Thriller

How is Thriller Thrilling?

Thriller is an extremely popular sub genre that is included in more and more movies every year. 

Thriller is a genre of storytelling that aims to engulf the audience with extreme excitement, suspense, and anticipation. It often involves fast paced plots or scenes and unexpected turns. Thriller movies are more popular during the holidays since it is seen as festive during Halloween. The goal is to keep the audience engaged and anticipating. Thriller is a genre in which people either hate or love, having people that are movie fanatics and find the suspense and plot twists exciting and those who stray away from thriller as much as they can since they do not find the aspects appealing. 

CONTENT

Thriller films encompass a wide range of elements and themes that aim to elicit fear, suspense, and discomfort in the audience. 

Plot twists is a crucial importance when making a thriller, the most successful ones have twists and turns no one suspects. When seeing a thriller, the plot should not be predictable at all, having the narrative be surprising and suspenseful for many. The protagonist(s) could be participating in many things. Whether to outsmart the antagonist(s) or hide from them to many other goals, thrillers never look as what they seem. Thrillers can easily include hidden messages and representatives of the real world. 

EX: Parasite represents the difference between rich and poor. 

Suspense plays a big role in thrillers. This aspect keeps audiences focused and engaged while also anticipating the next scenes in the movie. Because thrillers are not predictable, suspense plays a role in expecting what is next. It builds the fear in audiences and leaves them wanting more. 

Foreshadowing is almost always in thrillers but since they do not share a formula for plots(except having to have plot twists) because they are supposed to be full of completely different stories with completely different outcomes, the foreshadowing should not make sense until the plot clicks together in the end. Because of this, thriller fans often love the genre since each movie should be different. Different plots and turns is the product of a good thriller, where it be psychological thriller, dramatic thriller, or more. Since plot twists is such a common aspect, audiences can expect a rollercoaster of emotions to play out during the movie. 

EX: Missing includes a MAJOR plot twist at the end which made it gain most of its popularity.

Drama must be included in thriller since it is the backbone along with plot twists and suspense. Drama adds to the plot, leaving the audience with a crave for more. Since the target audience for thrillers are usually young adults or adults, drama is a way to keep them into the story and engaged. 

PRODUCTION TECHNIQUES

Lighting and coloring is another huge importance to a thriller. Different colors can change the psychology of the audience without them even knowing. Having a saturated, dirty green and yellow coloring/objects gives the impression of poverty and filth vs. clean white and light brown lighting/objects gives a cleanliness to the scene. Dark lighting may foreshadow a scene where something bad may be executed or just a monotone scene to show low moods. 

Shots in thrillers are not all necessarily fast-paced and quick. Sometimes shots are made long on purpose to play out a series of events and for emphasis on certain details. However, fast-paced shots do induce some sort of drama going on, which is why they are used in shots where a lot is happening. 

Sounds are always used to emphasis a scene. For example, total silence while the protagonist is sneaking around creates a uncomfortable await on something scary. Sudden stings or loud noises create sudden fear and shock in scenes that were just silent or peaceful. 

MARKETING

Thriller movie target audiences are adults/young adults. Advertising on social media brands and stores like Walmart is an excellent way of reaching them. Trailers usually include as much drama as possible with as little plot as possible. This is done to make the movie look enticing but still not know what will happen throughout. 

Posters usually include a foreshadowing about the plot or a character without the unsuspecting viewer knowing. After watching a thriller movie, the parts of the poster should make sense. However, some thrillers could just include the main character with some important object/person/idea of the story. The protagonist(s) would usually be the main feature of the poster; other important characters could be surrounding or featured in the poster too.

SAMPLES

The film Parasite(2019) is an excellent example of all types of film aspects being used perfectly in a drama/thriller. In this movie, a family of 4, who are poor, find a way to infiltrate a rich family, also family of 4. Starting with the son, they all find their ways to work for the rich family and live off their profit and house without them knowing. The poor son starts working as a tutor for the rich daughter with a recommendation from a friend who was moving away to college. The friend was the rich daughter's tutor and had recommended the poor son since his English test scores were phenomenal. The rich son gets a good idea to get closer to the rich daughter and try to find out more information about the rich family. The rich daughter reveals that her little brother is a fanatic about art and their mother has tried numerous times to hire a babysitter or art tutor for him. He recommends his "cousins old classmate" who is actually his sister to help the rich mother with their son. The poor daughter gets hired and she decides to find a way to get the poor dad hired as a driver. She frames the driver for sleeping with her in the rich dads car, which causes his termination. The father is then hired and they all plan for the final straw, to get the rich family's nanny fired. However, she has been there since the previous owner of the house. The poor son learns from the rich daughter that she is highly allergic to peaches. The entire family constructs a well made plan to frame the nanny of having tuberculosis. With a small child in the rich family, they fire her immediately and hire the poor mother(the rich family still does not know that everyone they have hired is a family). Suddenly as the poor family is enjoying themselves one night since the rich family had left for a short camping trip, the old nanny returns and claims she has left something in the basement. Because the new nanny is supposed to be the only one present, everyone else must hide but her. The old nanny goes down to the basement with the new nanny following her. It is revealed that the old nanny had hid her husband down there, hiding from loan sharks. The poor family, who is nosy, tries to spy on the conversation but end up falling down the stairs, the poor son calling the poor father "dad" which the old nanny has caught on film. She blackmails them with the video, making them stay in a corner as her and her husband return to the surface of the house. The poor family suddenly fights back, using a bag of peaches to rub on the old nanny's face and tackling the husband. The rich family calls and says that they must return due to heavy rain and a beautifully made scene where the poor family hides the old nanny and her husband down in the basement is made. The old nanny gets a concussion from falling down the stairs but is barely alive. Days later, the rich son's birthday party is thrown, the poor family being invited. The poor son decides to get a rock(this rock is very important but the analysis is already too long) and finish the job to kill the old nanny and her husband under the basement. Upon discovering her dead body, her husband gets a metal wire and drags the poor sone from his neck. He runs upstairs, falls and then the nanny's husband gets the rock and bashes his head twice. Blood splattered on his face and in a state of psychosis, he goes up to where the birthday party is taking place and grabs a knife. Since the poor daughter was the rich sons tutor, she brings out the cake. The nanny's husband pops out and stabs her, causing her to bleed to death. The rich son has a seizure and guests are running away. The poor mother fights the nanny's husband and the poor father is in a state of shock and he watches the events unravel. He stabs the rich father after seeing his complain about the "poor person smell" on the nanny's now dead husband. He looks around and sees his son being carried by the rich daughter, who found him, his daughter bleeding out, and his wife with blood-smeared hands. He decides to run and hide in the basement. Flashforward months later, the poor son has had brain surgery, the poor mother stayed with him, the poor daughter is dead, and the poor husband is missing. The movie ends with the son promising to buy the house one day to let out his dad so they can live well. This movie has wonderful uses of lighting. When showing the poor family's scenes, the lighting was a grotesque green and faded yellow. The coloring when showing riches was sharp and clean. The plot twists of the entire killing spree and finale at the end of the movie was completely unexpected. Foreshadowing is easily seen in the poster, using black bars and muted colors to dress the poor family to show the rugged mentality and lessons learned from being poor. The white bars and white clothing is shown for the rich family, showing their purity and innocence from being rich all their lives. The movie also has a deeper meaning, showing the inequality of wealth in Korea(or anywhere). The shot where the poor family has to hide the old nanny and her husband in the basement is done with a series of panning, tracking, long, and short shots to encapsulate the urgency of the situation. Suspense is played out very well during the entire birthday party scene with a series of multiple things happening at once with suspenseful music. Parasite is a wonderful movie overall and was a beautifully made thriller.

In The Invisible Guest(2016, mystery/thriller), Businessman Adrián Doria was arrested for the murder of Laura Vidal, his lover, and is currently free on bond. Virginia Goodman, an attorney hired by Félix Leiva, is brought in to represent him. She informs him that the prosecutor has located a witness who will be testifying before a judge in three hours, and she begs Adrián to tell her the complete truth. Adrián explains to Virginia that when he and Laura dissolved their relationship, they got a call demanding that they come to a hotel in the country with €100,000. After being rendered unconscious in the hotel, Adrián awoke to discover Laura dead in the restroom. The police discovered Adrián to be the sole suspect after locking the door and the windows from the inside. Adrián continues by telling the story of how, despite his claims to be in Paris, he was actually with Laura in a cabin. Adrián swerves to escape a deer as they are returning to Barcelona, clipping another car, which then strikes a tree. The driver of the second automobile, Daniel Garrido, a bank employee, passed away, but they are unharmed. Laura argues that since Daniel was texting and not wearing his belt, they are not totally to blame. Laura conceals the body when another car approaches, and she and Adrián feign exchanging insurance details. When Daniel's phone rings, she plays along and the driver drives off. In Adrián's non-starting automobile, Laura waits for a tow truck, and Adrián throws Daniel's car and its corpse into a lake. Later, Laura brings Adrián up and informs him about the state of his car's repair. Tomás, an automotive engineer, stopped and volunteered to assist Laura, who said she had struck a deer. To fix it, he had the car transported to his residence. Laura discovered Daniel was Tomás and Elvira's son when speaking with Elvira. Tomás became suspicious of the auto owner after Laura adjusted the driver's seat while they were driving away in the repaired vehicle. After parting ways with Laura, Adrián sells his automobile and declares it stolen. Tomás has reported Adrián's license plate number, so the police are called. Félix succeeds in creating an alibi for Adrián and deleting his name from the case file. Laura acknowledges that she grabbed Daniel's wallet and then broke into his account to steal the money when Adrián confronts her after seeing on the news that Daniel is missing after embezzling money from the bank. When Adrián questions Laura about it, she threatens to implicate him as well. When Adrián attends a public event, Tomás, posing as a reporter, observes that Adrián is using the same lighter he observed to fix the automobile. He begs Adrián to tell him where the corpse is. A few days later, Adrián gets the order to transport Laura and €100,000 to the country hotel. If the driver had followed Adrián after he passed, Adrián believes he might be the blackmailer. Virginia thinks that Adrián could assert that Tomás was the attacker and that he recognized the face of the man who struck him in the remote hotel room. Then Adrián admits that he was testing Virginia when he knew all along that it was Tomás. Virginia argues that she acted alone when she planted a piece of Laura's belongings in Daniel's automobile. Then Adrián admits that Daniel was still alive while he was pushing the car into the lake; an autopsy would later show that Daniel had drowned. Virginia implies Adrián is lying when he claims Laura is the killer behind their fraud, after learning of Laura's worry. Virginia, however, claims that she thinks Tomás set him up because Elvira was employed at the small hotel, which is why the Garridos picked it as the meeting place: Elvira could have simply opened the window to let Tomás leave after killing Laura, then closed it to give the impression that no one else entered. Virginia points to an apartment across the street where Tomás is hiding and claims that Tomás has been pursuing Adrián, Félix, and even her. At last, Adrián acknowledges that he faked the scene and killed Laura. Adrián receives a voicemail from Félix asking him to give him a call back. Virginia quickly leaves after suggesting that Adrián return the call during a break. The second motorist is the witness, according to Félix, who informs Adrián that his silence was purchased. The call is being interrupted by high-pitched voices when Félix inquires about the progress of their meeting with Virginia. Adrián then discovers that their entire exchange is being taped. Virginia turned off his phone, he remembers. Gazing into the apartment across the street, he spots Tomás beside Virginia, who turns out to be Elvira Garrido disguised as herself. At the same time that the actual Virginia Goodman shows up at Adrián's apartment, Tomás uses the confession to call the police. The movie consists of multiple different plot twists, which makes up a good thriller. The use of lighting being monotone and grey when needing to have the audience focus on the gloomy mood is well placed. The poster also has foreshadowing and characters, with the car in the lake and all the main characters "floating" above. This movie consists of a lot of drama, especially the flashbacks and different versions of what could have happened. Having different ways of the murder/death panning out kept the audience confused in a curious way and left them wanting to know the ending. 

SOME RECCOMMENDED THRILLERS

See For me (2021)

Fair Play (2023)

Gone Girl (2014)

Intrusion (2021)

Prisoners (2013)

Secret Obsession (2019)