Themes of Psychological Thrillers

Psychological Thrillers frequently focus on characters minds by regularly having a first person narrative, allowing the audience further insight into the mind of their antagonist.

The idea of what is real and what is not is commonly used in psychological thrillers such as Shutter Island, Black Swan. This compels the audience to pay attention and interests them as it forces them into thinking so that when they decipher the story they feel a sense of achievement. However, in some films, many viewers are left confused rather than gratified such as Inception.

Mind - the mind is explored mainly via the first person narrative, revealing inner conflict and the characters emotional state.

Identity - characters often doubt who they are or what purpose they are serving so set out to discover themselves.

Perception - often a characters perception of the world is revealed to be different to that of other with a more sound state of mind.

Death - characters often have a fear and or fascination with death and the dead.

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