Plot device
The ticking clock
Also known as: ticking time bomb
A device imposing a hard deadline on the characters to escalate tension and force decisive action.
The ticking clock in fiction: 7 works
A dwindling deadline before the ship overshoots forces an irrevocable choice.
A ticking race to recall the bombers structures the film's escalating dread.
A self-destruct and containment deadline drives the tension toward catastrophe.
The lightning strike deadline to power the return trip drives the climactic tension.
A visible countdown to the world's end drives the film toward its sacrifice.
The synchronized 'kick' deadline across dream levels drives the climax.
A temporal-pincer countdown converging from both directions structures the climax.