Conventions of a Thriller

In the Thriller genre there usually are: 

  

Resourceful Heroes 

In thriller, the Heroes are normally rich and unarmed but when it comes to fighting the other hero they always find a way or find equipment to beat the villain. For example in this picture from the movie ' North by North West ' the Hero had nowhere to go but he decided to go down the mountain and get away from the villains. 

 

  

Another Hero is Lucy (Scarlett Johansson) she doest keep any equipment on her but she has the power to get the guns from the villain and kill them. 

 

  

  

Villains 

They are always richer than the others and are ready and have all the equipment needed but yet they never succeed. They are always more powerful as a start and try to beat the Hero but they always get defeated even that they have equipment and powers. 

 

  

Thrillers use: 

  

Fast pace, 

This shows the action happening in the movie and it makes the audience wonder what's happening. Who will get hurt? etc.. 

  

Suspicion, 

This is normally happens when you keep the audience in the edge wondering what will happen and then they get a clue which makes them suspicious about something or someone. 

  

Enigma, 

Is when we find out who the victim is but we have to wait until the end of the film to see who the killer is. 

  

Suspense 

Red hearings are there to make you think that something bad has happened to one of the characters and then to find out nothing bad has actually happened. 

  

Cliffhanger, 

A cliffhanger is a type of narrative in which the end is curiously abrupt so that the main characters are left in a difficult situation without offering any resolution of conflicts. 

  

Thrillers fall into sub-genres such as: 

  

Action thriller - it often features a rage against the clock, contains lots of violence and an obvious antagonist. An example would be ' The Transporter ' which uses a lot of violence against the villains and he has a certain time to deliver the package. 

  

Medical Thriller - Where Heroes and doctors work together. For example in awake where a man suffers from ' Anesthetic Awareness ' and the Hero and Doctor work together to find a cure. 

  

Spy Thriller - The Hero is a Government agent for example ' From Russia with Love ' where James Bond (Sean Connery) is the Government agent. 

  

Religious Thriller -  The plot is closely connected to religious objects. ' The Da Vinci Code '  is a murder inside the Louvre and clues in Da Vinci paintings lead to the discovery of a religious mystery protected by a secret society for two thousand years, so they movie somehow connects to religion.