throughline

Definitions

1. In full through line of action: a theme that runs through the plot of a book, film, or other narrative work, or a series of such related works.
2. A railway route that passengers can take without needing to change trains.

Equivalents

Examples

“Produced by none other than Seth Rogen and Evan Goldberg, Good Boys again most closely resembles a kind of junior-varsity tryout for that duo's Superbad, down to its modestly affecting emotional through-line: an acceptance of the fact that childhood friendships, forged out of proximity and convenience, aren't always destined to last⟳.”

“The Russian rockets fell on Babyn Yar, 80 years after the Nazi atrocities it commemorates; Zelenskiy’s face⟳ was enough to hammer⟳ home the gravity of the thematic throughline.”

CEFR level