Burn After Reading (2008) — Screenplay
A gym employee and her dimwitted coworker try to profit off a lost CIA memoir, but their scheme entangles them in a spiraling mess of blackmail, murder, and bureaucratic chaos.
- Written by
- Ethan Coen, Joel Coen
- Genre
- Comedy, Drama, Crime
- Length
- 124 pages
Students of tonal control will appreciate how the Coens balance dark satire with slapstick, shifting between absurdist comedy and sudden violence. The screenplay’s tight, propulsive pacing and sharply drawn, self-deluded characters offer a masterclass in escalating farce built on flawed choices.
Read the full Burn After Reading (2008) screenplay in PDF, page by page, right here on Laper — or download the original script to study Ethan Coen, Joel Coen’s scene work, dialogue and structure at your own pace. A free resource for screenwriters and film students learning Hollywood script format.