Genre Research

Genre

Psychological Thrillers

Citations

        In psychological thrillers, there is a main focus on the characters and the psychological aspects of their own minds. They usually include themes like crimes, murders, abuse, mental illness, or an altering sense of reality. The conflict in these films is usually one of self V.S. self. Thrillers, sometimes confused with horror, makes the audience heart race with curiosity and action. They are often realistic and don't take on any fantasy aspects or science fictions ones either. 

        Things that create a good psychological thriller consist of 

• Plot twists - To build a suspenseful piece that really brings together the psychological aspect of the movie, unexpected twists in the movie do this. It is better to lead one away from any suspicion of the actual plot twist and try to not hint towards it to spring the best suspense on the audience. 
• Unreliable narration - To create an uneasy sense in the watcher, there must be a development of lies, unreliable actions, and things you may not be sure are real to create the suspense and paranoia throughout the film.
• Familiar events - The writers of psychological thrillers tend to try and make the films take place in familiar locations with every-day things to try and appear as realistic as possible. They strive to make the viewers believe this could happen to them, or anyone around them.

   To write psychological thriller plots, it is essential to create a high tension to keep the audience on their toes, always expecting something to happen at the ready. Additionally, creating a sense of helplessness to the situation can also help this aspect. This is so there is no easy solution, and there is no way of them figuring out if something is real or not. To develop the character backstories slowly but surely can additionally aid in this process. When doing this, it doesn't fully fill the viewer in, not giving them all the juicy details and leaving them hanging. 

    All of this research on my genre can aid me to develop a good psychological thriller that can keep people engaged with my film. I really want to produce something that could wow people, and I think all of this research can help my process. 

    For my project itself, this research can improve it because now that I know what I need to develop in the script, I can carry it out with film techniques such as shot composition and music! 

Psychological Thrillers in film:

Us (2019)

Teen Wolf S3B (2013)

Split (2016)