Psychological Thriller

What is Psychological Thriller?

Psychological thriller is a sub genre of the Thriller theme. It mainly focuses on the characters than the plot. It often takes elements from mystery, drama and horror genre. The plot in psychological thrillers are often related to the mental processes of the mind.

How does it create suspense?

Psychological thriller creates suspense through the protagonist resolving conflicts of something that once happened to them in their mind, even though they have a mental disability that is stopping them from gain answers. These conflicts are shown to the audience by the character showing physical expressions. For example: In Memento Lenny using pictures and tattoos to keep his memory. Suspense is also created when other characters or the antagonist taking advantage of this mental disability or by playing deceptive games on them.

Techniques.
In psychological thrillers 2 main techniques are used for their audience to recognise them. } First person narrative: The story is often told by one or more of the characters, who refers to themselves in first person. This make the audience feel more involved with the characters and tries to give them an understanding of how the characters mind operates. } Back-Story: The past of the characters is shown to the audience at the start of the film. This is meant to deepen the psychological aspect of the film and allow the audience to understand the causes of the characters mental state.

Examples