A thriller is a genre of film that uses suspense, tension, and excitement to stimulate the viewer's emotions. Key elements of thrillers include an adrenaline-pumping narrative pace, obstacles for the protagonist to overcome, and a villain-driven plot. Successful thrillers typically feature a protagonist facing death or danger, an initially stronger antagonist, a mystery that must be solved, scenes from the protagonist's point of view, and realistic representations of action and characters. Common themes in thrillers are the desire for justice and individuals' sense of morality in a corrupt world.

1. By Amaal Mahamed
ELEMENTS OF A THRILLER

2. Thriller is a genre of movies that uses suspense, tension and excitement as its main
elements. Thrillers heavily stimulate the viewers moods giving them a high level of
anticipation, ultra- heightened expectation, uncertainty, surprise, anxiety and terror.
Films of this genre tend to be adrenaline rushing gritty, rousing and fast paced.
A thriller provides the sudden rush of excitement and exhilaration that drive the
narrative sometimes subtly with peaks and lulls. Sometimes at a constant, breakneck
pace. It keeps the audience on the ‘edge of their seats’. A thriller is usually a villain
driven plot, whereby he or she presents obstacles that the protagonist must overcome.
WHAT IS A THRILLER?

3. To captivate an audience there are essentials that every thriller must have for it to be
successful.
1) A thriller must have a good story. Thrillers want to be thrilled, a common element in
a thriller is that the protagonist will fall victim to someone else’s scheme and get stuck
in a moment of dread. There are only three themes in all of literature these include
death and rebirth and also the the request to make life better.
2)Writing about the underdog. The thriller must be told from the point of view of the
person with the most to lose. The protagonist gives the story character. They should
be given baggage and emotional complexity.
ESSENTIALS OF A THRILLER

4. 3) Multiple points of view can give a great range in a thriller. They allow you inside the
heads of many characters, which can build dramatic tension and irony.
4) Opening must be an action scene. Introduce the hero and villain and even some
obstacles the protagonist may face.
5) The protagonist wants and fears must be made clear early on.

5. 6) characters should look miserable. Give them grief, false hope, heartaches, anxiety
and near death experiences.
7) main character should change. Must be an emotional change that shows growth and
victory over some of their baggage.
8) pacing must be high. Each scene should reveal something new, no matter how silent
it is.

6. The primary elements of the thriller genre:
The protagonist(s) faces death, either his and/or her or somebody else's.
The force(s) of the antagonist's must be initially be clever or stronger than the protagonist.
The main storyline for the protagonist is either a quest or a character that cannot be put down. The
main plotline focuses on a mystery that must be solved.
The film's narrative construction is dominated by the protagonist point of view. There may be a
suspenseful and atmospheric soundtrack for the scenes of suspense.
All action and characters must be credibly realistic or natural in their representation on screen.
The two major themes that underpin the thriller genre are the desire for justice and morality of
individuals. One small, but significant, aspect of a thriller is the presence of innocence in what is seen
as an essentially corrupt world.
The protagonist(s) and antagonist(s) may battle, themselves and each other, not just on a physical level,
but on a mental one as well.
Either by accident or their own curiousness, each character is dragged into a dangerous conflict or
situation that they are not prepared to resolve.
PRIMARY ELEMENTS

7. Thrillers often overlap with mystery stories but are distinguished by the structure of their
plots. In a thriller, the hero must stop the plans of an enemy rather than uncover a crime
that has already happened. Mystery thrillers also occur on a much grander scale: the crimes
that must be prevented are serial or mass murder, terrorism, assassination, or the overthrow
of governments. Jeopardy and violent confrontations are standard plot elements in the
mystery-thriller genre
Thriller movies that have been successful.
Silence of the lambs
Seven
Limited
The lovely bones
The boy next door
Fatal attraction
addicted