Film Language Tag: act 2 (three-act structure)
Act 2 of a narrative is typically devoted to rising action organized around a central conflict. Throughout the conflict, the protagonist often encouters increasingly difficult goals that they must overcome, culminating in a climax that ends the conflict.
Avalyn and Brian Discover Dead Deer , Mysterious Skin
After meeting to discuss shared memories of alien abduction and violation, Brian (Brady Corbet) and Avalyn (Mary Lynn Rajskub) encounter a dead deer she says was experimented on by aliens and then left in the field near her home. When she presses Brian to insert his hand into an incision in the body, he experiences flashbacks of past alien abduction and violation -- with a young Neil (Chase Ellison) appearing in them alongside his own past self (George Webster)
Katherine Demands Michael’s Prognosis, An Early Frost
Katherine Pierson (Gena Rowlands) confronts her son's doctor (Don Hood) in a hospital hallway, demanding to know his prospects after a recent AIDS diagnosis and a seizure that same night.
Neil Recalls Brian’s Abuse by Coach, Mysterious Skin
Neil (Joseph Gordon-Levitt) recalls his own involvement in Brian (Brady Corbet)'s being abused by their Little League coach (Bill Sage) as children (played by Chase Ellison and George Webster respectively).
Sam Cooke's Boston Performance, One Night in Miami...
Malcolm X (Kingsley Ben-Anir) recounts the story of Sam Cooke's (Leslie Odom Jr.) performance for an angry crowd in Boston.