SCREENWRITING

Why “The Secrets of Dumbledore” Fails at Storytelling

3 Reasons why Fantastic Beasts 3 was disappointing, and how you can avoid similar story issues in your own screenplays.

I’m a huge Harry Potter fan.

Still, Fantastics Beasts 2 was incoherent at times.

The newest installment, The Secrets of Dumbledore, was a disappointment.

My gripes with this story fall into three categories:

• Context
• Stakes
• Payoff

If you’ve already seen the film or don’t care about spoilers, watch the video above. If you want the spoiler-free version, read below.

© Warner Bros.

Lack of Context

Important story element ain’t explained enough.

I’m all in favor of expecting more out of movie-going audiences and not dumbing things down, but there’s a difference between proper exposition and an information…