Movie Story Type: Body Switch
Story Type: Body Switch
In Hollywood movie circles, there are genres like Horror or Science Fiction, cross genres like Action-Thriller or Drama-Comedy, and sub-genres like Romantic Comedy or Mystery Thriller.
Then there are story types, a shorthand way to describe a specific narrative conceit that is almost always tied directly to the movie’s central concept. They can be found in any genre, cross genre, or sub-genre.
Knowledge about and awareness of these story types can be a boost not only to your understanding of film history and movie trends, but also as fodder for brainstorming new story concepts. Mix and match them. Invert them. Gender bend them. Genre bend them. Geo bend them.
Story types exist for a reason: Because they work. Hopefully this series will help you make them work for you.
Today: Body Switch.
Examples include Freaky Friday (1976) and its remake, and 13 Going on 30 (2004).
Variations on the theme include All of Me (1984) and even Being John Malkovich (1999).
But there must have been something in the water in L.A. back in the late 80s because there was a slew of body switch movies:
Of course, it’s not like this is a new idea. There’s a body switch movie all the way back in 1940 called Turnabout. The premise:
Bickering husband and wife Tim and Sally Willows mutter a few angry words to a statue of Buddha and wind up living each other’s life.
Can you think of other examples of body switch movies? Also, why do you think this is such a popular story conceit?
By the way, here is Box Office Mojo’s list of the top grossing body switch movies with Big taking the top spot with $114M domestic.
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