Genre Research

Thrillers are one of my preferred genres in every media, so today I'll be discussing this genre but for films specifically.

What is the thriller genre?

Typically, the audience targeted for this genre is those in their late teens up to young adults, as much of the 'thriller' category applies to younger people as they find the plot of such a genre 'interesting'. Being that the definition of 'thrill' is something intriguing or exciting, and 'thriller' is a genre of a piece of literature or film with such a plot, it's clear that thriller genres are to have an exciting plot, which, again, is typically engaged by a young adult audience, but it is not necessarily limited to them. Of course, thrillers are typically rated to be older than thirteen years of age due to their typical involvement in violence and blood.

Content

Moments of fear, anxiety and tension are all present within this genre. Each of these plays a part in stepping up the heart-racing moments in the film, the feeling of jittery anticipation of what is happening, and what happens next, to the audience as the plot continues on. These feelings can drive one 'to the edge of their seat'. Although the genre of 'horror' may have similar conventions, thriller leans more towards the psychological route. Scenes in thrillers are fast-paced or action-packed. 

Thrillers, for the most part, enforce a personal connection with the audience. This particular feature enhances the anxiety of their audience for the main set of characters:

Parasite (2019) The film follows the Kims, a poor family, as well as the Parks, a rich family. The heavy involvement of family and their lifestyles can form a personal connection to the audience and anything that ends up happening to each member or what they may do to one another will trigger a certain fear and anxiety for the audience.

Thriller's narrative ranges from crime to science fiction. All of these films provide much suspense throughout the film, no matter which sub-genre it could be. The main convention is the suspense, and the sub-genre is what the suspense would be centered around in the film.

Production Techniques

The architecture throughout thriller films plays a great role in setting up the atmosphere, especially creating fear, emotionally and spatially. Combined with particular dull lighting, it could enforce the eerie atmosphere a scene may have. Certain setups of the settings could further induce anxiety, for example, if a place is dark, there is anticipation and triggers of the fear of the unknown, or if the scene is dull and rainy-like, it could help set up negative emotions. Basically, a typical setup of a thriller scene utilizes low-key lighting. This type of lighting can also enforce a particular feeling:

Se7en (1995) With both Morgan Freeman's detective-like or formal costume paired with the low-key lighting,  the scene seems serious and full of anticipation for the audience.

Sound, like in many other genres, is another important technique in thriller production that can further enhance the feeling of a scene. It is able to allow the audience to know what happens both off and on-screen and the dialogue or foley can also act as a sort of symbolism depending on how it is done. Sound can enhance visuals with foley or music, which have many uses such as building suspense or simply setting up a scene.

Marketing

The target audience is around the age range of 18 to 25 due to the intense storyline, action, and visuals. Promotional posters and trailers tend to include visuals that are conveyed with low-key lighting to enhance the horror-like suspenseful emotion that the movie targets. A majority of thriller films include horror elements, so some promotional content may include elements of the horror genre.

Samples

Smile (2022) is a psychological thriller (as well as horror and mystery) film about a therapist, Dr. Rose Cotter (Sosie Bacon), who suffered from a childhood trauma from which she has been running away, meets with a client, Laura, who has been having hallucinations of an entity that has the power to appear as other people, wearing an eerie smile. She claims to be dying and panics before she smiles ominously and slashes her neck with a shard of a broken shard of the vase in front of Rose. The film follows Rose's dealings with her mental health and the constant encounters with Laura's entity, which ends with Rose ending up setting herself on fire and smiling eerily. The movie includes elements like loud noise and jumpscares (horror) but it also has a vast amount of gore as well as unsettling imagery and visuals that ultimately depict sanity and insanity. The intense plot and heavy visuals keep the audience on the edge of their seats.

Coraline (2009) follows a girl, Coraline, who discovers a secret door in her new home that takes her to an alternate world that mirrors that of her own world, but "better". Later on, Other Mother (her mother in the alternate world) offers Coraline to sew buttons to her eyes so she could stay. During her stay in this alternate world, she was eventually able to uncover the intention of Other Mother's true intentions: to keep Coraline there to consume her flesh and soul. Coraline utilizes all her resources and courage to return to her original world to escape Other Mother who seems to have reverted to her true form... This film demonstrates many horror elements through its art style, for example, the ragged edges and lanky figures of certain objects or subjects (the cat, Other Mother). The film also demonstrates a muted or just darker color (though slight, it is obvious). This particular element may ensue an unsettling feeling, keeping viewers on guard. The disturbing intent of Other Mother also feeds into the thriller genre as the concept of disguising herself as Coraline's mother to lure her in to consume her soul feeds onto the psychological thriller or horror genres.

Other/More Samples

Intrusion (2021)

Hypnotic (2021)

Split (2016)

Shutter (2008)

Train to Busan (2016)

Parasite (2019)

Sources:

https://storygrid.com/thriller-genre/

https://www.filmsite.org/thrillerfilms.html