The Meyerowitz Stories (New and Selected)
N/A
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%)
The Meyerowitz Stories (New and Selected) (2017) exhibits deliberately positioned dramatic framework, characteristic of Noah Baumbach's storytelling approach. This structural analysis examines how the film's 11-point plot structure maps to proven narrative frameworks across 1 hour and 52 minutes. With an Arcplot score of 5.9, the film takes an unconventional approach to traditional narrative frameworks.
Structural Analysis
The Status Quo at 1 minutes (1% through the runtime) establishes Danny drives through New York with his daughter Eliza, unable to find parking, embodying his stuck, circling life pattern and frustration with his aging father Harold's demands.. Notably, this early placement immediately immerses viewers in the story world.
The inciting incident occurs at 12 minutes when Harold announces he's downsizing and moving, forcing a reckoning with his legacy and bringing the estranged siblings back together to sort through childhood artifacts and unresolved trauma.. At 11% through the film, this Disruption aligns precisely with traditional story structure. This beat shifts the emotional landscape, launching the protagonist into the central conflict.
At 49 minutes, the Midpoint arrives at 44% of the runtime—arriving early, accelerating into Act IIb complications. Notably, this crucial beat Harold's retrospective is a failure—sparse attendance, little recognition. The siblings witness their father's delusions crumble, a false defeat that exposes the emptiness of the validation they've been seeking., fundamentally raising what's at risk. The emotional intensity shifts, dividing the narrative into clear before-and-after phases.
The Collapse moment at 75 minutes (67% through) represents the emotional nadir. Here, Harold suffers a brain hemorrhage and is hospitalized. The literal "whiff of death" forces the siblings to confront losing their father before ever receiving his approval or understanding., illustrates the protagonist at their lowest point. This beat's placement in the final quarter sets up the climactic reversal.
The Synthesis at 80 minutes initiates the final act resolution at 71% of the runtime. Harold survives but is diminished. The siblings support each other through his recovery, make peace with his limitations, and begin to forge adult relationships not defined by childhood wounds., demonstrating the transformation achieved throughout the journey.
Emotional Journey
The Meyerowitz Stories (New and Selected)'s emotional architecture traces a deliberate progression across 11 carefully calibrated beats.
Narrative Framework
This structural analysis employs a 15-point narrative structure framework that maps key story moments. By mapping The Meyerowitz Stories (New and Selected) against these established plot points, we can identify how Noah Baumbach utilizes or subverts traditional narrative conventions. The plot point approach reveals not only adherence to structural principles but also creative choices that distinguish The Meyerowitz Stories (New and Selected) within the n/a genre.
Noah Baumbach's Structural Approach
Among the 8 Noah Baumbach films analyzed on Arcplot, the average structural score is 6.5, demonstrating varied approaches to story architecture. The Meyerowitz Stories (New and Selected) takes a more unconventional approach compared to the director's typical style. For comparative analysis, explore the complete Noah Baumbach filmography.
Comparative Analysis
Additional n/a films include Roald Dahl's Matilda the Musical, The Blackening and Glass Onion: A Knives Out Mystery. For more Noah Baumbach analyses, see Frances Ha, While We're Young and Mistress America.
Plot Points by Act
Act I
SetupStatus Quo
Danny drives through New York with his daughter Eliza, unable to find parking, embodying his stuck, circling life pattern and frustration with his aging father Harold's demands.
Theme
Harold dismissively critiques his children's accomplishments while elevating his own artistic legacy, establishing the theme: children seeking validation from a self-absorbed parent who cannot give it.
Worldbuilding
Introduction to the fractured Meyerowitz family: Danny (unemployed, angry), Matthew (successful LA businessman), Jean (damaged, passive), and Harold (narcissistic sculptor) with his younger wife Maureen. Each sibling carries different wounds from their childhood.
Disruption
Harold announces he's downsizing and moving, forcing a reckoning with his legacy and bringing the estranged siblings back together to sort through childhood artifacts and unresolved trauma.
Resistance
The siblings awkwardly reunite. Danny and Matthew's tension surfaces. They debate what to do with Harold's legacy and prepare for a retrospective of his work, each processing their resentment differently.
Act II
ConfrontationPremise
The premise fulfilled: dysfunctional family members forced together, navigating Harold's retrospective, airing grievances, getting drunk, fighting, and slowly revealing the depth of their shared damage and need for each other.
Midpoint
Harold's retrospective is a failure—sparse attendance, little recognition. The siblings witness their father's delusions crumble, a false defeat that exposes the emptiness of the validation they've been seeking.
Opposition
Family tensions escalate. Danny's rage erupts in violent outbursts. Matthew's perfect facade cracks. Old resentments surface about favoritism, neglect, and Harold's failure as a father. The wounds deepen.
Collapse
Harold suffers a brain hemorrhage and is hospitalized. The literal "whiff of death" forces the siblings to confront losing their father before ever receiving his approval or understanding.
Crisis
The siblings keep vigil at the hospital, processing the possibility of Harold's death and their complicated grief—mourning not what they had, but what they'll never have.
Act III
ResolutionSynthesis
Harold survives but is diminished. The siblings support each other through his recovery, make peace with his limitations, and begin to forge adult relationships not defined by childhood wounds.