“Something changed inside Daniel Middleton that summer. I never did figure out what exactly caused it. Wonder if he ever did.”-Narrator, Hot Summer Nights
Of all the scenes in the 2018 film Hot Summer Nights, the arcade scene was my absolute favorite. For those of you who haven’t seen it, I’ll let you know how it went down. But first, some backstory. Hot Summer Nights is about Daniel Middleton played by the amazing Timothée Chalamet, who is sent to his aunt’s house in Cape Cod during the summer of 1991.
Daniel meets Hunter, a boy notorious for selling drugs around Cape Cod and gets into the business with him. Daniel eventually falls for Hunter’s sister Mckayla who is resentful towards Hunter for ignoring their mother’s final wish before she died for him to stop selling drugs.
Although Hunter and Mckayla no longer talk, Hunter is still very protective of his sister and makes it clear to Daniel that she is off limits to him. Daniel and Mckayla hang out several times during the summer unbeknownst to Hunter and Daniel conceals from Mckayla that he’s selling drugs with her brother.
This all leads up to the scene where Daniel and Mckayla go on a date at the arcade. Mckayla leaves to get more coins and Daniel runs into Hunter and his girlfriend Amy on a date too. Daniel is immediately frozen and is thinking exactly what the audience is thinking at that moment: if Mckayla comes back, he’s screwed. And that’s exactly what happens. Mckayla comes back and is stunned to see her brother talking to Daniel. Hunter is already starting to get worked up, when Daniel spits out that he and McKayla are just acquaintances and that this is only the second time they’ve seen each other. Hunter stands down and goes on to enjoy his date, while Mckayla leaves the arcade knowing that Daniel and her brother have a closer relationship than Daniel originally revealed to her.
So why does this scene have SO much tension?
1. Multiple Secrets
Hunter is keeping the details of his business a secret from Mckayla, Mckayla is keeping her dating life a secret from Hunter and Daniel is keeping his relationship with both of them secret from Hunter and Mckayla. The more secrets there are, the more the tension will increase.
A secret the protagonist keeps can get even juicier if it goes against another character’s personal beliefs or if it directly hinders characters from reaching their desired goals.
McKayla likes Daniel but she doesn’t believe in selling drugs which is the secret he’s keeping from her.
An example of a story with secrets that prevent characters from reaching their intended goals is “How to Lose a Guy in 10 Days.” Matthew Mcconaughey’s character’s goal is to get a woman to fall in love with him in 10 days while Kate Hudson’s goal is to…you know. The tension is basically built into the story.
2. Blood is Thicker than Water
We’ve all felt that awkwardness at one point or another when we’re at a friend’s house and our friend starts arguing with a parent or a sibling. We try your best to stay out of it even when one or both parties asks us to take their side. It’s uncomfortable for us to meddle because we’re not a part of the family, and that’s why these types of situations create tension gold for stories.
Hunter and Mckayla are siblings, which brings a treasure trove of tension to the story. They are already at odds with one another before the story begins and Daniel unintentionally gets mixed up in their personal conflict.
Traditionally, siblings are supposed to love and protect one another and while it’s obvious that Hunter and Mckayla do love each other, they don’t particularly trust one another. They have history and any characters with a shared history, especially one that has ensued “off-screen” will make for better tension. Bonus points if your main character or the audience (or both) isn’t aware of the entirety of the conflict between two characters.
For example, I loved watching the Vampire Diaries because of the complex relationship between the vampire brothers Damon and Stephan. Their shared history of over a hundred years is shown in flashbacks throughout the show. They’ve betrayed one another, abandoned one another and tried to kill one another, multiple times. When the main character Elena meets the brothers and they begin to fall for her the tension rises and secrets begin to spill. The audience learns along with Elena that not only did the brothers fall for the same girl once before, but that she looked identical to Elena. Awkward.
Dealing with characters who are related also brings to light the idea that no matter what happens, the related characters will probably survive the fallout, while the outside character will most likely not.
Daniel knows that if anything catastrophic does happen, Hunter and Mckayla’s relationship with each other would probably survive the fallout, while he would be left with no one.
2. He’s formed close ties with both parties
Before this moment in the arcade, Daniel had formed intimate bonds with Hunter and Mckayla. Hunter nearly killed a man in order to save Daniel’s life while Daniel and Mckayla lost their virginity to each other. Showing these characters at the peak of their relationships, having formed some of the strongest bonds human beings can form with one another send the tension sky high when the characters find themselves in a situation where those bonds are at risk.
3. The worst thing that can happen, does
It’s no secret when it comes to storytelling that you can and should allow the worst possible things to happen to your characters (within reason). Think of what your particular character values most, now think about how it could be taken away, now think about the WORST way it could be taken away.
For example: In the very first Thor, what the titular character values most, his hammer, is taken away. How is it taken away? By his father (who he loves and respects more than anyone) in a fit of rage. Oh, and then his ass is sent to New Mexico. Worst. Punishment. Ever.
Another similar example, is Xenon: Girl of the 21st Century, yes the Disney channel movie (it was good, okay!). Xenon is one of the few lucky kids living in a freaking space station. She loves living in space and she thinks being there is what makes her special. She, of course, acts out, and like Thor is “grounded” (literally) to Earth.
The worst thing that can happen to Daniel with a double secret, is to be in the same room with Mckayla and Hunter and have them realize how he’s been lying to them both. So of course, they end up in the same room together.
However, tension is all about the build-up and not the end result so although all was not revealed at that moment in the arcade, it was enough tension to put us on the edge of our seats.
How will you create tension in your story? What’s at stake for your characters?
