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5 Plot Point Breakdown: The Golden Child (1986)

By Anthony Faust · July 28, 2016

Screenplay Genre: Fantasy/Action Comedy

Movie Time: 94 minutes

1. INCITING INCIDENT

Tucked away in the snowy landscape outside Katmandu, Nepal, the Golden Child sits in a temple. The Child, whom legend says comes once in a thousand generations, is the last hope for mankind. Suddenly, Sardo Numspa, a figure of pure evil, along with his horde of thugs, barges through the door and kidnaps the Child. (00:05:50)

2. LOCK IN (End of Act One)

Chandler Jarrell, a social worker who focuses on finding missing children, is told he is the “Chosen One” by Kee Nang, a mysterious Tibetan woman. While investigating the murder of a girl named Cheryll Mosley, Chandler confronts a group of bikers, who lead him to Tommy Tong, one of Sardo’s minions.

After Chandler pays Tommy an unannounced visit, Kee appears, and Tommy runs away. Sardo confronts Tommy in a dark alley and kills him. (00:36:20)

3. FIRST CULMINATION (Midpoint)

After surviving a gut-wrenching obstacle course in Katmandu while holding a glass of water, Chandler drinks the water, and obtains the Adjante dagger, a sacred knife that he will use to protect the Golden Child. (01:03:52)

4. MAIN CULMINATION (End of Act Two)

After Kee takes an arrow in her back to save Chandler, she tells him she loves him, and then dies. Chandler sets out to find the Golden Child, following a parakeet who has followed him home from Nepal. Chandler finds the Child locked up in an empty mansion. When Chandler discovers Sardo in the next room, Sardo explodes in rage, and turns himself into a flying dragon. (01:22:42)

5. THIRD ACT TWIST

After Chandler uses the Adjante dagger to kill Sardo Numspa, the Golden Child lifts the foot of the dead body of Kee Nang into a beam of sunlight and touches her toes. Kee opens her eyes and she and Chandler share a tender kiss. (01:28:28)


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