Here
A generational story about families and the special place they inhabit, sharing in love, loss, laughter, and life.
The film commercial failure against its respectable budget of $40.0M, earning $15.4M globally (-62% loss). While initial box office returns were modest, the film has gained appreciation for its compelling narrative within the drama genre.
2 wins & 7 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%)
Here (2024) demonstrates strategically placed 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 7.4, the film balances conventional beats with creative variation.
Characters
Cast & narrative archetypes
Richard Young
Margaret Young
Al Young
Rose Young
Pauline
Main Cast & Characters
Richard Young
Played by Tom Hanks
A young man who grows up in the house, dreams of becoming an artist, marries Margaret and raises a family in the same living room across decades.
Margaret Young
Played by Robin Wright
Richard's wife who builds her life in the house, navigating marriage, motherhood, and the passage of time alongside her husband.
Al Young
Played by Paul Bettany
Richard's father, a World War II veteran who purchases the house and represents the post-war American dream and traditional family values.
Rose Young
Played by Kelly Reilly
Richard's mother and Al's wife, the matriarch who maintains the household and witnesses her family's evolution across generations.
Pauline
Played by Michelle Dockery
An earlier inhabitant of the house during the early 20th century, representing a different era and set of dreams in the same space.
Structural Analysis
The Status Quo at 1 minutes (1% through the runtime) establishes The empty living room in present day before being packed up, establishing the space that has held generations of life and memory, now facing transition.. Of particular interest, this early placement immediately immerses viewers in the story world.
The inciting incident occurs at 13 minutes when Teenage Richard meets Margaret at a gathering in the living room. Their connection sparks the central love story that will define the house's most important chapter.. 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 demonstrates the protagonist's commitment to Margaret reveals she's pregnant. Richard proposes, but both understand this means abandoning his art school dreams. They choose to commit to family life in this room, just as his parents did., moving from reaction to action.
At 52 minutes, the Midpoint arrives at 50% of the runtime—precisely centered, creating perfect narrative symmetry. Notably, this crucial beat Al Young suffers a stroke in the living room. This false defeat marks the beginning of decline: Richard's father's health deteriorates, forcing recognition that time passes and dreams deferred may never be realized., 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, Al Young dies, and Rose must leave the house. The whiff of death is literal and metaphorical: the end of the parental generation and Richard's confrontation with his own mortality and unlived life., indicates 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. Richard and Margaret decide to sell the house and pursue what's left of their dreams. The realization: the place doesn't trap them—they can choose to leave, to change, even now., demonstrating the transformation achieved throughout the journey.
Emotional Journey
Here'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 Here 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 Here within the drama 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. Here represents one of the director's most structurally precise works. For comparative analysis, explore the complete Robert Zemeckis filmography.
Comparative Analysis
Additional drama films include After Thomas, South Pacific and Dirty Dancing: Havana Nights. For more Robert Zemeckis analyses, see Who Framed Roger Rabbit, Beowulf and Welcome to Marwen.
Plot Points by Act
Act I
SetupStatus Quo
The empty living room in present day before being packed up, establishing the space that has held generations of life and memory, now facing transition.
Theme
Al Young tells his son Richard: "This is where your life happens." The central theme about how a single place contains the entirety of human experience across time.
Worldbuilding
Establishing the cross-temporal structure: prehistoric era, colonial period, early 20th century, and primarily the Young family moving into the house in the 1940s-50s. Introduction of Al, Rose, Richard as a child, and the room's evolution.
Disruption
Teenage Richard meets Margaret at a gathering in the living room. Their connection sparks the central love story that will define the house's most important chapter.
Resistance
Richard and Margaret's courtship unfolds across the years. Richard's dreams of being an artist conflict with practical pressures. They navigate young love while the house witnesses other eras simultaneously.
Act II
ConfrontationFirst Threshold
Margaret reveals she's pregnant. Richard proposes, but both understand this means abandoning his art school dreams. They choose to commit to family life in this room, just as his parents did.
Mirror World
Intercut scenes show the previous generation (Al and Rose) and future moments of Richard and Margaret's family, establishing the multigenerational mirror that reflects how each generation faces the same hopes and compromises in this space.
Premise
The promise of the premise: watching multiple timelines of life unfold in one fixed location. Births, holidays, arguments, celebrations, aging parents, growing children. The room becomes a character witnessing joy and ordinary struggles across decades.
Midpoint
Al Young suffers a stroke in the living room. This false defeat marks the beginning of decline: Richard's father's health deteriorates, forcing recognition that time passes and dreams deferred may never be realized.
Opposition
Pressure intensifies: Al's declining health, Richard's growing resentment about abandoned dreams, Margaret's own unfulfilled aspirations, children leaving home. The room witnesses arguments, distance growing, and the weight of choices made decades ago.
Collapse
Al Young dies, and Rose must leave the house. The whiff of death is literal and metaphorical: the end of the parental generation and Richard's confrontation with his own mortality and unlived life.
Crisis
Richard and Margaret process grief and their own aging. In the empty room after Rose leaves, they face the reality that they too are running out of time in this place, in this life.
Act III
ResolutionSecond Threshold
Richard and Margaret decide to sell the house and pursue what's left of their dreams. The realization: the place doesn't trap them—they can choose to leave, to change, even now.
Synthesis
Final scenes in the house: packing, memories flooding back, farewell to the space. Intercut with future inhabitants and past moments, showing the room continues without them. The cycle of life in this place goes on.
Transformation
The empty living room again, but now we see it differently: not as abandonment but as readiness for new life. The final image mirrors the opening but transforms our understanding—every ending is a beginning for someone else.