THRILLER SUB-GENRES

By: Mohamed Fahad Ahmed

THRILLER SUBGENRES

Conspiracy

Legal

ActionCrime

Psychological

Supernatural

Religious

DisasterMystery

Political

Techno

THE LEGAL THRILLER

The legal thriller genre is a subgenre where the most important character has had importance in something to do with law. For example a lawyer. The lawyer is usually the protagonist in this situation as they are trying to win a court case by fighting in and out of the court room in order to seek justice for the victim or victims by putting a criminal or a group of criminals in prison. They are usually the hero or heroine I this situation as they have to put years of work in present tense during the case in order to win the case against the criminal which sometimes tends to be their enemy.

THE DISASTER THRILLER

The disaster thriller is a subgenre where there is a natural or artificial disaster in which a person or a group of people are followed showing how they survive through the disaster and conflicts it causes. Natural disaster could be floods, earthquakes, volcanoes, and hurricanes however a artificial disaster is something that is caused by man accidently such as a nuclear disaster which has happened due to an human activity which has gone wrong that has brought mankind in the verge of extinction.

THE CONSPIRACY THRILLER

The protagonist in the conspiracy thrillers is usually part of a major organisation trying to solve some sort of investigation. It also frequently plays with the secrecy of governments and massive organisations in history. They are usually sterotypically a journalist or investigators who find themselves in trouble as the protagonist gets closer to the antagonist. The antagonist is usually part of a secret organization which is run in order to make money through criminal activity, these organisations are then uncovered by the protagonist who then takes down the criminals organizations by mentally working through each step to get to them but which leads them to be able to also protect their selves physically.

THE CRIME THRILLER

The crime thriller creates a lot of suspense in thrillers as it is a mixture or thrills and crime. The films are usually in the criminals point of view which shows us the struggles and hurdles the criminal has to get through in order to get their reward. The government has also a major part of the films as they are the ones that are creating the struggles and hurdles through the police force and criminal investigators. The settings and characters in the film create a suspenseful and mysterious atmosphere to emphasize the action taking place over the emotional or psychological views of the criminal.

THE DISASTER THRILLER

The disaster thrillers contain a lot of conflicts due to natural disasters such as hurricanes, floods, volcanoes, earthquakes or even artificial disasters, for example nuclear disasters. The films usually follows the steps of a group or an individual trying to survive this confrontation. The film is usually set in the future to give the audience a tense atmosphere by making them feel as if that the film may come true due to how realistic it looks in the film

THEY MYSTERY THRILLER

The mystery thriller focuses on the efforts of the detective, private investigator or amateur sleuth to solve the mysterious circumstances of a crime by means of clues, investigation, and clever deduction. It is very tense as the audience go through the same feeling as the protagonist as the truth unravels. This gives the audience more of the dramatic effect as the information about the mystery gets clearer.

THE PSYCHOLOGICAL THRILLER

The psychological thrillers are implemented into all the other subgenres. There are normally conflicts leading to an unexpected ending though other conflicts which are usually psychological and emotional rather than being physical. By having a combination of mystery and thriller it also overlaps with horror genre, particularly psychological horror. The acts of the antagonist and protagonist in the psychological thriller makes it this sub genre so suspenseful.

THE SUPERNATURAL THRILLER

The supernatural thriller is mostly based on a protagonist who has some sort of power which he has to use to over come a villain through many conflicts. The protagonist and/or villain sometimes have some sort of psychic ability as well. This thriller contains many elements such as tension, suspense, and plot twists. It also has a very close link with the religious thriller as it usually contains supernatural characters like alien life form or even daemons entering and possessing the human body .

THE ACTION THRILLER

The action thriller usually has a “race against time” situation in order to create a suspense and fast paced atmosphere. The protagonist is usually faced with small obstacles and conflicts which leads up to the final confrontation where there is most likely to be a lot of violence and fighting. Furthermore there's a lot of use of guns, explosions, car and races in order to too keep the audience hooked and entertained. The final protagonist usually comes ones on top of the antagonist in nearly all situations.