Double Indemnity poster

Double Indemnity

1944107 minutesApproved
6.4
Arcplot Score
📊 Solid
Unverified
⭐ 8.3IMDb
🍅 97%Rotten Tomatoes
Ⓜ️ 95/100Metacritic
🎬 8.1TMDb
📊 2.8Popularity
🏆Nominated for 7 Oscars. 5 wins & 9 nominations total
Genre: Crime, Drama, Film-Noir
Directed by: Billy Wilder
In 1938, Walter Neff, an experienced salesman of the Pacific All Risk Insurance Co., meets the seductive wife of one of his clients, Phyllis Dietrichson, and they have an affair. Phyllis proposes to kill her husband to receive the proceeds of an accident insurance policy and Walter devises a scheme to receive twice the amount based on a double indemnity clause. When Mr. Dietrichson is found dead on a train track, the police accept the determination of accidental death. However, the insurance analyst and Walter's best friend Barton Keyes does not buy the story and suspects that Phyllis has murdered her husband with the help of another man.

Box Office

Budget:$0.9M
Revenue:$2.5M
Profit:$1.6M

Arcplot Score Breakdown

Beat Timing Precision3.6/10
Emotional Arc Impact5.5/10
Thematic Consistency10/10
Overall Score6.4/10

Beat Sheet

15 plot points

Double Indemnity Arcplot
1
Opening Image
1 min
2
Theme Stated
10 min
3
Set-Up
20 min
4
Catalyst
30 min
5
Debate
45 min
6
Break Into Two
50 min
7
B Story
60 min
8
Fun and Games
70 min
9
Midpoint
80 min
10
Bad Guys Close In
90 min
11
All Is Lost
95 min
12
Dark Night of the Soul
100 min
13
Break Into Three
102 min
14
Finale
105 min
15
Final Image
107 min

Emotional Arc

+100-10

Plot Points

#1

Opening Image

1 min

Insurance agent Walter Neff narrating from hiding. Introduces voiceover noir style. Moody, suspenseful atmosphere. Beginning of moral downfall.

#2

Theme Stated

10 min

Neff: "This is the story of how a good man went wrong." Theme of greed, lust, and moral compromise. Temptation vs. integrity.

#3

Set-Up

20 min

Neff meets Phyllis Dietrichson while selling insurance. Flirtation, seduction, subtle manipulation. Build tension. Introduces crime opportunity. Conflict and desire established.

#4

Catalyst

30 min

Phyllis convinces Neff to help murder her husband for insurance payout. First step into criminal world. Life-altering decision.

#5

Debate

45 min

Neff wrestles with morality vs. desire. Tension building. Risk of exposure and guilt looming. Will he go through with crime? Temptation escalates.

#6

Break Into Two

50 min

Neff executes the murder plan with Phyllis. Husband killed. Stakes fully entered. Crime world embraced. Life-changing moral decision made.

#7

B Story

60 min

Neff develops uneasy relationship with Phyllis. Lust, guilt, and paranoia. Also connection with insurance investigator Barton Keyes: friend vs. adversary tension. Emotional stakes rise.

#8

Fun and Games

70 min

Attempted cover-up. Deception, manipulation, and investigation suspense. Neff trying to keep balance between seduction and scrutiny. Cat-and-mouse with Keyes.

#9

Midpoint

80 min

Insurance fraud uncovered. Keyes suspicious, closes in. False victory: crime may have succeeded, but consequences imminent. Stakes raised.

#10

Bad Guys Close In

90 min

Keyes gets closer. Neff and Phyllis tension escalates. Trust fractures. Paranoia dominates. Doom approaching.

#11

All Is Lost

95 min

Neff caught in moral and legal trap. Phyllis betrays him. No way out. Emotional and literal isolation.

#12

Dark Night of the Soul

100 min

Neff reflects on choices, betrayal, lust, greed, and consequences. Deep regret. Realization of inevitability.

#13

Break Into Three

102 min

Neff attempts final confession via typewriter note. Takes responsibility. Planning last moves. Moral closure approach.

#14

Finale

105 min

Neff confronted by Phyllis and Keyes. Phyllis killed by accident or justice served. Neff wounded. Moral resolution achieved. Crime punished.

#15

Final Image

107 min

Neff dying in hallway. Voiceover ends. Noir morality complete. Warning about greed, lust, and moral compromise. Dark, fatalistic ending.