“According to Aristotle, catharsis is the whole point of dramatic storytelling, and it’s what every single story event is working to achieve in the audience. A good movie reveals poignant truths of the human experience in either a small or big way, depending on the kind of movie it is. A secret to understanding catharsis is that it doesn’t happen at the end of watching a movie, but builds throughout the entire story and climaxes at the end, giving the audience a final release.”


