A bit Manichean.

Jay, here's how I would say that: “The story must be a conflict between the Protagonist's Want and the Protagonist's Need, between their way of living in their lives up to FADE IN and the way they learn on their way to FADE OUT, a struggle through metamorphosis from Disunity to Unity." That's a fundamental psychological journey of nearly every single mainstream Hollywood movie. Of course, there can be all sorts of other layers of meaning to a story, but the one I described above does, I believe, reflect a nearly universal dynamic in movies.