# Thriller — Genre

> Films designed to create suspense and tension. Plot-driven with high stakes.

## Defining elements

- High stakes (often life/death)
- Tension as primary emotion
- Plot momentum
- Time pressure often
- Audience knows more than protagonist (or vice versa)

## Sub-genres

| Sub-genre | Example | Style |
|-----------|---------|-------|
| Psychological thriller | Black Swan | Mind + perception |
| Crime thriller | Se7en | Investigation + dread |
| Political thriller | The Manchurian Candidate | Power + conspiracy |
| Espionage thriller | Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy | Spy craft |
| Tech thriller | Searching | Digital age |
| Domestic thriller | Gone Girl | Relationship + secrets |
| Conspiracy thriller | All the President's Men | Truth + danger |
| Action thriller | The Bourne Identity | Pursuit + violence |
| Erotic thriller | Basic Instinct | Sex + danger |
| Legal thriller | A Few Good Men | Court + stakes |

## Structural conventions

### Ticking clock
- Time pressure
- Deadline approaching
- Urgency pervasive

### Stakes escalation
- Personal stakes raise
- Threat expands
- Limited options

### Reversals
- What you thought = wrong
- Twist mid-film
- Trust questioned

### Cat-and-mouse
- Pursuer + pursued
- Roles can flip
- Dance of evasion

## Voice / Style

### Pacing
- Tighter than drama
- Cuts to maintain tension
- Pause for breath (then escalate)
- Build to set pieces

### Visual
- Often shadows, contrast
- Tight framing
- Camera movement creates unease
- Information control through shots

### Sound design
- Score essential
- Silence weaponized
- Breath, heartbeat audible
- Sudden contrast

### Dialogue
- Tight, purposeful
- Subtext (lies, threats)
- Information control
- Less than action genres

## Thriller mechanics

### Suspense (Hitchcock)
"There's a bomb under the table. Don't show audience boom — show audience the bomb. Then show two people having a conversation. THAT'S suspense."

Audience knowing the threat = engagement.

### Twist
- Setup throughout
- Pay off in surprise
- Re-frames everything before
- Earned, not arbitrary

### Red herring
- Audience suspects A
- Actual is B
- Misdirection through plot

### McGuffin
- Object/info everyone wants
- Drives action
- Specific content less important

## Sample thriller scene

```
INT. APARTMENT - NIGHT

ELDAR (35) sits at his laptop. The encrypted message just arrived:
"They know. Get out NOW."

He stands. Walks to the window. Pulls the curtain aside slowly.

EXT. STREET - SAME

A black sedan idles across the street. Headlights off.

INT. APARTMENT - SAME

Eldar steps back from the window. His mind races. He has 90 seconds
maybe.

He grabs his phone. Pulls the SIM card. Snaps it.

He grabs a backpack from the closet. Already packed. Always packed.

He stops. Looks at the framed photo on the desk. His mother.

He picks it up. Considers. Sets it down.

He moves to the door. Stops. Listens.

Nothing. Then —

A KEY in the lock from outside.

He freezes.

TIGHT ON the doorknob slowly turning.

Eldar moves silently to the kitchen. Picks up the largest knife.
Flattens against the wall.

The door opens.
```

This works through:
- Stakes immediate
- Time pressure
- Audience anxiety
- Specific competence
- Cliffhanger continuation

## Common mistakes

- Slow opening (thriller needs hook)
- Convenient resolutions
- Twist unprepared (audience cries foul)
- Generic threat
- Passive protagonist
- Convenient skills not setup
- Saggy middle

## Best thriller films reference

- Se7en (psychological)
- The Silence of the Lambs (psychological)
- Gone Girl (domestic)
- Sicario (action)
- Prisoners (revenge)
- A Most Violent Year (slow burn)
- Memento (twist structure)
- Parasite (genre-mix thriller)

## Hitchcock principles

- Suspense over surprise
- MacGuffin acceptable
- Wrong man (innocent caught up)
- Audience knows more than character
- Set pieces important
- Music essential

## When to write thriller

- Plot-driven story
- High-stakes premise
- Audience-friendly (genre conventions)
- Mid-budget feasible
- Star vehicle works
- Festival + commercial overlap

## Combination with other genres

- Thriller + Horror = horror-thriller (Silence of the Lambs)
- Thriller + Crime = crime thriller (Se7en)
- Thriller + Political = political thriller (Bourne)
- Thriller + Drama = drama thriller (Prisoners)
- Thriller + Sci-fi = tech thriller (Ex Machina)
