Assholes (2017) — AI Story Visualization

Plot Analysis Summary

A volatile couple's alienation, destructive intimacy, and moral collapse culminate in murder and defensive denial.

Story Structure — 4 Plot Phases

Sobriety Without Connection

An isolated speaker describes resentment, sexual frustration, and the loneliness of sobriety. Violent sexual imagery replaces ordinary romantic thought.

Key Events

• Sobriety and Isolation — An isolated speaker describes the loneliness and resentment of sobriety. Location: Unspecified setting
• Resentment Toward Companions — The speaker resents former drinking companions and sober people alike. Location: Unspecified setting
• Sexual Frustration — The speaker connects sobriety with sexual frustration and social disconnection. Location: Unspecified setting
• Violent Fixation — The speaker develops an obsessive fixation on violent sexual imagery. Location: Unspecified setting
• Disturbed Encounters — The fixation makes ordinary romantic and social encounters feel unhealthy. Location: Unspecified setting

Public Disorder and Dependence

Aaron behaves erratically and provokes strangers during public confrontations. Adah tries to calm him while warning that his instability threatens their relationship.

Key Events

• Disturbed Encounters — The fixation makes ordinary romantic and social encounters feel unhealthy. Location: Unspecified setting
• Aaron Acts Erratically — Aaron shouts at strangers and behaves erratically in public. Characters: Aaron Mark Location: Public setting
• Argument Over Film Titles — Aaron provokes people while arguing about absurd movie titles. Characters: Aaron Mark Location: Public setting
• Adah Tries Calming Aaron — Adah repeatedly attempts to calm Aaron during their volatile exchanges. Characters: Adah Shapiro, Aaron Mark Location: Public setting
• Threatened Relationship — Adah says she loves Aaron but may end the relationship because of his behavior. Characters: Adah Shapiro, Aaron Mark Location: Unspecified setting

The Brother's Death

Adah pressures Aaron to help kill her brother, Adam. Aaron resists on moral grounds but ultimately participates in the killing.

Key Events

• Murder Proposal — Adah pressures Aaron to help kill her brother, Adam. Characters: Adah Shapiro, Aaron Mark, Adam Shapiro Location: Unspecified setting
• Aaron Refuses — Aaron initially refuses, saying that murder crosses a moral boundary. Characters: Adah Shapiro, Aaron Mark Location: Unspecified setting
• Sexual Persuasion — Adah uses sexual provocation and appeals to Aaron's courage. Characters: Adah Shapiro, Aaron Mark Location: Unspecified setting
• The Killing — Adah and Aaron eventually carry out the killing of Adam. Characters: Adah Shapiro, Aaron Mark, Adam Shapiro Location: Unspecified setting

Guilt and Defensive Escape

After the killing, the pair panic and dispute how to describe what happened. They use drugs together before returning to a detached discussion of their lifestyle.

Key Events

• Immediate Panic — Immediately afterward, Adah and Aaron panic and argue about what happened. Characters: Adah Shapiro, Aaron Mark Location: Unspecified setting
• Adah Confesses — Adah repeatedly says that she has killed her brother. Characters: Adah Shapiro, Aaron Mark Location: Unspecified setting
• Aaron Reframes the Act — Aaron calls the plan aborted and the result an awful mistake. Characters: Adah Shapiro, Aaron Mark Location: Unspecified setting
• Turning Toward Drugs — Guilt and fear lead them to consider getting high together. Characters: Adah Shapiro, Aaron Mark Location: Unspecified setting
• Shared Drug Use — Adah and Aaron snort drugs together while waiting for the effects. Characters: Adah Shapiro, Aaron Mark Location: Unspecified setting
• Defensive Lifestyle Discussion — After a mature-audience warning, they discuss their lifestyle defensively. Characters: Adah Shapiro, Aaron Mark Location: Unspecified setting
• Alienated Final Conversation — They reject outside disapproval and treat extreme practices as ordinary entertainment. Characters: Adah Shapiro, Aaron Mark Location: Unspecified setting

Story Breakdown

• Sobriety and Isolation — The opening monologue establishes resentment, loneliness, and sexual disconnection.
  • Resented Companions — The speaker rejects both former drinking companions and sober people.
  • Violent Fixation — Disturbing sexual imagery replaces ordinary romantic and sexual thoughts.
• Aaron's Public Disorder — Aaron's erratic behavior repeatedly creates confrontations in public settings.
  • Stranger Provocations — Aaron shouts at strangers and deliberately provokes people around him.
  • Absurd Arguments — He argues about absurd movie titles during his unstable encounters.
• Adah's Emotional Control — Adah tries to manage Aaron while remaining attached to him.
  • Attempts to Calm — Adah repeatedly tries to stop Aaron's volatile behavior.
  • Love and Ultimatum — She says she loves him but warns that she may leave.
• The Murder Proposal — Adah transforms their unstable relationship into a plan against her brother.
  • Targeting Adam — Adah pressures Aaron to help kill her brother, Adam Shapiro.
  • Moral Resistance — Aaron initially refuses because he believes murder crosses a moral boundary.
• The Killing and Panic — The planned violence becomes reality and immediately destabilizes the couple.
  • Act Completed — Adah and Aaron eventually carry out the killing of Adam.
  • Competing Accounts — Adah calls it a killing while Aaron calls it an aborted plan and mistake.
• Drugs and Denial — The couple responds to guilt by using drugs and rejecting external judgment.
  • Shared Escape — They snort drugs together while waiting for the effects.
  • Detached Normalization — Their final discussion treats extreme practices as ordinary entertainment.

Directed by

Peter Vack

Key Cast

• Betsey Brown — Adah Shapiro
• Jack Dunphy — Aaron Mark
• Peter Vack — Adam Shapiro
• Jane Brown — Anne Shapiro
• Ron Farrar Brown — Anthony Shapiro