18 types of movie ideas, and the engine that drives each one

Every good movie idea runs on an engine

Most movie ideas fall into a handful of proven types, and each type comes with its own built-in source of conflict. Knowing which one you’re writing tells you where the trouble comes from, what the audience is waiting for, and what your logline needs to promise.

Here are the 18 types of movie ideas I see most, with films that run on each. Many great movies combine two or three. The Hangover is a quest, a night that goes wrong and an ensemble collision at the same time, and Tootsie shows up three times.

1. Fish out of water

A person is dropped into a world where they don’t belong. Someone ordinary enters an unfamiliar world and has to figure out how to survive.

• Beverly Hills Cop: a Detroit cop in Beverly Hills
• Crocodile Dundee: an Australian bushman in New York
• The Devil Wears Prada: an ordinary young woman in fashion
• Coming to America: an African prince in Queens

The conflict comes from the character’s unfamiliarity with the rules.

2. Ordinary person, extraordinary circumstances

Probably one of the most useful movie engines ever. A completely normal person suddenly has to do something wildly beyond their capabilities.

• Die Hard: a regular cop trapped in a skyscraper takeover
• The Hangover: ordinary guys wake up in an insane situation
• North by Northwest: an advertising executive mistaken for a spy
• After Hours: an ordinary guy’s night spirals out of control
• Planes, Trains and Automobiles: a traveler trapped in ever more ridiculous circumstances

The conflict comes from: “Why is this happening to me?”

3. Wish fulfillment (be careful what you wish for)

The protagonist desperately wants something and gets it, then discovers it isn’t what they thought.

• Liar Liar: a lawyer who can’t lie
• Bruce Almighty: a man given God’s powers
• Big: a boy who wishes to be an adult
• Freaky Friday: wanting to understand someone else, and becoming them

It’s especially powerful when the external wish exposes an internal problem.

4. Identity switch

Someone becomes someone else. “If I could just be that person, my problems would disappear.”

• Tootsie
• Trading Places
• Auggie Rose, which I wrote and directed

The interesting part is usually that pretending to be someone else forces the protagonist to confront himself.

5. The underdog

Someone who has no business succeeding takes on someone or something far more powerful.

• Rocky
• The Full Monty
• Little Miss Sunshine
• The Mighty Ducks
• Cool Runnings

The engine: everybody thinks this person is a loser. Can they pull it off?

6. The comeback

Someone who used to be somebody gets another shot. It’s different from the underdog: they had their moment, they blew it, and now they get one last chance.

• The Wrestler
• The Replacements
• Major League
• The Natural
• Unforgiven

7. The second chance (life reset)

The protagonist gets an opportunity to redo their life.

• It’s a Wonderful Life
• Groundhog Day
• 17 Again

The deeper question: if I could go back and change my life, would I actually be happier?

8. The revenge story

Someone has been humiliated, betrayed, wronged or defeated, and wants payback.

• Kill Bill
• John Wick
• The First Wives Club
• 9 to 5
• Carrie

In comedy, revenge often becomes: “I’m going to prove everyone who laughed at me wrong.”

9. The quest

The protagonist has a concrete objective and has to get through increasingly difficult obstacles to reach it: “I need to get X.”

• Raiders of the Lost Ark
• The Hangover
• Planes, Trains and Automobiles
• Finding Nemo
• The Goonies

The goal doesn’t have to be profound. It can be “get to the reunion,” and then everything goes catastrophically wrong.

10. The race against time

Something has to happen before a deadline.

• Back to the Future
• High Noon
• Speed
• 24
• Run Lola Run

It’s a fantastic secondary engine, because a deadline automatically creates momentum.

11. The con (deception)

The protagonist has to maintain a lie. If anyone discovers the truth, everything falls apart.

• Tootsie
• Mrs. Doubtfire
• Catch Me If You Can
• Dirty Rotten Scoundrels
• The Talented Mr. Ripley

The comedy comes from having to tell bigger lies to cover the original lie.

12. The reunion (return to the past)

A character goes back to the place or the people tied to a former identity.

• Grosse Pointe Blank
• Romy and Michele’s High School Reunion
• American Reunion
• The Big Chill

The underlying engine: past self versus present self.

13. The ensemble collision

Put a group of people with unresolved relationships in one confined place and let them collide.

• The Big Chill
• The Breakfast Club
• Clue
• The Hangover
• It’s a Mad, Mad, Mad, Mad World

A reunion is practically designed for this.

14. The night that goes completely wrong

A character expects one relatively normal event. Instead, one thing goes wrong, which causes another, which causes another, until it’s total chaos.

• After Hours
• The Hangover
• Adventures in Babysitting
• Superbad
• Very Bad Things

It’s a particularly good comedy engine, because the escalation becomes the plot.

15. The undercover impostor

The protagonist has to pretend to be someone they’re not in order to accomplish something.

• Tootsie
• Mrs. Doubtfire
• Some Like It Hot
• The Birdcage
• Catch Me If You Can

16. One last job

Someone who left something behind gets pulled back in.

• Ocean’s Eleven
• The Italian Job
• Logan Lucky
• Countless heist movies

The comedy variation: “I’m completely unqualified, but somehow I’m the only person available.”

17. The unlikely hero

The protagonist doesn’t think they’re a hero, and nobody else does either. Then circumstances force them to become one.

• The Full Monty
• Galaxy Quest
• Shaun of the Dead
• The World’s End
• Big Trouble in Little China

18. Prove them wrong

The protagonist has been defined by other people’s perception of them, and wants to prove: “I’m not the loser you think I am.”

The better versions eventually reveal they don’t actually need to prove it to anyone. That’s where a comedy premise becomes an emotional story.

How to use these types

Use the type to pressure-test your idea before you write it. If you can’t name the engine, the idea may be a situation rather than a story.

• Name the engine. Which type, or which two, is your idea? A combination is often stronger than a pure type.
• Find the conflict the type promises. A fish out of water needs rules to break. A race against time needs a clock the audience can feel.
• Check the internal story. The best versions of every type use the external engine to expose an internal problem, the way wish fulfillment exposes what the character really lacks.
• Put it in the logline. If the engine isn’t visible in one sentence, a reader won’t see it in 110 pages.

Once you know your engine, the next step is the outline, where the type turns into a sequence of escalating problems.

Frequently asked questions

What are the main types of movie ideas?

Most movie ideas fit a handful of proven engines, including fish out of water, ordinary person in extraordinary circumstances, wish fulfillment, the underdog, the quest, the race against time, the con and the revenge story.

Can a movie idea combine more than one type?

Yes, and the strongest often do. The Hangover is a quest, a night that goes wrong and an ensemble collision at once.

How do I know if my movie idea is strong enough?

Name its engine and the conflict that engine promises, then write it as a one-sentence logline. If the engine isn’t visible in that sentence, the idea probably needs work before you outline.