American Beauty · written by Alan Ball · 1999

Lester fantasizes about Angela in bed beside Carolyn, then wakes excited by the prospect of change.

Scene 32 of 163 · ≈ 1 min on screen · Act one

Lester

Act oneAct twoAct three

Begins 18 min into a 1:37 film

The story so farBefore scene 32

After becoming infatuated with his teenage daughter’s friend, a dissatisfied suburban father quits his job and pursues a more vivid life, unsettling his family and drawing him into the orbit of a troubled teenage neighbor.

Scenes 1–13
Lester is trapped in a suburban routine of corporate work and a marriage performed for appearances.
Scenes 14–31
Family estrangement and his attraction to Angela expose how urgently Lester wants to feel alive.
Just before
Scene 29
Angela's cheer routine triggers Lester's rose-petal fantasy of her.
Scene 30
The halftime show ends, but Lester cannot take his eyes off Angela.
Scene 31
Jane and Angela meet Lester and Carolyn after the game; Angela says Jane's parents have not had sex in years.
Scene 32
This scene

32INT. BURNHAM HOUSE - MASTER BEDROOM - A FEW HOURS LATER

CLOSE on a solitary red ROSE PETAL as it falls slowly through the air. We're looking down on Lester and Carolyn in bed. Even in sleep, Carolyn looks determined. Lester is awake and stares up at us.

LESTER

It's the weirdest thing.

The ROSE PETAL drifts into view, landing on his pillow.

LESTER (CONT'D)

I feel like I've been in a coma for

about twenty years, and I'm just

now waking up.

More ROSE PETALS fall onto the bed, and he smiles up at...

His POV: Angela, naked, FLOATS above us as a deluge of ROSE PETALS falls around her. Her hair fans out around her head and GLOWS with a subtle, burnished light. She looks down at us with a smile that is all things...

Lester smiles back and LAUGHS, as ROSE PETALS cover his face.

LESTER (CONT'D)

Spec-tac-ular.