Good Time
Connie Nikas forcibly removes his developmentally disabled brother Nick from a therapy session. The two rob a New York City bank for $65,000. In the getaway car, a dye pack explodes in a money bag, causing the driver to crash. Connie and Nick flee on foot, washing the dye from their clothes in a restaurant restroom. Stopped by police, Nick panics and runs; Nick is arrested while Connie escapes. Connie attempts to secure a bail bond, but needs $10,000 more to get Nick out of jail. He convinces his girlfriend, Corey, to pay with her mother's credit cards, but her mother cancels the cards. Connie learns that Nick has been hospitalized after a fight with an inmate.
Working with a small-scale budget of $2.0M, the film achieved a modest success with $3.3M in global revenue (+64% profit margin).
6 wins & 47 nominations
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%)
Good Time (2017) demonstrates carefully calibrated narrative design, characteristic of Benny Safdie's storytelling approach. This structural analysis examines how the film's 15-point plot structure maps to proven narrative frameworks across 1 hour and 42 minutes. With an Arcplot score of 7.3, the film balances conventional beats with creative variation.
Characters
Cast & narrative archetypes
Connie Nikas
Nick Nikas
Ray
Crystal
Corey Ellman
Annie
Main Cast & Characters
Connie Nikas
Played by Robert Pattinson
A small-time criminal who spirals through one desperate night trying to bail out his intellectually disabled brother after a botched bank robbery.
Nick Nikas
Played by Benny Safdie
Connie's intellectually disabled younger brother who becomes trapped in Rikers Island after their failed robbery attempt.
Ray
Played by Buddy Duress
A bail bondsman and small-time criminal figure who becomes unwittingly involved in Connie's chaotic rescue attempt.
Crystal
Played by Taliah Webster
A teenage girl whose grandmother's house and credit card Connie exploits during his desperate night.
Corey Ellman
Played by Barkhad Abdi
An unstable young man Connie finds through Crystal, whose ID he steals to attempt bailing out Nick.
Annie
Played by Jennifer Jason Leigh
Connie's girlfriend who refuses to help him when he desperately calls for bail money.
Structural Analysis
The Status Quo at 1 minutes (1% through the runtime) establishes Nick undergoes a psychological evaluation, revealing his intellectual disability while Connie watches protectively, establishing their codependent relationship and Connie's role as self-appointed protector.. Significantly, this early placement immediately immerses viewers in the story world.
The inciting incident occurs at 12 minutes when Nick is captured by police after the botched robbery and taken to jail. Connie escapes but is now separated from his brother, triggering his desperate night-long quest to free him.. 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 25 minutes marks the transition into Act II, occurring at 24% of the runtime. This demonstrates the protagonist's commitment to Unable to make bail, Connie learns Nick has been hospitalized after a fight at Rikers. He actively chooses to break Nick out of the hospital, crossing into a criminal night of escalating chaos and violence., moving from reaction to action.
At 52 minutes, the Midpoint arrives at 51% of the runtime—precisely centered, creating perfect narrative symmetry. Structural examination shows that this crucial beat Connie discovers he broke out the wrong person - Ray is not Nick. The realization hits that his entire night has been for nothing, yet he continues doubling down rather than accepting defeat, revealing his pathological inability to quit., fundamentally raising what's at risk. The emotional intensity shifts, dividing the narrative into clear before-and-after phases.
The Collapse moment at 77 minutes (76% through) represents the emotional nadir. Here, Ray is critically injured, possibly killed, during the botched security guard robbery. Connie has destroyed an innocent person's life through his selfish desperation. The "whiff of death" is literal - Ray's fate mirrors the death of Connie's humanity., reveals the protagonist at their lowest point. This beat's placement in the final quarter sets up the climactic reversal.
The Second Threshold at 82 minutes initiates the final act resolution at 81% of the runtime. Connie tries to flee on a bus but is recognized and chased down. For the first time, he has no escape plan, no manipulation to deploy. He must face capture, the inevitable consequence of his actions., demonstrating the transformation achieved throughout the journey.
Emotional Journey
Good Time'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 Good Time against these established plot points, we can identify how Benny Safdie utilizes or subverts traditional narrative conventions. The plot point approach reveals not only adherence to structural principles but also creative choices that distinguish Good Time within the crime genre.
Benny Safdie's Structural Approach
Among the 2 Benny Safdie films analyzed on Arcplot, the average structural score is 6.9, demonstrating varied approaches to story architecture. Good Time represents one of the director's most structurally precise works. For comparative analysis, explore the complete Benny Safdie filmography.
Comparative Analysis
Additional crime films include The Bad Guys, Rustom and The Whole Ten Yards. For more Benny Safdie analyses, see Uncut Gems.
Plot Points by Act
Act I
SetupStatus Quo
Nick undergoes a psychological evaluation, revealing his intellectual disability while Connie watches protectively, establishing their codependent relationship and Connie's role as self-appointed protector.
Theme
The psychiatrist tells Nick he needs proper care and asks about his feelings. The theme emerges: some people need help they won't accept, and enabling them causes more harm than good.
Worldbuilding
Connie pulls Nick from therapy and drags him into a bank robbery. The heist goes wrong when a dye pack explodes. We see Connie's reckless planning, his manipulation of his brother, and his refusal to accept that Nick needs institutional help.
Disruption
Nick is captured by police after the botched robbery and taken to jail. Connie escapes but is now separated from his brother, triggering his desperate night-long quest to free him.
Resistance
Connie attempts to raise bail money by manipulating his girlfriend Corey, forging documents, and scheming. He debates various desperate options, each more reckless than the last, showing his refusal to accept consequences.
Act II
ConfrontationFirst Threshold
Unable to make bail, Connie learns Nick has been hospitalized after a fight at Rikers. He actively chooses to break Nick out of the hospital, crossing into a criminal night of escalating chaos and violence.
Mirror World
Connie encounters Ray, a young man he mistakes for his brother in the hospital. Ray becomes an unwitting companion who mirrors what Nick could be with proper help - vulnerable, confused, needing genuine care rather than exploitation.
Premise
The night spirals into chaos as Connie drags Ray through increasingly desperate schemes: breaking into an apartment, finding drugs, attempting to sell them, manipulating Ray's grandmother. Each plan fails worse than the last.
Midpoint
Connie discovers he broke out the wrong person - Ray is not Nick. The realization hits that his entire night has been for nothing, yet he continues doubling down rather than accepting defeat, revealing his pathological inability to quit.
Opposition
Police close in as Connie's lies unravel. He manipulates Ray into robbing a security guard, causes a violent confrontation at an amusement park, and leaves destruction in his wake while remaining focused solely on escaping rather than helping anyone.
Collapse
Ray is critically injured, possibly killed, during the botched security guard robbery. Connie has destroyed an innocent person's life through his selfish desperation. The "whiff of death" is literal - Ray's fate mirrors the death of Connie's humanity.
Crisis
Connie flees the scene, briefly confronting the carnage he's caused. He has a moment to reflect on his choices but instead of accepting responsibility, he continues running, calling Corey for one last escape attempt.
Act III
ResolutionSecond Threshold
Connie tries to flee on a bus but is recognized and chased down. For the first time, he has no escape plan, no manipulation to deploy. He must face capture, the inevitable consequence of his actions.
Synthesis
Connie is arrested. In custody, he finally sees Nick again, but Nick is now in proper therapeutic care, participating in group therapy. The system Connie fought against is actually helping his brother heal.
Transformation
Final image: Nick in group therapy, engaging genuinely with others, finally receiving the help the psychiatrist recommended. Connie watches through glass, separated and powerless. Nick is better off without him - the inverse of the opening image where Connie controlled everything.