A construction worker dreams of a strange woman and discovers secrets in his own mind about possibly being a spy on Mars, where he finds the woman is a rebel fighting a man who may have been his old boss.

I’m breaking down movies by their three-act structure. What is three-act structure? I explain it here.

Note: I break the story down into five-minute blocks to make it easier to see the length of each section. Rough time codes follow.

Prolog

Doug Quaid dreams of Melina on Mars (the inciting incident, introducing the heroes). Lori consoles him. 5

Act 1

Quaid sees terrorism reports and talks about moving to Mars (introducing the central conflict and the villain), goes to work. 10

Quaid talks about Rekall with Harry. Quaid goes to Rekall. 15

Quaid picks secret agent fantasy. His memory cap gets popped. He is sedated. 20

Quaid awakens in a cab, gets snatched by Harry and pals, but kills them. Quaid finds Lori at home. 25

Lori tries to kill him and confesses to living a fake life. He escapes, chased by Richter and pals (motivating him to take action about Mars). 30

Act 2

Quaid escapes Richter and pals, gets on a train (beginning his journey into the extraordinary world). Richter talks to Cohaagen. Quaid gets a call and case from an old pal. 35

Quaid gets the case, escapes in a cab when spotted. His video self says his life isn’t real (meaning he acts as his own mentor!). 40

Quaid extracts a bug and gets the message “Get your ass to Mars” (propelling him into the wilderness). He escapes as Richter catches up. Quaid travels to Mars in disguise. 45

Quaid blows a bomb when he gets identified then escapes on a train. Cohaagen dresses down Richter. 50

Quaid goes to the Hilton, gets a case with a clue to find Melina. Terrorists attack as he gets in Benny’s cab, and he’s introduced to the problems of Mars (plot twist 1). 55

Quaid finds Melina in a mutant bar. She dresses rejects him (crisis: did he come all this way to meet the woman of his dreams for nothing?)….

Midpoint, a few minutes late

…Benny takes him back to the hotel. 60

Rekall doc shows up, tries to convince Quaid to stop. He kills the doc but is knocked out by Lori’s thugs. 65

Melina attacks thugs, fights Lori. Quaid kills Lori (rallying his morale). He and Melina escape Richter in Benny’s cab. 70

They go to the mutant bar and slip into hiding. Richter shoots up the place. Cohaagen turns off the air (plot twist 2). 75

Melina takes Quaid thru an alien crypt. They have a romantic moment. Kuato’s men find them. Benny reveals he is a mutant. They go to the mutant Kuato. 80

Kuato psychically extracts knowledge of the alien reactor. Richter’s men attack. Benny betrays and captures Quaid and Melina. Kuato is killed. (All seems lost!) 85

Act 3

Cohaagen taunts Quaid, prepares to brainwash him. 90

Quaid escapes the brainwash machine, kills techs (turning the tables). They escape. Without air, the mutants are dying. Benny attacks Quaid but dies. 95

Quaid and Melina find the reactor. Richter catches up. Quaid tricks them with a displacement illusion device (the secret key) and kills them. 100

Cohaagen catches Quaid at the reactor switch (the climax!). Melina shoots him (resolving the central conflict). They activate the reactor but are swept outside. 105

Mars floods with oxygen, saving Quaid, Melina, and mutants. 110