Film Structure

The first act in Hollywood's 3 Act structure is the introduction. In the movie Sunshine Cleaning, for the first probably 30 minutes of the movie, Rose's (the main character) life is displayed. It introduces her life as this crumbling puzzle by showing her poor, lonely, and daydreaming about a life she wanted. She cleans other people's houses as a job, has an affair with a married man, and feels like she never lived up to other people around her. The first act introduces this and gives the audience an idea about the main character. The plot point one peaks when Rose is told by her "boyfriend" there is a job she can do to make money.

Rose begans a business and makes money, helping her with a great deal of her problems. The action rises as Rose's life becomes more successful and she begans to figure things out. These actions from the first act transitions into the second act. In the second act, Rose's dream job is diminished when her sister ruins the business by setting a house on fire and getting the business shut down. This act takes up the next third of the movie by setting the problem for the story. Rose is now back to where she began in the first act of the movie; now, she's just more depressed.

Transitioning into the last act of the movie for the last third of the movie, Rose makes up with her sister and her father ends up selling his house to start up a business for Rose. The story ends up with a happy ending completing the "happy ending structure" the 3 act structure has.