What Is A Thriller?

thrill·erTHrilər/ˈ - nouna novel, play, or movie with an exciting plot, typically involving crime or espionage.

a very exciting contest or experience."a 17–14 overtime thriller against Tampa Bay"

Action Thrillere.g. Batman: The Dark Knight Rises

The conventional storyline for an Action Thriller will include continuous motion and action including physical stunts, chases, fights, battles and races. There will usually be a level of conflict or challenge - with the main bulk of the film concentrating on the protagonists battle/rise to where he wants to be and the ending will usually feature them reaching their aim. However, with many modern Action Thrillers, the star will have to give up something else at the end of the film in order to fully reach their dream.

Crime Thrillere.g. Kill Bill Volume. 2

The conventional storyline for a Crime Thriller will incorporate the suspenseful aspects of a thriller with a crime film plot. It usually centres on a serial killer, murderer, robbery, or manhunt. As opposed to traditional crime films, the storyline focuses both around the criminal and the protagonist. Crime Thrillers use both action and psychological aspects to build tension and suspense.

Comedy Thrillere.g. Rush Hour 2

Comedy Thrillers will include the elements of suspense from the thriller genre and comedic moments – sometimes it will be the comedy which breaks suspense. Commonly, they draw subject matters from spies, science-fiction, horror and action. The amount of humour they include is disproportionate depending on the title. Comedy Thrillers use action and comedy to build suspense and tension by playing with the audience’s emotions.

Political Thrillere.g. The Day of the Jackal

Political Thrillers generally revolve around a storyline whereby political relations or the whole government is at stake – putting the protagonist in a position to stop the problem. Commonly, the protagonist may have been a low-level character before this new attracted attention. The suspense and tension is usually brought upon by the political activity in subject.

Horror Thrillere.g. The Babadook

In a Horror Thriller, there is usually a conflict between the protagonist and antagonist which sparks a mental, physical and emotional reaction from the audience. There is almost always an element of fear involved in order to scare and ‘horrify’ the audience – this is usually achieved through the use of suspense, to shock the audience and ‘catch them off guard’, as such. These will generally appeal more to young adults and teenagers because they are usually seen as being more ‘rebellious’ movies.

Psychological Thrillere.g. Shutter Island

Psychological Thrillers usually involve more mental conflict than physical. A common storyline would involve the protagonist becoming involved in a dangerous situation which literally threatens their sanity. They must use mental prowess to overcome their opponent, whether the battle is inside their own head or it a battle of wits. The suspense is create from two or more characters playing mind games. As they usually require more intellectual thinking they usually attract 25+ year olds.

Techno Thrillere.g. RoboCop

Techno Thrillers include science-fiction elements and maybe military involvement. They usually involve some form of technology that has caused the situation. An example of this is Die Hard 4.0 as the terrorist situation is due to the hacker being fired from the government system because he found how vulnerable the security of the country was. He was able to hack onto the government secrets system on his laptop so they fired him, tarnishing his reputation.

Supernatural Thrillere.g. The Exorcism

Supernatural Thrillers bring a supernatural element to the thriller genre. They usually involve drastic plot twists. The protagonist usually has some sort of psychic ability. There may be a slight overlap with the horror-thriller genre – such as with The Exorcism. Otherworldly elements are introduced (may be an antagonistic force) but the plot line and feel are distinctly that of thrillers.

Conspiracy Thrillere.g. Salt

A conspiracy thriller often involves a nobody (often the heroine or hero of the story) who finds something that then leads them into a spiral of events unfolding that they did not anticipate. There is usually a link to a ‘higher source’ such as the government or ‘evil entity’. There is often a character previously thought to be good, turning bad. Hear-say is usually a feature of these films, incorporation deception, lies and rumours which will create the conspiracy.

Romantic Thrillere.g. Ghost

The plot line of a Romantic Thriller usually follows a typical thriller’s tension, suspense and excitement but a main element of the film is focused on the growing relationship between two characters. This is quite a rare subgenre of thrillers as many studios find it hard to produce them without confusing the audience too much. Many Romantic Thrillers are female-oriented.