Thriller Sub-Genres

Romantic Thrillers

This is a subgenre of both thrillers and romantic films. The plotline follows a typical thriller’s tension, suspense, and excitement, but the main element is the growing relationship between two characters. Movies of this type of genre fiction place their primary focus on the relationship and romantic love between two people and tend to have an emotionally satisfying and optimistic ending

Common Techniques

The iconography of Hearts and Flowers- 

symbolizing love and emotions, characters tend to show their feelings to another character through such items within the film. Focus on such items allows the audience to be completely aware of the romantic relationship between two characters.

Happy Ending-

most romance-themed movies tend to end happily with the boy and the girl in a loving relationship. These tend to be aimed at a more female audience however with the introduction of thriller aspects it makes it more exciting for the male audience

two lovers sail into a storm and after the woman has to save her lover who has been badly injured she has to find a way to survive.

Conflicting Opinions-

used to separate the main love interests physically. For example, the mother of the girl may be against the relationship making her the antagonist. There may also be conflicting ideas between the two love interests and this will lead to a plot where they must work out their differences and come together.

Past events-

usually, contain past events that hinder the relationship from progressing like the death of a family member. This intends to make the situation seem more realistic than a character may be emotionally broken and cannot get over it.

Humans are traveling through space
to a colony when there is a malfunction causing
two people to wake from hibernation and can't go
back. forcing them to make a living on the ship

Psychological Thrillers

Psychological thrillers are a part of a wider range of thriller sub-genres. Psychological thrillers focus more on the Characters and their inner battles and their thoughts and processes. Psychological thrillers tend to deviate from normal movie plotlines attempting to fool the audience into a certain way of thinking only to prove them wrong later in the film. Many Psychological Thrillers overlap with horror films, especially psychological horror. In this sub-genre characters face mental dangers as opposed to physical ones.

Common techniques

Mirrors-

used to show a character’s inner self as well as to represent the “dark side” of a character.

Dark tones. Dim lighting- 

adds mystery and danger to a scene as well as showing the inner darkness of a character. Dark lighting can also enhance the gloomy atmosphere in most psychological thrillers.

Quick Cuts& obtrusive/obstructive editing- 

Highlight the feelings of uncertainty and confusion within the mind of characters. This may also be used to show a sense of disorientation and maybe even unfamiliarity placing both the audience and the characters in a potentially dangerous situation.

Flashbacks-

shows the previous situations of characters to give the audience insight into characters possible circumstances making the character more relatable and can give the audience a point of contact into the film.

Tense Music-

this is where Psychological thrillers relate closely to the horror genre as the music common to this sub-genre is very similar to that used in horror. The type of music that leaves you with chills on the inside and unsure of what is going to happen next.

Typical Characters of the Psychological Genre

Convicts, criminals, prisoners, assassins, psychotic individuals, innocent victims, police, terrorists,

Mise-en-scene-

They use common thriller aspects, weapons, guns, bombs, etc. to portray danger. Location is also important as they use cities and urban areas to portray busy-ness and many possible dangers in these areas.

hitman tasked with going into dreams and
murdering people there but becomes stuck

a group of 50 random people has to decide
which one person gets to live 

Crime Thriller

Consist of conflict between an Antagonist and a Protagonist character when the equilibrium has been disturbed. The protagonist fighting to restore peace and justice while the antagonist is trying to disrupt this. The protagonist tends to be a brave individual who seeks to destroy the peace. The antagonist has a hidden identity which is revealed near the climax of the film and seeks out revenge for a past event. The storyline is designed so that it seems as realistic as possible and that the events that occur within the film are entirely possible to occur in real life and even in the current lives of the audience.

Common Techniques

Close ups& extreme close-ups-

to show protagonists emotions to keep the audience clear on the current situation. Close-ups help in iconography, to highlight certain props that aid in the construction of the narrative.

The antagonist is the opposite-

wide unclear or blurry shots help conceal the identity of the antagonist adding to overall mystery and suspense of the film.

Jump Cuts- are used to help add suspense and mystery as they give the feeling of missing information, this is essential in a thriller type movie.

Music-

Crime thriller music often starts slow and builds up to show a build in suspense and danger. It also gives the mood of a particular scene helping reveal to the audience the direction of the narrative.

Mise-en-scene location in a crime thriller tends to be sub-urban to urban areas as where this is a common place for crime to appear as it is close to large populations.

Antagonists tend to wear dark clothing, whilst protagonists where ordinary clothes to show that they are normal people which makes them more relatable to the audience making their situations seem more realistic.

Consumption of illegal substances and participation in illegal activities.

(pulp fiction)-illegal activities, mob bosses, bribery, weapons, and dangerous situations.

man finds 2 million dollars at
a drug deal that has gone wrong and keeps
the money which makes him a hunted criminal

mob bosses, boxers and business men
get intertwined into a crime 

(no country for old men)- drugs, large sums of $$, guns weapons, bombs, policemen/legal authorities

Supernatural Thrillers

Involve otherworldly powers and creatures. ghosts and spirits characters tend to be young, in their teens and a little older. The other character is the supernatural being. The two characters are often linked through one character being haunted or followed by the other supernatural being. The protagonist along with the villain may possess superpowers or some sort of psychic ability.

Lighting in supernatural thrillers is often dim and artificially lit and camera angles can often change which helps to create a suspenseful atmosphere. To ensure the film has a realistic feel, supernatural thrillers are often set in ordinary locations which in turn causes an increase in the suspense and tension as the audience can become somewhat paranoid. However, the film may also be set in a more secluded location to increase this feeling by making the viewer feel isolated.

This genre can also rely on music to build tension and suspense, bringing ambiance to the film. Supernatural thrillers often begin with an event occurring where a character is injured and hurt, or they may even die. However, when the latter occurs, this would happen to a character with a minor role in the film. This incident is often the reason and explanation behind why certain events happen throughout the film and may remain a mystery until the plot twist takes place.

A teenage boy finds a notebook
that kills anyone whose name is
 written in it. He becomes haunted by a demon

Action Thriller

The action thriller is a Fast paced high-intensity movie that is meant to get the audience on the edge their seats this is done usually with pyrotechnics, dangerous storylines, and a huge threat or antagonist and sometimes include a bit of a plot twist. They tend to deal with a semi-realistic storyline, however, the weapons used such as doomsday devices can be farfetched. Action Thriller plots tend to be similar with some big threat to society and a hero who must eliminate said threat.

Common Techniques

Hero v Villains-

action thrillers tend to incorporate them classic good vs bad approach having the good guys get beat by the bad guys in many previous encounters until the final battle where the good guys come out on top.

Fast Paced editing-

encourages the audience to be wary of some characters as the fast-paced editing give the feeling that we are unsure of who the character really is as opposed to long, drawn out, close up shots that intend to reveal every aspect of the character including physical features as well as emotions and inner thoughts.

Enigma-

mysterious characters keep the audience alert as they may seek to draw out any info to deduce who the character may be. It can also intrigue the audience and encourage them to continue viewing. This sense of mysteriousness is often achieved through dark key lighting to help conceal identity and to show a correlation to the darkness and the character.

Close-ups-

as mentioned previously close-ups are used to display in great detail what a character may be thinking or how they may be feeling. This is commonly used on the protagonists as the director intends to gain the sympathy of the audience for the protagonist.

Fast paced music-

music dramatizes the scene making it tenser than it would otherwise be. It can also be a giveaway as to when important moments are about to occur. It can make fight scenes or chase sequences more dramatic as well almost bring the audience into the midst of the action.

Mise en scene-

a story about an air marshal
who is trying to protect a plane
, mid-flight,
from a terrorist 

locations tend to be an urban area as most thrillers are as this can have good ways of making encounters to increase the level of tension and suspense.

They also tend to use weapons and chase scenes to also signify dangers and possibly fatal situations.

ex-hitman comes for revenge after
 his wife's death 

Characters tend to wear attire suited to their environment, the protagonist may wear casual street clothes while the villain may wear business formal attire that tends to be dark.

Political Thriller

A political thriller is a thriller that is set against the backdrop of a political power struggle. They usually involve various extra-legal plots, designed to give political power to someone, while his opponents try to stop him. They can involve national or international political scenarios. Political corruption, terrorism, and warfare are common themes. Political thrillers can be based on true facts such as the assassination of John F. Kennedy or the Watergate Scandal.

Common Techniques

Taking a Political stance-

choosing a political side and sticking to its ideals whether or not you may agree with them. this gives the film a clear sense of direction and keeps the plot order and sensical.

Racial aspects-

though it may be a sensitive topic it can portray the realism that is going in real society. this way it can be used as propaganda to show people what's wrong with racism.

Good v Evil-

showing a power struggle between two entities is common. weather its opposing government groups or international conflict. However, there is always a "good" and  "bad" character. and usually, the proposed "good" side wins.

Surveillance is used as a weapon by a corrupt government.

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