Thriller

A thriller is a genre of fiction, film, and television that emphasizes suspense, tension, and excitement. Thrillers present danger and high-stakes situations that threaten a protagonist or a broader audience, with the pace often brisk and events unfolding rapidly. While mysteries center on solving a puzzle, thrillers foreground pursuit, peril, and the emotional impact of imminent catastrophe.

Common elements include a central conflict, plausible danger, plot twists and red herrings, and a focus on realism and immediacy. Protagonists are frequently ordinary people who must confront threats posed by antagonists, organizations, or systemic forces. The tone can range from tightly plotted and procedural to psychological and character-driven, and the narrative frequently builds toward a climactic confrontation.

Subgenres include psychological thrillers, which emphasize characters’ mental states; political thrillers, dealing with power and governance; legal thrillers, focusing on courtroom drama; techno-thrillers, involving science and technology; crime thrillers based on criminal plots; and domestic thrillers centered on personal relationships. The thriller framework often overlaps with action and spy fiction and can blend elements from multiple subgenres.

Origins and influence: the modern thriller developed in early 20th-century sensation and adventure fiction, with writers such as John Buchan helping to establish the brisk, danger-driven style. In cinema, Alfred Hitchcock popularized the thriller's emphasis on suspense over explicit mystery. Television and contemporary media have expanded the form, including serialized thrillers and streaming series. Notable examples include The Thirty-Nine Steps, Psycho, The Silence of the Lambs, Gone Girl, and Se7en.