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Plots
Updated 20-April-2026
Page contents:
Getting started
In general, the plot explains the sequence of events that takes place within a scripted, or non-scripted narrative.
On IMDb, there are three plot types - Outline, Summary, and Synopsis and these all provide details relating to a story, but vary in length and depth.
Guidelines
General guidelines | Outline | Summary | SynopsisGeneral guidelines
Before providing specific guidelines for Outlines, Summaries or Synopses, there are some general rules that apply to all submissions for things you should, and shouldn't do:
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If your submission contains any items from the Don'ts list then it may be rejected by an editor upon review - let's look at the more specific guidelines by the type of plot.
Outline specific 
Outlines provide a brief description of the storyline to help inform people of the events taking place in the title.
A maximum of one outline is allowed per title and locale - rather than deleting the live one and/or adding a new one, please modify the existing item instead.
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Should be shorter than 240 characters - any longer and these will automatically turn into summaries. |
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Should not include spoilers |
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Should not include actors names |
Unlike most other data types, they can be submitted in a range of different languages via the normal contribution experience explained in the How to section below.
Update (November 2021) - Author bylines are no longer available for plot outlines.
Summary specific 
Summaries provide a much deeper description and analysis of the storyline from start to finish.
IMDb reserves the right to select which plot summary to use. Up to five summaries per title may be kept, but only if they present a differing viewpoints.
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Write in English, regardless of the language of the original film |
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Should be longer than 239 characters - any shorter and these will automatically turn into outlines. |
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Do include actors' names, but only for principal cast members and only for completed titles. Best practice here is to link to the Cast name page. This policy is voluntary (i.e. summaries can still be submitted and accepted without actors' names). |
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Do keep your By: line consistent if you write more than one summary. You'll never make it into the top 20 if you have 5 variations of your name/email address. You may enter Anonymous (or, leave it blank). We recommend the format Your Name <email@example.com> if you want to include your email address, although please note it will be published. |
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Do not include full spoilers. (Some very small spoilers will be allowed). |
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Do not overwrite By: lines if you make corrections (spelling, grammar, etc). |
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Do not substantively change summaries if you disagree with them - instead please submit a new one with your own byline. |
Synopsis specific 
A synopsis should be a detailed description of the entire plot of the title, including spoilers, so users who haven't seen a movie or missed an episode of a series can read everything about the title.
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Write in English, regardless of the language of the original film |
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Do feel free to include spoilers. |
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Do include principal cast members names if you want - best practice is to link to the Cast name page. |
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On a parent series, provide an overview of the entire series followed by any main events per season under season headings. |
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Do not include commentary along with the exclusive details of the story of the film. |
How to
As with the majority of data types, you can submit plot updates via the 
button at the bottom of a title 
page.
To use a faster and more seamless contribution form, you can now click the "Edit" pencil icon anywhere on a title page to submit data without leaving the page you're viewing.
From here, find the heading Plot & Quotes from the list, and use the drop-down option to
choose if you'd like to add, update, or delete some information.
Once you've chosen everything you'd like to update, scroll to the bottom of the page and press 
to progress onto the next stage where you let us know the actual information you're
trying to add.
After submitting your request, it should take between 12 - 48 hours to appear on the website - you can track your request from your contribution history to find it's current status and estimated completion time.
Frequently asked questions
When will my update be added?
The update you submit will need to first be reviewed by a member of the editing team to ensure it's accurate and eligible - for the most part this takes between 12-48 hours, however may take longer.
If you'd like to know the status of your request, you can track your request from your contribution history - alternatively, you can review the list of pending data to get an idea of when we'll get to your item.
It's been ages but my update hasn't appeared on IMDb, what's happened?
If you can see that we're past your request in our pending data backlog and your submission still hasn't appeared on the website, it may mean that we've rejected your request.
To help identify the cause you should track your request and it should tell you the reason for rejection, along with a guidance of what you should do to re-submit the request for it to be approved.
Remember that your request should ahere to the policies in this article.
Also, please remember that if you were trying to submit a plot outline and it was too long - your request may have been turned into a plot summary and may be visible there instead.
I've submitted a plot for my language, it's been approved but I can't see it?
For the most part, multi-lingual plot outlines aren't available on IMDb.com just yet - however, we're currently running a trial which makes them visible to certain users.
It's not possible to opt-in to this trial at this time, sorry for the inconvenience.
I keep going in circles on the contribution form but can't submit - help!
Our submission form can sometimes be confusing, especially when adding a large number of items.
Once you've added the information into the contribution form, press the Check these updates button found at the bottom of the page. All the components of your request will be checked to make sure they're OK to be submitted.
If there are any problems, the page will re-load and you'll see your submission box has turned either red or yellow. You'll also see a short explanation in those boxes to explain why the request can't be submitted.
Run through the page and fix or acknowledge these errors and then press Re-check these updates - the system will then re-check the information and if everything is okay the box will turn green and you're ready to submit!
If you still have yellow or red boxes, it means there are still problems with your request that need fixing - look through the page again to see what the messages are saying and repeat the process of correcting them.
If problems persist and you're unable to submit your request - you can always reach out to one of our friendly contributors on our online support community powered by Sprinklr for further guidance.