Chapter 3 of Film Art: An Introduction (Bordwell & Thompson, 2019), discusses how character traits can act as causes within narrative. It gives the example of how in Raiders for the Lost Ark (Spielberg, 1981), Indiana Jones’ immediately established personality of being “bold and resourceful” serves two functions: the first to allow us to sympathise with him, and the second to develop traits that will help him evade trouble later in the film.

The authors also give us the example of Jill, the protagonist from The Man Who Knew Too Much (Hitchcock, 1943). Showing the character being skilled with a rifle early on in the movie, allows Jill to successfully shoot one of the villains right at the very end of the film when none of the other officers can manage it.

However, one can question whether this is a satisfying “Chekhov’s Gun”, where an element set up early in the story is satisfyingly paid off, or whether it’s a deus-ex machina, where an element which allows the characters to resolve the conflict very easily is introduced with little effort in the final parts of the narrative.

One modern example of this may be considered to be Harry’s revival at the end of Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows, where he is shot with a direct killing curse. Unlike any of the characters who we’ve watched die in the series from the same fate, Harry is very much allowed to live with little setup, entering a previously unestablished heaven dimension.

By establishing relevant story points like these upfront, writers and filmmakers can avert the “seriously?” reaction that is often received when a story is tied up in an unsatisfying manner. Even the smallest introduction of a relevant character beat later on can alleviate much of the dissatisfaction potentially caused by not setting it up.

We see a similar example with a shotgun in Stand By Me. The main character Will Wheaton is shown early on to have tenuous control with a small rifle that he decides to pack on their trip. At the end of the movie when the gang are corned by bullies, Will reproduces the gun, using it to scare them off. It can be postulated that an entirely hypothetical viewer watching this movie late at night that may have drifted off during the setup of the rifle may at first be dissatisfied when it resolves the conflict at the end, but content in knowing that it was previously established.

In Film Art, Bordwell and Thompson state that the ending of the film has the task of satisfying or cheating the previously set up events, potentially by calling us to reconsider previous events in a new light. By showing us the rifle early in Stand By Me, the viewer gets to experience a click of satisfaction by getting to see the rifle in a new light at the end.

It can be considered than that even the most minimal amount of setup can be used to prevent satisfying setup from seeming like a deus-ex machina, as the satisfaction that vieweres receive from getting to reframe what they have already experience is liekly to offset any dissatisfaction caused.