Common Themes and Characters

Common Themes:

Crime: ransoms, captivities, heists, revenge, kidnappings; these all create a menacing atmosphere and make the situations seem dangerous, therefore making the plot more exciting

Mystery: investigations, ‘whodunit’ technique; relates back to older thriller films when they were all based around a police investigation, are tense and keep the audience guessing by using techniques like enigma codes and red herrings

Psychological:  mind games, stalking, confinement, death-traps, horror of personality, obsession; all of these create a creepy atmosphere and thrill the audience by keeping them on the edge of their seat, they use narrative retardation a lot to confuse the audience and make the plot more interesting and captivating

Common Characters:

Criminals: stalkers, assassins, psychotic individuals, escaped cons; more often than not these fit in with the subgenre crime, they’re usually the antagonists as the audience already link criminals to being bad and dangerous people

Femme fatale: “An attractive and seductive woman, esp. one who will ultimately bring disaster to a man who becomes involved with her.” Often used in thrillers as they seem like innocent characters yet really their personas are a red herring and they cause the downfall of the main protagonist, for example Rachel in The Dark Knight.

Innocent victims: help show and highlight who the bad guys are, usually used in crime scenes like heists and kidnappings; makes the audience root for the good side more if an innocent victim is trying to be saved as they see they have done nothing wrong

People involved in twisted relationships: these characters usually get caught up in the main story line, for example in Collateral when the taxi driver ends up getting involved with a dangerous guy

Characters are not often seen as black or white, the protagonists are usually seen breaking the law and killing people however the audience still knows they’re the protagonist as they are seen killing the ‘bad guys’.