Backstabbing for Beginners (2018) — AI Story Visualization

Plot Analysis Summary

A young diplomat confronts corruption, institutional compromise, and personal loss while pursuing evidence of a scandal.

Story Structure — 5 Plot Phases

A Diplomat's New Beginning

Michael leaves banking and joins the United Nations as a diplomat. He is assigned to Pasha and introduced to the Oil-for-Food Programme.

Key Events

• Diplomat's Death — Michael's father, a State Department diplomat, dies when Michael is young. Characters: Michael Location: United States
• Leaving Banking — Michael leaves a lucrative job at a large bank. Characters: Michael Location: United States
• Joining the UN — Michael obtains his dream job as a United Nations diplomat. Characters: Michael Location: United Nations
• Pasha Assignment — Michael is assigned as Pasha's assistant. Characters: Michael, Pasha Location: United Nations

Warnings in Baghdad

Michael visits Baghdad and hears Christina's concerns about corruption. Her planned report becomes the first major sign that the programme is compromised.

Key Events

• Programme Mission — Pasha leads a programme intended to provide food and medicine to Iraqis. Characters: Michael, Pasha Location: United Nations
• Arrival in Baghdad — Michael makes his first visit to Baghdad as Pasha's assistant. Characters: Michael, Pasha Location: Baghdad
• Christina's Warning — Christina tells Pasha she is disturbed by corruption and plans to publish a report. Characters: Michael, Christina Dupre, Pasha Location: Baghdad
• Corruption Discovered — Michael begins uncovering corruption within the programme. Characters: Michael, Christina Dupre, Pasha Location: Baghdad

The Corruption Network

Michael uncovers payoffs and bribes diverting funds from Iraqis. The suspected network reaches companies, banks, governments, and UN officials.

Key Events

• Bribes Divert Funds — Payoffs and bribes divert programme funds away from food. Characters: Michael, Pasha Location: Baghdad
• Institutional Reach — The diverted money reaches companies, banks, governments, and UN officials. Characters: Michael, Pasha Location: Baghdad
• Meeting Nashim — Michael meets Nashim, a UN worker in Baghdad. Characters: Michael, Nashim Location: Baghdad
• Nashim Reveals Corruption — Nashim reveals further aspects of the corruption to Michael. Characters: Michael, Nashim Location: Baghdad

Love Amid Danger

Michael falls in love with Nashim, who reveals more about the corruption while advancing the cause of the Kurds. Pasha offers a pragmatic defense of diplomacy.

Key Events

• Kurdish Cause — Nashim covertly works to advance the cause of northern Iraq's Kurds. Characters: Michael, Nashim Location: Northern Iraq
• Michael Falls in Love — Michael falls in love with Nashim during the investigation. Characters: Michael, Nashim Location: Baghdad
• Pasha's Pragmatism — Pasha explains the realities of diplomacy and notes that funds still buy food and medicine. Characters: Michael, Pasha Location: Baghdad
• Christina Is Killed — Christina is among the people around Michael who are killed. Characters: Michael, Christina Dupre Location: Baghdad

Evidence After the Collapse

Christina and Nashim are killed as the corruption persists beyond the programme's legal termination. Michael gathers evidence and takes it to The Wall Street Journal.

Key Events

• Nashim Is Killed — Nashim is killed as the corruption and danger continue. Characters: Michael, Nashim Location: Baghdad
• Programme Officially Ends — The programme is de jure terminated after the Coalition Invasion in 2003. Characters: Michael, Pasha Location: Iraq
• Corruption Continues — Michael sees that corruption continues even after the programme's legal termination. Characters: Michael, Pasha Location: Iraq
• Gathering Evidence — Dejected, Michael gathers evidence about the corruption scandal. Characters: Michael Location: Iraq
• Evidence Goes Public — Michael takes his evidence to The Wall Street Journal. Characters: Michael Location: The Wall Street Journal

Story Breakdown

• Michael's New Career — Michael abandons banking and enters diplomatic service through the United Nations.
  • Leaving Banking — Michael leaves a lucrative position at a large bank.
  • Joining the UN — Michael begins his dream career as a United Nations diplomat.
• Pasha's Programme — Michael works under Pasha on the Oil-for-Food Programme for Iraq.
  • Assistant Assignment — Michael becomes Pasha's assistant.
  • Humanitarian Mission — The programme is intended to provide food and medicine to Iraqis.
• Baghdad's Warning — Christina's concerns expose the first visible challenge to the programme's legitimacy.
  • First Baghdad Visit — Michael visits Baghdad for the first time.
  • Christina's Report — Christina plans to publish concerns about corruption.
• The Bribery Network — Michael discovers that funds are diverted through a broad corruption system.
  • Diverted Funds — Payoffs and bribes redirect money away from food.
  • Institutional Reach — Companies, banks, governments, and UN officials are implicated.
• Love And Allegiance — Michael's relationship with Nashim becomes intertwined with political and investigative danger.
  • Nashim's Secrets — Nashim reveals corruption to Michael.
  • Kurdish Cause — Nashim covertly advances the cause of the Kurds.
• Diplomacy's Moral Cost — Pasha presents pragmatic diplomacy while deaths expose the human cost of the scandal.
  • Pasha's Lesson — Pasha explains the realities of diplomacy in a corrupt world.
  • Christina's Death — Christina is killed as the danger surrounding the scandal grows.
• Nashim's Loss — Nashim's death deepens Michael's disillusionment and commitment to the truth.
  • Continuing Danger — People around Michael are killed.
  • Personal Devastation — Nashim's death affects Michael during the investigation.
• Evidence And Exposure — Michael responds to the continuing corruption by assembling evidence for public disclosure.
  • After The Termination — Corruption continues after the programme is legally terminated.
  • Press Disclosure — Michael takes the evidence to The Wall Street Journal.

Directed by

Per Fly

Key Cast

• Theo James — Michael
• Jacqueline Bisset — Christina Dupre
• Ben Kingsley — Pasha
• Rossif Sutherland — Trevor
• Brian Markinson — Rasnetsov