The plot of your story is merely a device in which you convey a theme. Its no wonder then, Christopher Booker has argued  that every story ever told can be narrowed down into one of  seven plots in his book first published in 2004 The Seven Basic Plots. They include :

1. Overcoming the Monster

2. Rags to Riches

3. The Quest

4. Voyage and Return

5. Comedy

6. Tragedy

7. Rebirth.

Its a very long book indeed, (728 pages)  Over the next few blogs I'll run through each of the plots and just briefly outline the basic premise of the story and give examples of  films that fit the plot.