People are always asking me about the best ways to learn screenwriting, and they get pretty annoyed when I tell them that the best way is just reading a bunch of scripts.

If you want to unlock film genres and all the beats of a story, reading your favorite movie scripts is a great place to start. They’ll give you a basic look at how a story unfolds on the page and how professionals format and collect their ideas.

From there, the sky is the limit in your own writing.

Today, I want to get into screenplay examples from many different genres and give you the opportunity to read and download them for your own edification.

So, let’s dive in.

Action Screenplay Example

Die Hard (1988) – Bruce Willis stars as a cop who must stop terrorists in a skyscraper.Mad Max: Fury Road (2015) – Visually stunning action spectacle set in a post-apocalyptic wasteland.

Adventure Screenplay Example

Raiders of the Lost Ark (1981) – An archeologist races to find the Ark of the Covenant before the Nazis.Pirates of the Caribbean: The Curse of the Black Pearl (2003) – A swashbuckling adventure on the high seas.

Comedy Screenplay Example

Annie Hall (1977) – Woody Allen’s romantic comedy about a neurotic comedian.Bridesmaids (2011) – Hilarious and raunchy comedy about a group of bridesmaids.

Crime Screenplay Example

The Silence of the Lambs (1991) – An FBI trainee seeks help from a cannibalistic serial killer to catch another.The Departed (2006) – A mole in the police and an undercover cop try to expose each other.

Drama Screenplay Example

Moonlight (2016) – Coming-of-age story about a young black man growing up in Miami.Parasite (2019) – South Korean thriller with sharp social commentary.

Fantasy Screenplay Example

The Lord of the Rings Trilogy – Epic fantasy adventure based on JRR Tolkien’s books.

Historical Screenplay Example

12 Years a Slave (2013) – Based on the true story of Solomon Northup, a free black man sold into slavery.Lincoln (2012) – Focuses on Abraham Lincoln’s efforts to abolish slavery.The Favourite (2018) – Period drama about Queen Anne and her court.

Horror Screenplay Example

Hereditary (2018) – A family is haunted by a sinister presence after the death of their grandmother.
The Evil Dead (1981) – A group of friends unleash evil forces in a cabin in the woods.
A Quiet Place (2018) – A family must live in silence to avoid creatures that hunt by sound.
Get Out (2017) – A young black man visits his white girlfriend’s family for the weekend.

Mystery Screenplay Example

Rear Window (1954) – A man confined to his apartment becomes obsessed with his neighbors.Gone Girl (2014) – A man is accused of his wife’s disappearance, but something else is going on behind the scenes. Murder on the Orient Express (2017) – an Agatha Christie adaptation.

Romance Screenplay Example

Titanic (1997) – A love story aboard the ill-fated ship.Call Me by Your Name (2017) – A coming-of-age romance set in Italy.

Science Fiction Screenplay Example

2001: A Space Odyssey (1968) – A journey to Jupiter becomes a metaphysical exploration.Blade Runner (1982) – A detective hunts down replicants in a dystopian future.Arrival (2016) – Linguists try to communicate with aliens who have arrived on Earth.

Thriller Screenplay Example

Se7en (1995) – Two detectives hunt a serial killer who is killing people based on the seven deadly sins.The Usual Suspects (1995) – A twisty crime thriller with an unreliable narrator.

War Screenplay Example

Platoon (1979) – A soldier confronts morality during the Vietnam War.Saving Private Ryan (1998) – A group of soldiers are sent to rescue a paratrooper behind enemy lines.Dunkirk (2017) – Tells the story of the evacuation of Dunkirk during World War II.

Western Screenplay Example

True Grit (2010) – The Coen brothers’ adaptation about a girl going to get revenge. Unforgiven (1992) – An aging outlaw takes on one last job.

These screenplay examples are just the tip of the iceberg. The more you read, the better your understanding of screenwriting will be.

Cruise through our pages on script downloads and screenplay downloads for even more examples and movies to read.

Happy writing.