In a dystopian future, Deckard is a retired cop who finds and terminates runaway replicants, the android workers built to do work humans don’t want to do. He’s called back for one last quadruple execution.

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

Narration: Tyrell replicants need to be terminated. 5

Act 1

Leon shoots the replicant test’s examiner (the inciting incident introducing the villain and central conflict). Deckard is “arrested” by Gaff (introducing the hero). 10

Deckard is forced by Bryant to take the job to hunt Nexus 6 replicants Leon, Roy, Pris, and Zhora (introducing the rest of the villains). 15

Deckard tests Tyrell’s assistant, Rachael (which does not actually address the conflict but rather replicates the inciting incident). 20

Deckard learns Rachael is a Nexus 6 with implanted memories. Deckard searches Leon’s apartment and finds photos and an animal scale (which motivates him with a lead and propels him into the extraordinary world of the investigation). 25

Act 2

Roy and Leon force Chew to tell them JF Sebastian has the information they want. 30

Rachael come to Deckard to try to prove she’s human. Deckard proves she’s not. 35

Pris cons JF Sebastian into taking her in. 40

Deckard analyzes Leon’s photos and sees Zhora. 45

Deckard tracks the animal scale to a club but learns little (going into the wilderness). 50

Deckard finds Zhora in the club and gets attacked. 55

Deckard chases and kills Zhora (which is so awful, it represents a crisis for Deckard.). 60

Midpoint

Deckard is told he must also terminate Rachael because she has run away (an extended crisis!). 65

Leon tries to kill Deckard. Rachael kills Leon. 70

Deckard promises not to hunt Rachael (plot twist 2). 75

Deckard and Rachael fall for each other. 80

Roy and Pris confront Tyrell and find there is no way to extend their lives. 85

Timing-wise, this is where the hero’s defeat and emotional bottom should be, but instead it is the villains’. I’m not sure if this is happenstance or some deliberate subversion of expectations. It’s very strange to show the villains learning that they cannot possibly win before we even get to the third act.

Roy kills Tyrell. Deckard goes to Sebastian’s apartment. 90

Deckard fights Pris. Her death throes horrify him. (Every success is a failure for Deckard. He is horrified by who he has become. This and Roy’s heartbreak over Pris are his emotional defeat.) 95

Act 3, way late

Malfunctioning, Roy hunts Deckard in Sebastian’s building. (The fact that Roy is malfunctioning, which indicates he’s coming to the end of his functional life, is the secret key.) 100

Roy chases Deckard onto the roof in the rain (turning the tables on Deckard!). 105

Roy saves Deckard from falling (the final setback) and talks about dying. He shuts down (resolving the conflict). 110

Oddly, this means Deckard’s efforts were all for nothing. The replicants would have shut down soon anyway, something their makers should have known and communicated to him.

Epilog

Deckard retrieves Rachael so they can flee together. 115