“Thriller” as a genre is very tricky to define. Thrillers are usually fast paced, have plenty of action, include the protagonist beating / facing impossible odds. There are also many plot twists, red-herrings, cliffhangers and awkward silences/pauses to help build the desired tension. The plot twists are used to create heightened tension and keep the audience on the “edge-of-their-seats” right up until the piece’s climax. Thrillers usually involve the Protagonist in a dangerous / mysterious situation to acknowledge or escape. Thrillers are usually implemented with one of the many sub-genres associated with the genre.
Sub genres include Action-Thriller, Conspiracy-Thriller, Crime-Thriller, Disaster-Thriller, Drama-Thriller, Eco-Thriller, Erotic-Thriller, Horror-Thriller, Legal-Thriller, Medical-Thriller, Political-Thriller, Psychological-Thriller, Spy-Thriller, Supernatural-Thriller and Techno-Thriller.
Good examples of “Thrillers” are “The Usual Suspects”, “Seven” and “Memento”. All of these films keep the audience in the dark until the very last moment with a combination of plot-twists and red-herrings. “The Usual Suspects” uses nearly the entire film to spin a web of red-herrings, culminating in a monumental plot-twist at the end. In “Seven” there are much fewer red-herrings, the film is more about the development of a complicated, multi-faceted plot with many twists and turns along the way.
Overall I think that the main role of a thriller is to keep the audience on the “edge-of-their-seat” right up to the end of the film, preferably with an ending that they didn’t see coming.
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