A misunderstood boy takes on ghosts, zombies and grown-ups to save his town from a centuries-old curse.

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

Norman Babcock talks to Grandma… who is dead. His family, who can’t see her, worries for his sanity. 5

Act 1

Norman goes to school, passing ghosts other living people can’t see. He is an outcast. 10

The kids rehearse a school play about a witch’s curse (introducing the conflict). Prenderghast says it’s real, and Norman must stop it (the inciting incident and the call to adventure). 15

Norman and Neil play with Neil’s dead dog (refusal of the call). Prenderghast dies. During the play, Norman has a vision that “the dead are coming” (the motivation). 20

Act 2

Norman gets bullied at school for being weird. Prenderghast’s ghost says Norman must keep the witch in her grave using his book. 25

Talking with Grandma convinces Norman to try to stop the witch. 30

Norman gets the book from Prenderghast’s corpse (venturing into the wilderness). 35

Norman tries to use the book at the graveyard, but fails to stop the witch raising the dead (plot twist 1). Norman’s sister Courtney looks for him. 40

Norman and Alvin flee the zombies and lock themselves in Prenderghast’s house (which is a heck of a crisis). Norman realizes he was using the book in the wrong place–the witch’s grave is elsewhere….

Midpoint

…The others look for Norman. 45

The kids all flee the zombies in Mitch’s van. Norman calls smart girl Salma, who tells him the witch’s grave might be recorded in the old town hall archives. 50

Zombies menace the town, but the townsfolk fight back. 55

The kids break into the old town hall (rallying their team). The zombies go to the town hall. A mob of townsfolk follow. 60

The mob tries to burn down the old town hall (plot twist 2). The witch, Agatha, shows Norman a vision of her trial: she was not an evil witch but an innocent little girl who could see ghosts (a gut-wrenching revelation that feels like a defeat). The zombies beg Norman to use the book–bedtime stories–to put Agatha to sleep for another year. He realizes he must end the curse for all time. 65

Norman is brought to his emotional low by the realization that Agatha and he are basically the same, but rather than being bullied, she was executed for being weird.

Act 3

With the help of the other kids, Norman stops the mob from burning down the town hall. 70

The witch attacks as a churning mass of clouds. Norman and his family search for the witch’s grave with the judge zombie. Separated, Norman finds Agatha; she attacks him. 75

Norman confronts the witch and convinces her that she is acting no better than the people who wrongly condemned her. He calms her, and she finds solace and passes on as a spirit. 80

The zombies pass on. Norman’s family congratulates him. 85

Epilog

Norman’s dad sits with Norman to talk to Grandma. (very brief)