Death Becomes Her
In 1978, on Broadway, the decadent and narcissist actress Madeline Ashton is performing Songbird, based on Tennessee Williams' Sweet Bird of Youth. Then she receives her rival Helen Sharp, who is an aspiring writer, and her fiancee Ernest Menville, who is a plastic surgeon, in her dressing-room. Soon Menville calls off his commitment with Helen and marries Madeline. Seven years later, Helen is obese in a psychiatric hospital and obsessed in seeking revenge on Madeline. In 1992, the marriage of Madeline and Menville is finished and he is no longer a surgeon but an alcoholic caretaker. Out of the blue, they are invited to a party where Helen will release her novel Forever Young and Madeline goes to a beauty shop. The owner gives a business card of the specialist in rejuvenation Lisle Von Rhuman to her. When the envious Madeline sees Helen thin in a perfect shape, she decides to seek out Lisle and buys a potion to become young again. Further, she advises that Madeline must take care of her body. Meanwhile Helen seduces Menville and they plot a scheme to kill Madeline. When Madeline comes home, she has an argument Menville and he pushes her from the staircase. She breaks her neck but becomes a living dead. When Helen arrives at Menville's house expecting that Madeline is dead, she is murdered by Madeline. But she also becomes a living dead and they conclude they need Menville to help them to maintain their bodies. But Menville wants to leave them.
Despite a mid-range budget of $55.0M, Death Becomes Her became a financial success, earning $149.0M worldwide—a 171% 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%)
Death Becomes Her (1992) demonstrates deliberately positioned dramatic framework, characteristic of Robert Zemeckis's storytelling approach. This structural analysis examines how the film's 15-point plot structure maps to proven narrative frameworks across 1 hour and 44 minutes. With an Arcplot score of 7.0, the film balances conventional beats with creative variation.
Characters
Cast & narrative archetypes
Madeline Ashton
Helen Sharp
Dr. Ernest Menville
Lisle Von Rhuman
Main Cast & Characters
Madeline Ashton
Played by Meryl Streep
A vain, aging Broadway actress obsessed with youth and beauty who will do anything to stay relevant and youthful.
Helen Sharp
Played by Goldie Hawn
A mousy writer who transforms from doormat to vengeful rival after her fiancé is stolen by her former friend Madeline.
Dr. Ernest Menville
Played by Bruce Willis
A brilliant plastic surgeon caught between two immortal women, struggling with his identity and moral compass.
Lisle Von Rhuman
Played by Isabella Rossellini
A mysterious and ageless enchantress who offers a magical potion that grants eternal youth at a terrible price.
Structural Analysis
The Status Quo at 1 minutes (1% through the runtime) establishes Madeline Ashton takes the stage in a terrible musical production of "Songbird," revealing her fading celebrity status and desperate vanity as the audience boos and walks out.. Structural examination shows that this early placement immediately immerses viewers in the story world.
The inciting incident occurs at 12 minutes when Seven years later: Madeline discovers her first wrinkle and faces the terror of aging. Her career is declining, Ernest has become an alcoholic morgue cosmetologist, and Helen has been institutionalized—the toxic relationships have destroyed everyone.. 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 26 minutes marks the transition into Act II, occurring at 25% of the runtime. This shows the protagonist's commitment to Madeline chooses to visit Lisle Von Rhuman and drink the immortality potion, making an irreversible Faustian bargain. She actively seeks the supernatural solution despite the ominous warnings., moving from reaction to action.
At 51 minutes, the Midpoint arrives at 49% of the runtime—precisely centered, creating perfect narrative symmetry. Significantly, this crucial beat Helen pushes Madeline down the stairs, breaking her neck completely backward. The "death" that doesn't kill reveals the horrifying reality of immortality—they will decay and break forever. The stakes shift from vanity to survival., fundamentally raising what's at risk. The emotional intensity shifts, dividing the narrative into clear before-and-after phases.
The Collapse moment at 78 minutes (75% through) represents the emotional nadir. Here, Ernest refuses the immortality potion and chooses mortality, rejecting both women. He walks away from Madeline and Helen, leaving them to face eternity alone and decaying. Their greatest fear—abandonment and obsolescence—is realized., reveals the protagonist at their lowest point. This beat's placement in the final quarter sets up the climactic reversal.
The Second Threshold at 83 minutes initiates the final act resolution at 80% of the runtime. Madeline and Helen realize they only have each other. They form a bitter alliance, understanding that their codependent relationship is now eternal. They must cooperate to survive, even though they hate each other., demonstrating the transformation achieved throughout the journey.
Emotional Journey
Death Becomes Her'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 Death Becomes Her against these established plot points, we can identify how Robert Zemeckis utilizes or subverts traditional narrative conventions. The plot point approach reveals not only adherence to structural principles but also creative choices that distinguish Death Becomes Her within the comedy genre.
Robert Zemeckis's Structural Approach
Among the 20 Robert Zemeckis films analyzed on Arcplot, the average structural score is 6.9, demonstrating varied approaches to story architecture. Death Becomes Her represents one of the director's most structurally precise works. For comparative analysis, explore the complete Robert Zemeckis filmography.
Comparative Analysis
Additional comedy films include The Bad Guys, Ella Enchanted and The Evening Star. For more Robert Zemeckis analyses, see Who Framed Roger Rabbit, Beowulf and Welcome to Marwen.
Plot Points by Act
Act I
SetupStatus Quo
Madeline Ashton takes the stage in a terrible musical production of "Songbird," revealing her fading celebrity status and desperate vanity as the audience boos and walks out.
Theme
Helen says to Ernest, "You're a man who knows the value of life," foreshadowing the film's central question about the true cost of immortality and what makes life meaningful.
Worldbuilding
Introduction to the love triangle: narcissistic actress Madeline, mousy writer Helen, and plastic surgeon Ernest. Madeline systematically seduces and steals Ernest from Helen backstage, establishing the pattern of obsession, vanity, and revenge that will define all three characters.
Disruption
Seven years later: Madeline discovers her first wrinkle and faces the terror of aging. Her career is declining, Ernest has become an alcoholic morgue cosmetologist, and Helen has been institutionalized—the toxic relationships have destroyed everyone.
Resistance
Madeline spirals over aging and her fading looks. Helen reappears, impossibly young and thin, having written a book. Madeline becomes obsessed with discovering Helen's secret, driven by jealousy and fear of obsolescence.
Act II
ConfrontationFirst Threshold
Madeline chooses to visit Lisle Von Rhuman and drink the immortality potion, making an irreversible Faustian bargain. She actively seeks the supernatural solution despite the ominous warnings.
Mirror World
Lisle Von Rhuman becomes the thematic mirror—an ancient immortal who embodies the film's cautionary theme. She explicitly warns Madeline that the potion requires taking care of the body forever, introducing the true cost of vanity.
Premise
The "fun and games" of immortality: Madeline's rejuvenation, Helen's murder of Madeline (shotgun blast through the stomach), the revelation that both women are now immortal and literally falling apart, and Ernest's frantic attempts to repair their undead bodies using his morgue skills.
Midpoint
Helen pushes Madeline down the stairs, breaking her neck completely backward. The "death" that doesn't kill reveals the horrifying reality of immortality—they will decay and break forever. The stakes shift from vanity to survival.
Opposition
Madeline and Helen realize they need Ernest to maintain their bodies forever. Both women pursue him desperately while literally falling apart. Ernest becomes aware of their plan to enslave him, and the women's bodies continue deteriorating despite their eternal youth.
Collapse
Ernest refuses the immortality potion and chooses mortality, rejecting both women. He walks away from Madeline and Helen, leaving them to face eternity alone and decaying. Their greatest fear—abandonment and obsolescence—is realized.
Crisis
Madeline and Helen chase Ernest to Lisle's castle, desperate to recapture him. They face the dark reality that without someone to maintain them, they will crumble into conscious pieces forever—a fate worse than death.
Act III
ResolutionSecond Threshold
Madeline and Helen realize they only have each other. They form a bitter alliance, understanding that their codependent relationship is now eternal. They must cooperate to survive, even though they hate each other.
Synthesis
The finale at Lisle's castle: Ernest escapes while Madeline and Helen accidentally trigger a chain reaction that destroys Lisle and her immortal guests. The women survive but are now truly trapped together, painting and spackling each other for eternity.
Transformation
27 years later: At Ernest's funeral, Madeline and Helen appear as crumbling, painted corpses held together by spray paint and spackle. They tumble down the church steps and shatter into pieces, cursed to exist forever as living ruins—the ultimate price of vanity.