The Squid and the Whale
In 1986, In Brooklyn, New York, the dysfunctional family of pseudo intellectuals composed by the university professor Bernard and the prominent writer Joan split. Bernard is a selfish, cheap and jealous decadent writer that rationalizes every attitude in his family and life and does not accept "philistines" - people that do not read books or watch movies, while the unfaithful Joan is growing as a writer and has no problems with "philistines". Their sons, the teenager Walt and the boy Frank, feel the separation and take side: Walt stays with Bernard, and Frank with Joan, and both are affected with abnormal behaviors. Frank drinks booze and smears with sperm the books in the library and a locker in the dress room of his school. The messed-up and insecure Walt uses Roger Water's song "Hey You" in a festival as if it was of his own, and breaks up with his girlfriend Sophie. Meanwhile Joan has an affair with Frank's tennis teacher Ivan and Bernard with his student Lili.
Despite its limited budget of $1.5M, The Squid and the Whale became a box office phenomenon, earning $11.1M worldwide—a remarkable 640% return. The film's bold vision engaged audiences, demonstrating that strong storytelling can transcend budget limitations.
Nominated for 1 Oscar. 23 wins & 49 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%)
The Squid and the Whale (2005) showcases carefully calibrated narrative design, characteristic of Noah Baumbach's storytelling approach. This structural analysis examines how the film's 15-point plot structure maps to proven narrative frameworks across 1 hour and 21 minutes. With an Arcplot score of 8.0, the film showcases strong structural fundamentals.
Characters
Cast & narrative archetypes
Bernard Berkman
Walt Berkman
Joan Berkman
Frank Berkman
Ivan
Lili
Sophie
Main Cast & Characters
Bernard Berkman
Played by Jeff Daniels
A pompous, once-successful novelist and college professor whose literary pretensions mask deep insecurity and selfishness as his marriage collapses.
Walt Berkman
Played by Jesse Eisenberg
The older teenage son who idolizes his father and adopts his intellectual snobbery as a defense mechanism while struggling with his parents' divorce.
Joan Berkman
Played by Laura Linney
A novelist whose literary career is ascending as her marriage falls apart, seeking freedom from her husband's controlling intellectual dominance.
Frank Berkman
Played by Owen Kline
The younger son who acts out sexually and with alcohol while aligning himself with his mother against his father during the divorce.
Ivan
Played by William Baldwin
Joan's laid-back tennis instructor who becomes her lover, representing everything Bernard dismisses as beneath him intellectually.
Lili
Played by Anna Paquin
Bernard's young student who moves in with him, naive and impressed by his literary reputation despite his manipulative behavior.
Sophie
Played by Halley Feiffer
Walt's girlfriend who sees through his pretensions and eventually breaks up with him over his plagiarism and emotional dishonesty.
Structural Analysis
The Status Quo at 1 minutes (1% through the runtime) establishes The Berkman family plays doubles tennis together in Park Slope, Brooklyn. Bernard and Walt team up against Joan and Frank, establishing the family dynamic and the competitive, intellectual household where taking sides is already the norm.. Structural examination shows that this early placement immediately immerses viewers in the story world.
The inciting incident occurs at 8 minutes when Bernard and Joan sit the boys down and announce they are separating. The news shatters the family unit as they explain the joint custody arrangement, forcing the boys to divide their time and loyalties between two households.. At 10% 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 18 minutes marks the transition into Act II, occurring at 22% of the runtime. This reveals the protagonist's commitment to Walt performs "Hey You" by Pink Floyd at the school talent show, claiming he wrote it. This active choice to plagiarize represents his commitment to his father's path of intellectual dishonesty and borrowed identity, fully entering the "new world" of the divorce's aftermath., moving from reaction to action.
At 36 minutes, the Midpoint arrives at 44% of the runtime—arriving early, accelerating into Act IIb complications. Significantly, this crucial beat Walt is exposed for plagiarizing "Hey You" and must face consequences at school. This false defeat cracks his carefully constructed intellectual persona, as the borrowed identity he's built around his father's values begins to crumble under scrutiny., fundamentally raising what's at risk. The emotional intensity shifts, dividing the narrative into clear before-and-after phases.
The Collapse moment at 53 minutes (66% through) represents the emotional nadir. Here, Bernard collapses from a heart episode, rushed to the hospital. Walt witnesses his father's physical vulnerability for the first time. The invincible intellectual giant is revealed as mortal and deeply flawed, a "whiff of death" that forces Walt to confront reality., demonstrates the protagonist at their lowest point. This beat's placement in the final quarter sets up the climactic reversal.
The Second Threshold at 57 minutes initiates the final act resolution at 70% of the runtime. Walt recalls a childhood memory of visiting the Museum of Natural History with his mother, specifically the squid and whale diorama that frightened him. This synthesis moment connects his present clarity with an authentic emotional memory uncorrupted by his father's influence., demonstrating the transformation achieved throughout the journey.
Emotional Journey
The Squid and the Whale's emotional architecture traces a deliberate progression across 15 carefully calibrated beats.
Narrative Framework
This structural analysis employs proven narrative structure principles that track dramatic progression. By mapping The Squid and the Whale 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 Squid and the Whale within the comedy 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 Squid and the Whale represents one of the director's most structurally precise works. For comparative analysis, explore the complete Noah Baumbach filmography.
Comparative Analysis
Additional comedy films include The Bad Guys, Ella Enchanted and The Evening Star. For more Noah Baumbach analyses, see Mistress America, Greenberg and The Meyerowitz Stories (New and Selected).
Plot Points by Act
Act I
SetupStatus Quo
The Berkman family plays doubles tennis together in Park Slope, Brooklyn. Bernard and Walt team up against Joan and Frank, establishing the family dynamic and the competitive, intellectual household where taking sides is already the norm.
Theme
Bernard dismissively critiques books as "minor" while Walt echoes his opinions. Joan challenges this, saying "You haven't even read it," foreshadowing the film's theme about the danger of adopting others' opinions without forming one's own.
Worldbuilding
The Berkman household is established: Bernard is a fading literary figure clinging to past success, Joan is an emerging writer, Walt idolizes his father and parrots his opinions, and younger Frank is closer to his mother. Tension simmers beneath intellectual pretension.
Disruption
Bernard and Joan sit the boys down and announce they are separating. The news shatters the family unit as they explain the joint custody arrangement, forcing the boys to divide their time and loyalties between two households.
Resistance
The family adjusts to the new arrangement. Walt aligns firmly with Bernard, adopting his bitterness toward Joan. Frank acts out, beginning to drink and exhibit troubling sexual behavior. Bernard finds a run-down house in a less desirable neighborhood, physically manifesting his decline.
Act II
ConfrontationFirst Threshold
Walt performs "Hey You" by Pink Floyd at the school talent show, claiming he wrote it. This active choice to plagiarize represents his commitment to his father's path of intellectual dishonesty and borrowed identity, fully entering the "new world" of the divorce's aftermath.
Mirror World
Walt begins dating Sophie, a classmate who genuinely engages with art and literature on her own terms. She represents authentic experience versus Walt's borrowed opinions, offering a thematic counterpoint that will help him see his father's limitations.
Premise
Walt navigates the divorced landscape, parroting Bernard's dismissals of Joan's success and Ivan (her tennis instructor lover). He pursues Sophie while maintaining his intellectual facade. Frank's behavior escalates. Bernard begins dating his student Lili, creating parallel romantic complications.
Midpoint
Walt is exposed for plagiarizing "Hey You" and must face consequences at school. This false defeat cracks his carefully constructed intellectual persona, as the borrowed identity he's built around his father's values begins to crumble under scrutiny.
Opposition
Bernard's flaws become undeniable: his relationship with Lili is inappropriate, his bitterness consumes him, and his inability to accept Joan's success is pathetic. Walt struggles to maintain his allegiance as Sophie challenges his borrowed opinions. Frank's behavior leads to therapy sessions.
Collapse
Bernard collapses from a heart episode, rushed to the hospital. Walt witnesses his father's physical vulnerability for the first time. The invincible intellectual giant is revealed as mortal and deeply flawed, a "whiff of death" that forces Walt to confront reality.
Crisis
Walt sits with his hospitalized father, who remains defensive and self-pitying. Walt processes the collapse of his idealized image of Bernard. He reflects on memories from childhood, beginning to separate his own identity from his father's borrowed worldview.
Act III
ResolutionSecond Threshold
Walt recalls a childhood memory of visiting the Museum of Natural History with his mother, specifically the squid and whale diorama that frightened him. This synthesis moment connects his present clarity with an authentic emotional memory uncorrupted by his father's influence.
Synthesis
Walt leaves his father at the hospital and travels alone across Brooklyn. He makes his way to the American Museum of Natural History, actively choosing to reconnect with his own authentic memories and feelings rather than remaining trapped in his father's bitter worldview.
Transformation
Walt stands before the giant squid and whale diorama, the same exhibit that once terrified him as a child. Now he gazes at it with quiet acceptance, no longer needing to hide behind his father's opinions. He has begun forming his own identity.