The Thriller Genre

A still from Alfred Hitchcock's classic thriler 'Psycho'

Nathan Anderson

What Is A Thriller?

A thriller is a genre of film, literature and/or film that centred around anxiety, suspense and excitement. The crux of a thriller film is the protagonist overcoming an obstacle, often threatening their life, which may or may not be known to the character. A thriller typically contains a villain, which provides the obstacles for the protagonist to overcome.

Crime Thriller 'The Dark Knight'

The suspense and excitement in a thriller are derived from the danger that faces the  protagonist, and it is often a life threatening situation that the main character find's themselves in, and with the danger sometimes also unbeknown to the character.

The tension in a film often builds and builds throughout the film, and leads to a highly exciting and stressful climax for both the protagonist and audience, and at the very end of the film, excluding those that end in 'cliffhangers', all remaining confusion for the audience and protagonist, is 'tied up.'