Character Relationship Map: Elephant

Characters

• Alex (played by Alex Frost) — protagonist

  Alex is one of the two students who secretly prepare a mass shooting and bombing at the school. He helps obtain weapons and plan the attack, shoots people in the library, kills Eric without emotion, a...

• Eric (played by Eric Deulen) — protagonist

  Eric is Alex's accomplice in the planned school massacre. He helps prepare the weapons and attack, shoots students, confronts Mr. Luce about mistreating students like himself and Alex, kills Benny and...

• Elias (played by Elias McConnell) — supporting

  Elias is a photography student creating a portfolio of other students. He photographs Alex and Eric in the library just before they begin shooting, making him an observer who becomes one of the attack...

• Benny (played by Bennie Dixon) — supporting

  Benny is a student athlete who helps Acadia escape through a window after she witnesses a shooting and becomes frozen with fear. He then chooses to search for the gunmen, encounters Alex and Eric, and...

• Jordan (played by Jordan Taylor) — supporting

  Jordan is one of three students who complain about their parents and struggle with bulimia alongside Nicole and Brittany. While the three are together in the girls' bathroom, Alex surprises them durin...

• Mr. Luce (played by Matt Malloy) — minor

  Mr. Luce is the school principal who encounters Eric in a corridor during the attack. Eric chastises him for treating students like himself and Alex poorly, then seemingly lets him go before killing h...

• Nathan (played by Nathan Tyson) — minor

  Nathan is a popular athlete and lifeguard, as well as Carrie's girlfriend's partner. During the attack, he hides with Carrie in a kitchen freezer, where Alex discovers them and threatens to choose whi...

• Nicole (played by Nicole George) — supporting

  Nicole is one of three bulimic teenagers who gripe about their parents with Brittany and Jordan. She is in the girls' bathroom when Alex arrives during the shooting, and the three students are presuma...

• Carrie (played by Carrie Finklea) — supporting

  Carrie is Nathan's girlfriend and is caught with him during the school attack. The pair hide together in a kitchen freezer after Alex and Eric have separated and begun killing people, leaving Carrie d...

• Michelle (played by Kristen Hicks) — supporting

  Michelle is an outcast who struggles with body issues. She is present in the library when Alex and Eric open fire, and she is killed alongside Elias and other students, making her vulnerability part o...

• Acadia (played by Alicia Miles) — supporting

  Acadia is a close friend of John and a member of the school's gay-straight alliance. During a GSA meeting, she sees a student shot in the corridor and freezes in fear before Benny rescues her through...

• Brittany (played by Brittany Mountain) — supporting

  Brittany is a bulimic student who spends time complaining about her parents with Nicole and Jordan. Their conversation places her with the other two in the girls' bathroom, where Alex finds them durin...

Canonical Relationships

Family, romantic, and professional connections based on plot evidence.

• Alex → Nathan (Power Captor And Threatened Victim) — Nathan is subjected to Alex's direct threat at the unresolved ending.

  Alex discovers Nathan hiding with Carrie in a freezer and recites a counting rhyme to decide whom to kill first.

• Alex → Carrie (Power Captor And Threatened Victim) — Alex controls Carrie's immediate fate while she is trapped.

  Alex discovers Carrie hiding in a freezer and tauntingly recites a counting rhyme to decide whom to kill first.

• Mr. Luce → Eric (Professional Principal And Student) — Their institutional relationship becomes a hostile confrontation.

  Eric encounters Mr. Luce, the principal, and chastises him for treating children like himself and Alex poorly.

• Carrie → Nathan (Romantic Girlfriend) — Carrie and Nathan are a romantic couple hiding together during the attack.

  Nathan is explicitly described as a popular athlete and lifeguard with his girlfriend, Carrie.

Story Dynamics

Alliances, conflicts, and narrative interactions that evolve throughout the story.

• Benny → Eric (Conflict Armed Opponent) — Benny confronts the attackers and is killed in the encounter.

  Benny encounters the two gunmen after deciding to find them and is shot dead during the confrontation.

• Benny → Alex (Conflict Armed Opponent) — Benny becomes an active but unsuccessful opponent of the attack.

  After helping Acadia escape, Benny decides to find the gunmen and is later shot during the encounter with them.

• Benny → Acadia (Alliance Rescuer) — Benny provides immediate physical assistance to Acadia during the evacuation.

  Benny helps Acadia out a window after she witnesses a student being shot in the corridor.

• Eric → Michelle (Conflict Shooter And Victim) — Eric is part of the attack that kills Michelle.

  Michelle is killed during the library shooting carried out by Alex and Eric.

• Alex → Michelle (Conflict Shooter And Victim) — Michelle is directly caught in Alex's indiscriminate shooting.

  Michelle is among the students killed when Alex and Eric open fire in the library.

• Eric → Elias (Conflict Victim And Shooter) — Eric participates in the attack that kills Elias.

  Elias is in the library when Alex and Eric open fire, killing him and other students.

• Alex → Elias (Conflict Victim And Shooter) — Elias becomes one of Alex's victims during the library attack.

  Elias photographs Alex and Eric in the library immediately before they open fire, and the shooting kills him.

• Alex → Eric (Alliance Attack Partner) — They cooperate as co-perpetrators of the planned massacre.

  Alex and Eric prepare the school attack together, order weapons online, formulate the plan, and arrive at school armed.

• Brittany → Jordan (Social Friend) — Brittany and Jordan share a recurring peer group.

  Brittany and Jordan are grouped with Nicole as three teens who complain about their parents.

• Nicole → Jordan (Social Friend) — Nicole and Jordan are connected through their shared peer group.

  Nicole and Jordan are both identified as members of the trio of teens who gripe about their parents.

• Nicole → Brittany (Social Friend) — Nicole belongs to the same close social trio as Brittany.

  Nicole, Brittany, and Jordan are described together as three teens who gripe about their parents.

Story Analysis

An ordinary school day gradually reveals concealed violence, culminating in a massacre whose final outcome remains unresolved.

Plot Progression

1. Quiet Lives, Hidden Tensions — The film presents an ordinary school day through several students. Their private struggles and social interactions contrast with Alex and Eric's concealed preparations.
2. The Attack Takes Shape — Alex and Eric obtain weapons, plan the massacre, and bring their arsenal to school. Their intended cafeteria bomb attack fails before it can begin.
3. The School Under Fire — The attackers begin shooting in the library and then target students elsewhere in the building. Evacuation spreads as the violence moves through the school.
4. Courage Against The Gunmen — Acadia freezes after witnessing a killing, while Benny helps her escape and then searches for the attackers. His attempt to confront them ends in his death.
5. The Attackers Turn Inward — Eric kills Mr. Luce, and the two gunmen reunite in the cafeteria. Alex then shoots Eric before finding Carrie and Nathan hiding in the kitchen freezer.