While being a film of the 21st century, Pieces of April follows a very standard three act structure with seven plot points and has a very standard, simple classical film narrative. The film follows eccentric, black sheep of the family, April, as her uptight, suburbanite family comes to visit for Thanksgiving.
As mentioned before, Pieces of April follows the three act narrative structure of a film. Act I: The Setup begins with the dramatic circumstance, or backstory, as the audience learns that April has a very strained relationship with her family, specifically her mother and her sister.
The oppositional character, in this case it’s April’s mother, Joy, can also have a dramatic circumstance. Joy has breast cancer, and this is expected to be her last Thanksgiving. This also leads way to the catalyst of April’s family coming over for Thanksgiving; however, the big event is April’s oven not working and she needs to find a way to finish cooking her meal before her family comes over, ending Act I: The Setup. This is what’s known as a “racing against time” theme and is very common in film.
Act II: Confrontation begins with April trying to find oven and stove space in her neighbor’s apartments. This break between the big event and the midpoint is what is known as “fun and games,” and it’s exactly what it sounds like. However, Pieces of April uses this section as a character growth/development for April. Even though April believes her family does not deserve a good Thanksgiving, she still makes an effort as to make it as best as she make it, showing she does care about her family despite her verbal disputes. April’s interactions with her neighbor also furthers the film’s and Thanksgiving themes of family, giving, kindness, and brotherhood as she begins to develop relationships with her neighbors after they extend their generosity to April.
Act II’s midpoint follows Bobby when he gets beat up by April’s ex-boyfriend, Tyrone, ruining Bobby’s suit and blooding his face for dinner. This closely runs into the crisis of the film when April’s family turns around after seeing April’s slummy apartment and neighborhood and being greeted by a bruised Bobby, further showing the superficiality and vanity that April’s family possesses.
Act III: The Resolution opens with a emotional showdown between April and her mother, Joy. After Joy sees a mother and daughter quarrel in a diner bathroom, she decides to reunite with Joy, seeing the errors of her way. Everyone has Thanksgiving dinner together as a family, concluding with a self-realization centering around the race against time theme. The self-realization follows the idea to not waste the time with people close to you because you never know how long they have left.
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