Conventions of a Thriller Subgenre

Psychological Thrillers

Psychological thriller is a sub genre that focuses on the unstable psychological state of its characters, they usually involve mystery as a plot point or a feature of the characters, elements of horror, mystery and drama are often incorporated in psychological thrillers. Themes often explored in psychological thrillers include reality, perception, mind, purpose, identity and death, and these are used to develop the plot or the characters.

Codes and conventions

In psychological thrillers, one of the main elements to distinguish the subgenre from other types of thrillers are flashbacks, these are to often confuse and disorient the audience as it distorts and disorients time in the film, they make the audience think more about the film. They are also used to create mystery but also to reveal important elements of the plot which the audience overlooked in a previous scene, or the character and show reasons why the character is how they are.

Similar to traditional film noir, modern psychological thrillers also use shadows and low key lighting for a similar effect. They are used to represent a character's morality or inner darkness, the low key lighting creates a contrasting chiaroscuro effect which is often enhanced by black and white. Another reason shadows and low key lighting is used is to create tension and the feeling of uncertainty.

Mirrors are used a lot in psychological thrillers, they are used to reflect the characters and their morality and inner self. They could also be used to represent the character's state of mind, as a cracked mirror could represent a damaged or broken person, or state of mind.

Psychological thrillers often include montages and quick edits are used to create a sense of disorientation as well as panic. They can be used to confuse the audience or help establish the tone or reinforce the feelings of panic in the scene.

Another important element to psychological thrillers that separate it from other thriller subgenres, and horrors especially, is the location, as most psychological thrillers are set in urban areas instead of rural areas like horrors. This could be to make them more realistic than horrors, as they also focus more on smaller, more personal issues which add to their characters which are often focused on more than the plot, unlike horrors.

The camera movement is often quick and the camera is often handheld, this is to create a sense of panic, and put the audience in the position of the character. The camera movement lets the audience know how the character is feeling especially when they are feeling panic, the camera helps the audience empathise with the character.

Tense, eerie music is used to create feelings of panic and to reinforce the quick, disorienting camerawork, this type of music is used to build up tension in the scene. Sometimes the music juxtaposes with the scene which is also used to create a tense, eerie atmosphere and tone.

Themes

Reality
Perception
Mind
Purpose
Identity
Death

Examples

Shutter Island
- In Shutter Island themes of reality, perception, the mind, identity and death are explored as the character finds out about himself, and his true identity as well as the deaths of people close to him which caused his mental state and inner darkness. The film incorporates conventions of the mystery thriller subgenre and also incorporates horror conventions, such as the location, which is more horror than thriller as it is isolated and mostly set in an asylum, which is a common setting for horrors. Flashbacks are used, which is a convention of the psychological thriller subgenre, they allow the audience to gain new information with the character, which could also be conventional of the mystery subgenre. The film focuses on the characters more than the plot which is another convention of psychological thrillers, as they usually focus more on the mental state of the characters and personal issues rather like Shutter Island does.

Se7en
- The film Se7en explores themes of reality, purpose, death, and the mind as the film focuses on each of the character's state of mind and is focused around murder. This film also incorporates conventions of other genres and subgenres such as horror and mystery, the main plot is centred around a mystery, like Shutter Island. Conventions of psychological thrillers in this film are focusing a lot on character as the main character is established in the opening before the main plot is. Another convention are the locations, the main location is the city which is a convention as most psychological thrillers are set in urban areas. Horror conventions could be seen in the isolated and grim locations as well. Another psychological thriller convention Se7en uses is low key lighting and shadows, especially in the opening, which is also similar to traditional film noirs.

Other examples - Memento, Black Swan, Vertigo