Three Act Structure in Final Destination

In Final Destination, the first act is mainly taken up by the build up to the plane crash. The main character begins to feel tension as he senses the impending crash. There is foreshadowing building up suspense as the audiences gets clues as to what is going to happen. After the main character has his dream, there is the suspense as to whether his dream will actually happen. The mini-climax of act one is when the plane actually crashes and the main character's fears are confirmed.

Act two consists of characters being killed off and the suspense of the hero trying to save his friends. The clock ticks down as characters are killed one at a time. The main character gradually figures out who is going to be killed next using a diagram of the plane. The moments where the main character knows what the audience does not builds up suspense. The second act ends when the last character to die dies and the main character takes fate into his own hands.

Act three has the main character in a building he has rigged to be completely safe. The movie concludes with the main character seeming to give up his life to save his friend. The final scene shows that the main character has survived the incident, but a cliff hanger ending reveals that death is still coming for them. The conclusion happens quickly as there is only one scene after the main climax, displaying that this film is using the Hollywood three act structure.