Definition of a thriller

Thriller Genre Definition

The genre of thriller is defined by many different things and also fits into many sub genres.

One of the main elements to a thriller is the sense the audience gets of being on the ‘edge of their seat’ and having the feeling of ‘cliffhanging’. Thrillers are defined by the fact that most of the time they are leading to a single goal and it usually involves some kind of situation that needs resolving.

Thrillers tend to have at least two main characters (a protagonist and an antagonist) battling against each other in some way, for example, Se7ev, 1995, David Fincher, has the detectives battling against the serial killer in the sense that they have to try and catch him.

There are various different thriller sub-genres; action thrillers, The Transporter, Louis Leterreir, 2002, crime thrillers, Reservoir Dogs, 1992, Quentin Tarentino, conspiracy thrillers, The Kingdom, Peter Berg, 2007, psychological thrillers, Hide And Seek, John Polson 2005.

All of these sub-genres have the defining elements of a thriller e.g. the protagonist and the antagonist battling against each other but they also have elements from other genres thrown in so that they do not fit solely into one category.