The Story Archive

Good Will Hunting

Gus Van Sant · 1997 CE · Film · Modern / American · Contemporary

A South Boston janitor who solves a graduate proof left on a corridor blackboard is arrested for assault, and a mathematician gets him released on condition that he sit with a therapist. The one counsellor who will take him is a widowed community-college teacher from the same neighbourhood who refuses to be outtalked. Matt Damon and Ben Affleck wrote it themselves and won the screenplay Oscar for it.

Open Good Will Hunting in the archive — filters, lineage graph and full facet browsing.

Attributes

Genre
PsychologicalComing-of-Age
Theme
Identity & SelfClass & InequalityGuilt & ConscienceRedemption
Archetype (Jung / Campbell)
EverymanMentorAlly / Companion
Plot structure
BildungsromanConfession
Symbol / motif
The Book / ManuscriptThe CityThe Wound
Conflict
vs Selfvs Society
Mode / tone
RealistRomantic
Culture / tradition
Modern / American

Closest analogues