Generic Conventions of the Thriller Genre

Thriller films will generally stick to a set of un-written rules in order to catch and maintain the audience’s attention.

Thrillers use a series of different conventions, the main one being the uses of tension or suspense. This is often translated through a number of different ways to the audience. Thrillers often include several cliff hangers within the story and they typically make the audience think whilst sitting on the edge of their seats.

The majority of traditional thrillers will build up tension throughout the film as points in the story reach their climax. ‘Psycho’, one of the most famous thrillers is a prime example of this.

Thrillers come in many different types, ranging from Political to Techno thrillers. Despite there being many different types of thrillers, the majority of them stick to the same generic themes and conventions; building tension and excitement.Finally, thrillers that follow the un-written rules and the traditional idea of keeping the audience on the edge of their seats often do this through similar techniques. Some of these techniques they use are as follows;

Climatic points in the story always grip the audience and build on the tension.

Thrillers often overlap with mystery based stories to get the audience thinking.

The protagonist is often the one in danger when the suspense is building.

Written by Marcus Murdoch