Thriller Sub-Genre Case Study

Psychological thriller incorporates elements from the mystery and drama genre in addition to the original traits of the thriller genre. This genre can also border into the horror genre. In a psychological thriller, characters are no longer reliant on physical strength to overcome their brutish enemies (common in action-thrillers), but they rather rely on their mental resources. There are three literary devices used in psychological thrillers, and these are: stream of consciousness, first-person narrative and a back story. Consistent themes used within the psychological thriller genre include: reality (the quality of being real), perception (a person's own interpretation of the world around them using their senses), mind (the human consciousness) , existence/purpose (the object for something that exists), identity (the definition of one's self) and death (the cessation of life, which really explains everything). Contributers to the psychological thriller sub-genre include the likes of Brad Anderson, David Fincher, the master of suspense Alfred Hitchcock, Stanley Kubrick and Martin Scorsese.