MEMENTO

PROTAGONIST: LEONARD SHELBY, 30s, insurance claims

investigator
EXTERNAL GOAL: To find and kill “John G,” the man
who murdered his wife.
INTERNAL GOAL: To atone for Sammy Jankis’ downfall
INCITING INCIDENT(EXTERNAL)

Leonard pulls his gun on Teddy, who

tries to convince Leonard that he’s
got the wrong guy.
INCITING INCIDENT(INTERNAL)

The phone rings – Leonard answers,

“Who is this?”
 STRONG MOVEMENT
FORWARD (EXTERNAL)
Natalie gives Leonard a package with info
from the DMV on John Edward
Gammel/Teddy. Natalie can’t talk Leonard
out of his revenge plan.
 STRONG MOVEMENT
FORWARD (INTERNAL)
Leonard remembers his wife
 END OF ACT ONE TURN
(INTERNAL)
Sammy’s memory problems result from a car
accident. As an insurance investigator assigned
to Sammy’s accident, Leonard doubted
Sammy’s ailment and ordered more tests.
 END OF ACT ONE TURN
(EXTERNAL)
Leonard wakes up next to Natalie in
her house
FIRST TRIAL/FIRST CASUALTY
(INTERNAL)
: FLASHBACKS to his wife’s murder. We see glimpses of
her being attacked in a bathroom. Leonard tries to
stop it, but the attacker slams Leonard’s head into the
mirror. Apparently, this is how he got the head injury
that ruined his memory.
FIRST TRIAL/FIRST CASUALTY
(EXTERNAL)
Leonard wakes up, confused, gun in
drawer. Later, he finds DODD tied up
and gagged in closet.
 COMBAT (INTERNAL):

Sammy’s wife was devastated. With Leonard

unable to help her convince anyone that Sammy’s
condition was real, she turned Sammy in to the
doctors, which led to his insurance being canceled.
 COMBAT (EXTERNAL)

Leonard in a hotel bathroom, disoriented. He takes a

shower, and Dodd comes in to piss, unaware that he’s
not alone. Leonard knocks Dodd out, gags him, puts
him in the closet, takes a photo of him. Calls Teddy
and leaves a message.
 MIDPOINT

Leonard burns the last of his wife’s

personal items
 ASSUMPTION OF POWER
(EXTERNAL)
At her place, Natalie asks Leonard to kill Dodd, who was told by
Teddy that Leonard has Jimmy’s car and money. She incites
Leonard, calling his wife a whore, and he punches her. She leaves
and then sits in driveway in her car. Leonard scrambles to find a
pen to no avail. His memory resets and she barges in, claiming
that Dodd beat her up.
END OF ACT TWO (EXTERNAL)

Natalie tests Leonard’s memory problem

by serving him beer that was spit in. She
now knows she can use him to get what
she wants.
END OF ACT TWO (INTERNAL)
Mrs. Jankis tests Sammy by having him repeatedly
inject her with insulin. As a result, she fell in a diabetic
coma and died. In the aftermath, Sammy was put in a
home. That’s when Leonard knew that Sammy was not
faking and that his memory problem was real.
 POINT OF NO
RETURN(EXTERNAL)
Leonard arrives in a pickup truck at the remote industrial
location (CATCH UP TO THE OPENING). JIMMY GRANTS arrives,
wearing the slick grey suit we’ve previously seen on Leonard,
looking for Teddy. Believing Jimmy to be the man who killed his
wife, Leonard strangles Jimmy, takes his photo and changes into
his suit.
 POINT OF NO
RETURN(INTERNAL)
Jimmy near death says “Sammy?”
 CLIMAX (INTERNAL)

TEDDY’S EXPLANATION: Sammy

Jankis is a figment of Leonard’s
imagination.
 CLIMAX (EXTERNAL)
Leonard rejects Teddy’s explanation and writes “Don’t believe
his lies” on the back of Teddy’s photo and burns the photo of
himself and Jimmy, making Teddy his own John G. He writes a
reminder to get a tattoo of Teddy’s license plate number, takes
the Jag, the gun and the money, and drives off.
EPILOGUE
END