The Status Quo at 1 minutes (1% through the runtime) establishes Viktor is a talented architect living an ordinary life in Moscow, focused on his career and relationship with his girlfriend.. The analysis reveals that this early placement immediately immerses viewers in the story world.
The inciting incident occurs at 14 minutes when Viktor suffers a devastating car accident that leaves him in a coma, shattering his normal existence and propelling him into an unknown state.. 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 28 minutes marks the transition into Act II, occurring at 25% of the runtime. This reveals the protagonist's commitment to Viktor makes the active choice to venture beyond the safe zone into the dangerous outer territories of the coma world to find answers and discover the truth about this reality., moving from reaction to action.
At 55 minutes, the Midpoint arrives at 50% of the runtime—precisely centered, creating perfect narrative symmetry. Structural examination shows that this crucial beat Viktor discovers the terrible truth: the Architect, the malevolent force controlling this world, is actually him - or a dark version of himself. The game changes as he realizes he must fight himself., fundamentally raising what's at risk. The emotional intensity shifts, dividing the narrative into clear before-and-after phases.
The Collapse moment at 83 minutes (75% through) represents the emotional nadir. Here, Phantom sacrifices himself to save Viktor, dying in the coma world. Viktor faces the complete destruction of everything he tried to build, witnessing the death of hope and his support system., demonstrates the protagonist at their lowest point. This beat's placement in the final quarter sets up the climactic reversal.
The Second Threshold at 89 minutes initiates the final act resolution at 81% of the runtime. Viktor realizes that to defeat the Architect, he must accept and integrate this dark part of himself rather than fight it. He synthesizes what Phantom taught him about acceptance with his own creative power., demonstrating the transformation achieved throughout the journey.
Emotional Journey
Coma's emotional architecture traces a deliberate progression across 15 carefully calibrated beats.
Narrative Framework
This structural analysis employs a 15-point narrative structure framework that maps key story moments. By mapping Coma against these established plot points, we can identify how Nikita Argunov utilizes or subverts traditional narrative conventions. The plot point approach reveals not only adherence to structural principles but also creative choices that distinguish Coma within the short genre.
Comparative Analysis
Additional short films include This Is England, Chloe and What Remains.
Plot Points by Act
Act I
SetupStatus Quo
Viktor is a talented architect living an ordinary life in Moscow, focused on his career and relationship with his girlfriend.
Theme
A character mentions that "what we build defines who we are" - hinting at the theme of identity, construction of reality, and self-discovery.
Worldbuilding
Establishment of Viktor's normal world in Moscow: his architectural work, relationship dynamics, daily routines, and the real-world rules before everything changes.
Disruption
Viktor suffers a devastating car accident that leaves him in a coma, shattering his normal existence and propelling him into an unknown state.
Resistance
Viktor awakens in a bizarre patchwork world made of fragments from different eras and places. He meets other coma survivors who explain the rules of this strange afterworld and debates whether to accept this new reality.
Act II
ConfrontationFirst Threshold
Viktor makes the active choice to venture beyond the safe zone into the dangerous outer territories of the coma world to find answers and discover the truth about this reality.
Mirror World
Viktor encounters Phantom, a mysterious figure who becomes his guide and represents the thematic counterpoint - someone who has mastered this world and understands its deeper meaning.
Premise
Viktor explores the surreal coma world, discovering its impossible architecture built from memories. He uses his architectural skills to navigate and manipulate this reality, delivering on the premise of a mind-bending world between life and death.
Midpoint
Viktor discovers the terrible truth: the Architect, the malevolent force controlling this world, is actually him - or a dark version of himself. The game changes as he realizes he must fight himself.
Opposition
The Architect tightens his grip on the coma world, destroying safe zones and hunting the survivors. Viktor's flaws - his ego and need for control - manifest as his greatest enemy. The world collapses around him.
Collapse
Phantom sacrifices himself to save Viktor, dying in the coma world. Viktor faces the complete destruction of everything he tried to build, witnessing the death of hope and his support system.
Crisis
Viktor mourns in the darkness, processing Phantom's death and confronting his own responsibility for creating this nightmare. He wrestles with whether he deserves to escape or should remain trapped.
Act III
ResolutionSecond Threshold
Viktor realizes that to defeat the Architect, he must accept and integrate this dark part of himself rather than fight it. He synthesizes what Phantom taught him about acceptance with his own creative power.
Synthesis
Viktor confronts the Architect in a final battle of wills and architecture, rebuilding the coma world according to new principles. He uses his abilities not to control but to liberate, creating a path for souls to choose their fate.
Transformation
Viktor awakens from his coma in the real world, transformed. The closing image mirrors the opening but shows a humbled, wiser man who now understands that true creation comes from letting go of control.