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Day 1 Assignments
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Mastering the Thriller Genre: Lesson 1
The assignment was to watch a movie within the “Thriller” genre that is not one of the movies listed in the course summary, and to comment on how it matches the conventions described in Lesson One. For this assignment, I watched “The Stand at Paxton County.”
What I have learned is that the “Thriller” genre is very broad and that many movies categorized as thrillers do not comply with the conventions outlined in this class. Ancillary to that, I believe that the movies that do not comply with the conventions are more difficult to watch and do not always make good movies.
The mystery in “The Last Stand” was who or what was behind the targeted harassment of local ranchers, causing them to have to forfeit their livestock, and ruining their lives. A new law that was designed to address the humane treatment of livestock animals on ranches was being used in order to drive the ranchers to ruin, suicide, and cause them to lose their livelihoods.
The hero of The Last Stand was Janna, an army medic who left her tour in Afghanistan to take care of her ailing rancher father. She soon finds herself in the middle of a seemingly inexplicable battle to save the family ranch.
The villain is a group of political and law enforcement officials who abuse the new law to drive the ranchers out of business and cause the forfeiture of their livestock. The group is then able to sell the livestock in Mexico and Canada and pocket the proceeds.
The high stakes involved the ranchers’ reputations and loss of their way of life, sometimes leading to suicide or ruin.
Suspense and intrigue ensued as the daughter and her newly hired ranch hand worked together to solve the mystery of who and why this was happening to her father, as well as the other ranchers.
Life and death situations involved a rancher’s suicide, confrontations between the daughter and some of the bad actors (one that resulted in an accidental death), and ultimately, a shootout that began between the corrupt sheriff and his deputy who had experienced a moral reckoning and ended between the daughter, the ranch hand, and the sheriff. The ultimate irony is that it is the rancher’s horse that causes the sheriff’s death.
I felt that this movie followed the conventions well; however, I was not engaged with it in the way that I would expect to be with a thriller. Therefore, I sought out another thriller that I thought I might prefer to write about for this assignment. I chose “The Stranger,” which is currently the second most popular movie on Netflix.
I was sadly disappointed. Categorized as a crime thriller, this movie did not have a clear hero or villain. It is likely that the writer intended the roles to be confusing, and possibly even juxtaposed between the undercover officer, who you would expect to be the hero, and the child abductor and killer, who you would expect to be the villain.
The only entity in the movie creating a dangerous world and plan was the Covert Law Enforcement Team, using a highly elaborate ruse to secure a confession from the suspect.
Suspense was created largely by using the hallucinations and paranoia of the undercover officer, which increased in proportion to the amount of time he spent “handling” the suspect.
Psychological elements included the suspect’s anxiety and the undercover officer’s inner struggle of seemingly befriending a child killer while he raised a child of roughly the same age as the victim.
In keeping with my prior statement, because this movie did not follow the thriller conventions clearly, I found it more difficult to follow the story. I will now watch some additional thriller movies with the conventions in mind in order to get a better understanding of the genre and what makes or does not make a good thriller.
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What I learned doing this assignment is Thrillers are all about Mystery, Intrigue and Suspense and also about having a mysterious villain and reversals. Thrillers are also about posing questions for the protagonist and the audience to solve and sometime Thrillers leave those questions unanswered.
The movie I chose was The Ninth Gate.
Unwitting but Resourceful Hero – Dean Corso is the unscrupulous book dealer who seems to be the unwitting hero.
Dangerous Villain – The movie starts off by alluding that the devil is the villain – we don’t know who the villain is yet. Mrs. Telfar becomes a villain when she attacks Dean for the book. There is an unknown villain who killed both Bernie and Fargas. Kessler insinuates that it is Telfar and/or Balkan. It turns out to be Balkan, but it might also be “The Girl”.
High Stakes – The book is a manual on how to raise the devil. It is highly valuable and highly sought after. People kill for it. Mr. Telfar kills himself. Bernie the bookseller is killed. When Dean tries to get out – Balkan offers to raise his price.
Life and Death Situations – Mrs. Telfar breaks a liquor bottle over Dean’s head while in a rage over him not giving her the book. Bernie the bookseller is killed. Fargas is killed. Baroness Kessler is killed. Mrs. Telfar is killed.
The movie is thrilling because – You don’t know what’s going on with the book or who is behind the murders and the suicides. There is a difference in the three books and we don’t know why. There is “The Girl” involved who is ostensibly helping Dean and we don’t know why or what her motives are. There are many question marks throughout the movie. Three variations in three books makes nine – coincidence or something else? Maybe the secret of the 9th Gate was hidden in three books, not one – this is a big reveal and something that happens at the 85 minute mark in the movie.
The Big Mystery – is the 9th Gate book real? Will it raise the Devil? Another mystery is who is behind all of the murders? Another mystery is who is “The Girl” and what are her motives?
Big Intrigue – the secrecy around the book the 9th Gate, the secret order around it and what they and the book are capable of doing.
The Big Suspense is Dean is in a life and death situation beginning when his friend Bernie is killed all the way up until the very end of the movie.
Anything else – In the first three minutes it starts with the mystery of… Who is this man? Why did he hang himself? What is the missing book? What are the other books surrounding the missing book? The movie ends with more questions – Who is “The Girl”? What does she want? Does the 9th Gate book really raise the Devil? Will Dean use it to go through the 9th Gate and raise the devil? The film for the most part doesn’t really answer any of these questions. It alludes to answers for some and for others leaves completely open to interpretation.
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MISERY Thriller Conventions
What I learned: The thrillers that I’m drawn to, like Gone Girl, The Wolf Hour, and Nocturnal Animals, have anti-heroes and ambiguous endings which makes them much harder to analyze using course structure. I decided on Misery because it had a simple plot. Despite that, I had to really think about it.
Unwitting but Resourceful Hero: When Romance Novelist PAUL SHELDON crashes his car on a deserted Colorado road, he’s ‘rescued’ and then held captive by “Number One Fan” Annie Wilkes who demands that he doesn’t kill off his character Misery Chastaine in the final book in his series. Paul finds ways to placate Annie while plotting his escape.
Dangerous Villain: ANNIE WILKES will stop at nothing to get Paul to write ‘her’ ending to his novel – including maiming him and keeping him prisoner.
High stakes: After a motorcycle accident, Paul finds himself with broken arm and leg, drugged & held captive in Annie’s home, sure that she’ll kill him if he doesn’t write the ending to his novel she wants. Watched by Annie and unable to walk, Paul must find a way to escape.
Life and death situations:
– Annie nearly kills Paul over the fact that he has killed Misery in his final book, tells him that she never called the local hospital which she said she had. She threatens to kill him if anything bad happens to Misery.
– Annie becomes desperate and tells Paul that she’s going to kill Paul and herself.
– When Paul is caught trying to escape, Annie maims him.
– When looking for Paul, Officer Buster visits Annie’s house, she kills him.
This movie is thrilling because?
-The deck gets progressively more stacked against the hero
3. What is the BIG Mystery, Intrigue, and Suspense of this story?
Big Mystery:
– Who is Annie Wilkes? Is she a pathetic fan — or crazy enough to kill Paul?
Big Intrigue:
– Annie pretends that she’s called for help when she hasn’t. She has no intention of releasing Paul.
Big Suspense:
– When Annie rescues Paul, is she friend or foe?
– Paul discovers that Annie killed her father, her college roommate, and many patients in hospitals where she was a nurse.
– Officer Buster finds Sheldon’s ’65 Mustang buried in the snow. Will he be able to find Paul and rescue him from Annie?
– How will an immobilized, drugged Paul undermine Annie?
Anything else you’d like to say about what made this movie a great thriller?
As it turned out, I found Misery to be a little outdated and not quite an ‘edge-of-your-seat’ thriller. On a positive note, I was impressed by the clever use of humor in a thriller, and the very effective use of a single location (Annie’s home).
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I did this one, too!
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Day 1: The Conventions of Thrillers
All The President’s Men
Thriller Conventions
What I learned doing this assignment is the importance of Big Mystery, Big Intrigue, and Big Suspense that keeps viewers engaged and on the edge of their seats throughout a thriller.
1. Choose the film
2. Watch the movie and note the conventions of THIS story.
· Unwitting but Resourceful Hero: Washington Post reporters who broke the Watergate story: Carl Bernstein played by Dustin Hoffman and Bob Woodward played by Robert Redford
· Dangerous Villain: On June 17, 1972 a security guard at the Watergate complex finds a door’s bolt taped over to prevent it from locking. He calls the police, who find and arrest five burglars in the DNC headquarters. The WA Post assigns Woodward to cover the story. He learns 5 men who possessed bugging equipment are represented by a high-priced attorney. McCord, one of the 5, identifies himself as having left the CIA & the others are also revealed to have CIA ties.
Woodward connects the burglars to E. Howard Hunt, an employee of Pres. Nixon’s White House Counsel Charles Colson, formerly of the CIA. Reporter Carl Bernstein is also assigned to cover the story with Woodward.
· Dangerous Villain: The five burglars and members of Nixon’s Administration leading to the president himself.
· High Stakes: Woodward & Bernstein’s lives are in danger because of their investigations and reporting of the Watergate burglaries.
· Life and death situations: Woodward & Bernstein connect a slush fund of hundreds of thousands of dollars to White House Chief of Staff H.R. Haldeman—the second important man in the country & to former AG John Mitchell, now head of CREEP (financing a campaign to sabotage Dem. Presidential candidates a year before the Watergate burglary).
· This movie is thrilling because Woodward secretly meets with Deep Throat who reveals that Haldemann masterminded the Watergate break in and cover-up. The layers of corruption they discover keeps coming.
3. What is the BIG Mystery, Intrigue, and Suspense of this story?
· Big Mystery: What happened at Watergate?
· Big Intrigue: Who was involved, why did they do it?
· Big Suspense: When Woodward meets Deep Throat several times in a dark parking lot. His life is in danger.
4. Sometimes truth is stranger than fiction and I enjoy watching films about suspenseful investigative thrillers about real life crime.
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Don’t Worry, Darling
Thriller Conventions
What I learned from doing this assignment is to recognize the conventions of a thriller as part of its framework, although judging from this film, that was not enough to make it a great film.
Unwitting but Resourceful Hero: Alice Chambers, a happy housewife madly in love with her husband in an idyllic company town called Victory during what looks like the 1950s, suddenly starts having terrifying hallucinations when she sees her friend take her own life, only to realize that she and everyone else is being lied to by the company/town founder. She begins remembering snippets of another life – one where she’s a surgeon in an unhappy marriage in the present day. Even after she’s forced into electroshock therapy, her subconscious will not let her forget. Hence, she fights to find out the truth.
Dangerous Villain: Frank, the charismatic but creepy founder of The Victory Project/town, pontificates in “Guruspeak” and is idolized by all the men who work for him. Frank demands 100% loyalty and discretion from all (including the wives, who are forbidden to do anything other than be a housewife), and no one is allowed to question his rules or, God forbid, break them. He privately tells Alice she was right that her life is not what it seems and tells her he wanted her to challenge him only to gaslight her in front of an entire dinner party.
High stakes: Alice’s sanity, Alice’s life, Jack, her husband’s life, the life of all of the women trapped in Victory and cannot leave, the unmasking of what the VIctory Project is.
Life and death situations: Jack and Alice driving at high speeds in the desert with their eyes covered, Margaret slitting her own throat and falling off of the building, Alice covering her head with plastic wrap so she can’t breathe (and being unable to remove it), Jack suffocating Alice, Alice killing Jack, Alice being chased in the desert by the Men in red overalls as she tries to escape in Jack’s car, several of the men in red overalls and the doctor being killed when their cars collide. Frank is stabbed to death by his up-to-now-totally-supportive wife, Shelley.
This movie is thrilling because? We have an increasing, unrelenting concern for Alice’s stability and life as she starts unraveling the secrets and getting blocked at every turn.
What is the BIG Mystery, Intrigue, and Suspense of this story?
Big Mystery: What the hell is The Victory Project, and why can’t the women leave?
Big Intrigue: The Victory Project’s controlling everyone’s lives.
Big Suspense: Will Alice be killed before discovering the truth about her life in Victory?
Anything else you’d like to say about what made this movie a great thriller? This was not a great thriller. It was derivative of better movies like The Stepford Wives (an idyllic town with overly happy, content wives), Gone Girl (a perfect couple with sinister reality underlying), and Last Night in Soho (a woman becoming unable to tell reality from fantasy), to name a few. That said, it did keep up the suspense and lay breadcrumbs to keep us learning the truth right along with Alice.
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(KIMI) Thriller Conventions
(5) What I learned doing this assignment is that… Steven Soderbergh is a genius? Which I guess I already knew. But as far as the MIS: on my rewatch I was struck by the fact that the movie actually STARTS with the Intrigue! The opening scene features the villain, culminating with his brief, terse phone call tipping us off that something sinister is afoot. Not only is it a great framing device for the film (with some exposition smoothly delivered); it sets up the Intrigue of the Big Bad in a, well, intriguing way.
(2) Note the conventions of *this* story…
- Unwitting but Resourceful Hero: Angela (Zoe Kravitz) is our unwitting hero who works in tech, checking the streams for Amygdala, a giant tech company that has created Kimi (a stand-in for Siri). When the story begins, Angela has no idea she’s going to overhear a violent crime. She also has severe agoraphobia and can’t leave her house… yet she will prove herself to be far more resourceful than either she or we expected. <div>
- Dangerous Villain: Bradley, the CEO of the Amygdala Corporation—and by extension, Amygdala itself, with its seemingly endless resources (and capacity) for evil.
- High stakes: For Angela the stakes are twofold: she has a severe and debilitating mental illness that makes it excruciating (and up to this point, impossible) to leave her apartment. So that’s her first mountain to climb. Then, when she finally *does* leave the house… turns out she was right! The world is dangerous and people are literally trying to kill her.
- Life and death situations: Angela is perhaps slow to realize that, in trying to report what she overheard on the streams, she has all but ensured her own demise. The people who work for Bradley—both the low-level thugs and the tech masterminds—will stop at nothing until she is dead.
- This movie is thrilling because at every point, we are worried for Angela’s safety, terrified that Amygdala is going to catch her and kill her.(3) What is the BIG Mystery, Intrigue, and Suspense of this story?
- Big Mystery: Angela must figure out what really happened on that recording, who is responsible, why they did it… and how to stop them.
- Big Intrigue: Bradley will do everything in his power to silence Angela—and there’s a ticking clock/countdown element that works well, since the IPO for Amygdala is in a few days. For the company, the stakes have never been higher. And for Brad personally, there’s $100 million on the line.
- Big Suspense: Will Angela expose the murder and the cover-up—I.e., the company’s corruption—in time? Or will she, too, be murdered before she gets that far?(4) Anything else I’d like to say about what made this a great thriller… Soderbergh ratchets up the suspense so beautifully in ways big and small, like how during the chase scene, Angela has to throw her phone away so they can’t track her… leaving her even more disconnected and unable to call for help. (SPOILER ALERT if you plan to watch Kimi, which you totally should!): In the end, it is Angela’s agoraphobia that saves her. Because she knows her apartment so well, when the thugs catch her, drug her, and take her home to carry out the murder, she is able to use her own knowledge to derail them—AND she uses Kimi, who funnily enough saves the day! The film also clocks in at a tight 86 minutes. Everything is clean, tight, gorgeously shot—and not a single detail wasted. Even the tiniest reveal has a purpose, and every arc comes to a satisfying close. Classic Soderbergh!
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This reply was modified 2 years, 6 months ago by Christopher DeWan.
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This reply was modified 2 years, 6 months ago by Christopher DeWan.
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This reply was modified 2 years, 6 months ago by
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SE7EN by Andrew Kevin Walker
5. Answer the question “What I learned doing this assignment is…?”
There is so much about SE7EN to love. I had seen it multiple times since it was released in 1995, and though a few scenes stuck in my mind, there was much I didn’t remember. I was concerned that the nature of piece (two protagonists and coming into the scenes AFTER the murders take place) might not make it fit into the classic thriller mold and therefore might not be right for this assignment.
Instead, every thriller element seemed to be there–just some were approached in unique ways. Which might be one of the reasons it towers among the crowd (in addition to the powerhouse directing, acting, and design, of course.)
So, I guess what I really learned is–lean into the thriller elements but turning one or two on their heads might help make it stand out.
Unwitting but Resourceful Hero:
Maybe a bit unconventional because of the (all but) dual protagonists. I think an argument could be made for either being the actual protagonist. But Sumerset actually changes the most—starting as apathetic and ending truly caring about what happens to Mills after the movie ends and probably not retiring after all. Though Mills’ life is totally upended, he doesn’t really change. His last act is just an extreme manifestation of where we meet him… which is how John Doe manipulates him so well.
· Detective Sumerset is done. He’s retiring in seven days. Brilliant and methodical (just like the villain), yet does not research Mills before he arrives. He is THAT done.
· Detective Mills is brand new on the job and asked to be transferred to the dangerous city beat because, “I thought I could do some good.” But deep down, it’s probably rooted in vengeance of watching his cop friend being shot dead in his previous position. He lives with his young (secretly pregnant) wife in a shitty apartment. They come from the suburbs. Considers himself Serpico. Impulsive. Writes in a journal (just like villain will do.) Both protagonists have traits that will become signature traits of the villain.
Dangerous Villain: John Doe. Committing murders of the seven deadly sins. Absolutely brilliant, patient and insane. Most terrifying because of how normal he appears and acts.
High stakes: How will each murder manifest? And can Sumerset and Mills solve the case before he kills again.
Life and death situations: In addition to the series of horrific murders, the closer they get to solving it, the more personal it comes putting their own lives and loved ones in jeopardy.
This movie is thrilling because?
The detectives must muck through the afterbirth of murder. We never see any of the murders yet they’re all gory and terrifying. The inherent ticking clock of the seven deadly sins.
What is the BIG Mystery, Intrigue, and Suspense of this story?
Big Mystery: Who is committing the murders of the seven deadly sins.
Big Intrigue: How will the seven deadly sins manifest in murder?
Big Suspense: Will Sumerset and Mills find and stop the killer before the last murder is complete? Or will they be left wondering what’s in the box?
4. Anything else you’d like to say about what made this movie a great thriller?
Obviously, the mood and atmosphere that is baked into it. Every scene has creepy elements. The ending is one of the most memorable in thriller history.
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Title: Maltese Falcon thrilller conventions
What I learned from this lesson? It takes all the conventions to make a good thriller.
Analyze a THRILLER
1. Go to Netflix, iTunes, or Amazon and search for “thriller” movies. Pick a thriller that fits three criteria and answer the two questions below:
Matches our model.
Is not one of our example
movies.
You can get instant access to.
Check iTunes, Netflix, or Amazon.Is not one of example but has all the conventions.
2. Watch the movie and as you do, note the conventions of THIS story.
Unwitting but Resourceful Hero:
Sam Spade is a detective that hard up for work.
Dangerous Villain:
A killer and will kill again.
High stakes:
Fear for his life as he interviews people.
Life and death situations:
More than one person is killed
This movie is thrilling
because?The movie follows all the conventions of Mystery, Intrigue, and suspense.
3. What is the BIG Mystery,
Intrigue, and Suspense of this story?Big Mystery: <div>
Big mystery is the
killer is a family member.Big Intrigue: Why does the
daughter sends an imposter to talk to the detective?Big Suspense: Finding the
killer on an isolated island.</div>
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MISERY Thriller Conventions
What I learned doing this assignment is: how to analyze a great thriller film based on the conventions of the genre.
Conventions of this story:
Unwitting but Resourceful Hero:
Novelist Paul Sheldon at first mistakes his kidnapper for a rescuer but, when he learns her true nature, devises one futile plan after another to escape.
Dangerous Villain:
Psychopathic serial killer Annie Wilkes, Paul’s “number-one fan,” demands that he continue writing novels featuring her favorite romance heroine. As a nurse she has access to drugs and injections to keep him passive. She also has guns.
High Stakes:
The reclusive Annie finds Paul after a single-car accident on a deserted winter road. She takes him home and keeps him prisoner, threatening and torturing him in a room in her remote farmhouse. No one knows where he is, and he’s eventually assumed dead.
Life and Death Situations:
Annie is prone to irrational anger and has killed multiple times; she may murder Paul. Paul is kept passive with drugs, is crippled by Annie, and is repeatedly foiled in his efforts to escape. Annie murders the only person who’s searching for Paul.
This Movie Is Thrilling Because:
Paul is assumed dead, and no one knows where he is. He’s held captive by Annie Wilkes, a psychopathic serial killer and fan who claims to be in love with him. Paul repeatedly plots to outwit Annie and escape, but each effort goes awry.
Big Mystery:
How to escape from Annie Wilkes before she kills him?
Big Intrigue:
Psychopathic serial killer Annie Wilkes holds her idol, romance writer Paul Sheldon, hostage, forcing him to write a new romance novel.
Big Suspense:
Paul seems powerless against Annie. Every plan to thwart her goes wrong. Will he finally outwit her and escape? Or will the only person searching for him find and rescue him?
Anything else you’d like to say about what made this movie a great thriller:
The concept, the script, the characters, the acting, the directing, the soundtrack, etc.
“A perfect, perfect thing.” 🤣
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POLAR Thriller Conventions
What I learned Doing This Assignment:
How quickly the story unfolded. The mystery, intrigue and suspense is offered up right away and it didn’t leave a lot for the viewer’s imagination. What I really learned – even bad thriller movies have all the necessary components.
1. I picked “POLAR”, a Netflix action thriller. It wasn’t a very good movie at all, but it did fit our model. Really, don’t waste your time watching it.
2. Conventions of the story:
Unwitting but Resourceful Hero: Duncan Vizla, aka the Black Kaiser, an assassin being pushed into his retirement as he approaches his 50th birthday. He is the organization’s lead assassin.
Dangerous Villain: Mr. Blut, the head of Damocles, an organization of nefarious pursuits, one of which is the employment of assassins. Mr. Blut wants Duncan dead.
High Stakes: Dozens of people killed and thousands of bullets fired by hired killers trying to assassinate Duncan, and they die trying.
Life and Death Situations: Opening scene ‘hit’ of a retired assassin, Duncan’s killings, torture scenes, a fumbled assassination, and the multi-dozens killed trying to stop Duncan from reaching Mr. Blut.
The Movie is Thrilling Because: it wasn’t thrilling. I like the actors Mads Mikkelson and Katheryn Winnick and my expectations were far beyond what this had to offer. Senseless.
3. Mystery, Intrigue and Suspense
Big Mystery: Was Duncan going to be able to stay alive and receive his retirement?
Big Intrigue: Duncan’s employer was killing its employees before they could retire. In their contracts, the company was the designated beneficiary, and if the employee died before the payout (50th birthday) – the money went back to the company.
Big Suspense: If Duncan would get killed. And then it became how many people was he going to kill.
4. Anything Else to Say About What Made This Movie Great
Duncan Vizla is no John Wick. Excellent actors, ambivalent characters, tough to watch.
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This reply was modified 2 years, 6 months ago by John Budinscak.
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This reply was modified 2 years, 6 months ago by
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What I learned: This was a lesson in reverse about what not to do in a movie. I chose this movie from Amazon Prime but later learned that Rolling Stone gave it one star. Ouch. It didn’t follow all of the conventions of a thriller but was classified as suspense/action. I learned that it is very important to create multilayered characters and avoid stereotypes and cliches.
Movie: Force of Nature
Unwitting
but Resourceful Hero:Our
hero does not want to do his job and he is suicidal after killing his policewoman
girlfriend by mistake. He does kill a bad guy and lead the villain to his
death though.Dangerous
Villain:The
villain is after what is in the safe, which is empty. He then goes after
expensive paintings that are hidden in the building.High
stakes:Life
or death after the villains kill a policeman. Also, the future of
paintings kept in the family for generations.Life
and death situations:Multiple
shootouts, hanging off the scaffolding in the rain being shot at, animal
mauled its owner.This
movie is thrilling because?Fast
paced actionWhat is the BIG Mystery, Intrigue, and Suspense of this story?
<div>
Big
Mystery: Where are the real paintings hidden in the apt. bldg.
</div><div>Big
Intrigue: no intrigue about the villain;
he is looking to steal the paintings.Big
Suspense: Being hunted throughout the building</div>
Anything else you’d like to say about what made this movie a great thriller?
LOL, I should have read the reviews which gave it 2 stars. I was confused as to who the hero was. It should have been Mel Gibson. Alas, he was killed.
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What I learned:
Playing with the viewers expectations can be a good way to create a memorable thriller.
• Unwitting but Resourceful Hero: For me, figuring out who was who was the major intrigue of THE STRANGER, The person I initially thought was the protagonist, and who I was worried for, turned out to be the villain.
• Dangerous Villain: To start, Henry Teague is set up as the protagonist of this true story, but it soon turns out that Henry is the main suspect in one of the most notorious missing person cases in the history of Australia, and he’s being pulled through the film into a massive sting operation to finally put him away.
• High stakes: The real protagonist, Mark, has a son about the age of the child that Henry killed. Mark’s worry for his son and his guilt in “befriending” Henry to capture his confession seem to be the main stakes.
• Life and death situations: At one point Mark’s son disappears and that drives home the horror of the killer’s actions.
• This movie is thrilling because? We feel Mark’s worry and angst, along with the frustrations of the police along the way.
3. What is the BIG Mystery, Intrigue, and Suspense of this story?
• •Big Mystery: The secret, question, or puzzle that must be solved by the hero. Did Henry do it? If so, how? and Can Mark get evidence to prove it?
• Big Intrigue: The covert, underhanded, or clandestine force or plan of the Villain. Interestingly, the villain in this movie is actually the good guys, and the secret plan is that of the good guys, who are trying to catch Henry: a small circle of seasoned undercover Australian cops pose as a vast and influential criminal network to catch a murderer who has evaded conviction for eight years.
• Big Suspense: The main danger that the hero experiences: Mark’s son is a stand in for the child murdered years ago and provides Mark with the worry every parent has… the suspense also includes whether Mark can get the killer to give them evidence of his guilt.
4. Anything else you’d like to say about what made this movie a great thriller?
Honestly, I’m not certain the THE STRANGER was a typically great thriller, but it will be one I remember. For me it was too realistic and awful in terms of what it represented, and often seemed more like a police procedural than a great thriller. I guess I like my thrillers a bit more far fetched, so I don’t have to think about how the stories they tell might be true, and all the horror that implies.
The film portrays the aching slow-burn of finding justice: a small circle of seasoned undercover Austrailian cops pose as a vast and influential criminal network to catch a murderer who has evaded conviction for eight years.
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FRACTURED Thriller conventions
“what I learned” is even a dark psychological thriller can use standard techniques to shock and surprise, such as explosions, but driven by the plot : here: an explosion in the OR caused by gas escaping from a tube hit by a bullet from Monroe’s gun. Also the importance of set-ups of Reveals and layers…
In the opening scene, the hero, Roy Monroe, is in the middle of an argument with his wife, during the homeward drive from an unhappy thanksgiving dinner with her parents, blissfully unaware of the chain of events that will force him into this role, using fighting skills, and iron determination to save his family from:
The dangerous villain(s) – the doctors in the state hospital in the middle of Nowhere, USA, who carve out live organs from accident victims and walk-ins like Monroe’s daughter, presumably for sale on the black market.
The stakes are as high as one could make them: the lives of his wife and child.
He is doing speed limit on the highway, angering other drivers – and one who swerves in front of him gives us the first life-threatening situation invoking mystery behind his caution (back-story: his first wife, pregnant, was killed in a head-on crash eight years prior and he was DUI.) Other life-threatening situations include the mysterious disappearance of his family (presumably) for organ-harvesting, and his violent fights with security and police to save them.
This movie is thrilling because we are ultimately led to question Monroe’s sanity, as he himself does, when confronted with convincing evidence (the cover-up). We become more and more unsure of his grip on reality, even until the ambiguous ending. Did he really manage to save his family or is he guilty of killing them, as police eventually conclude? Interestingly, this doubt is never completely resolved.
Big mystery: what is really going on on the lower level of the hospital?
Intrigue: clues become increasingly ambiguous as his grip on reality is tested
Big suspense: is he going to find/save them? Are they already dead?
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What I learned doing this assignment is that Suspense and Intrigue are in every scene of this hugely successful Thriller, with the plot ratcheting up the stakes against the Hero right until the very end. The movie is half way over before we discover who the Hero and Villain as and the plot is woven in such a way that Nick, the hero, could well be the villain. We do not know until Amy, the villain, reveals her true self half way through. Then, it becomes even more intriguing to see where she, the villain, is prepared to go to get her revenge on a man who no longer loved her. Hell hath no fury like a woman scorned.
NICK DUNNE is the unwitting but Resourceful Hero.
AMY EILLIOT DUNNE, his wife, is the dangerous Villain
The stakes are high as the Hero, Nick, quickly finds himself the main suspect in the disappearance of his wife Amy. The stakes increase as the possible murder weapon is found and Nick is arrested and charged with her murder. The death penalty is the ultimate price he could pay, unless he can prove he did not kill Amy.
The movie is thrilling because of the many twists and turns the movie makes, constantly surprising us with new nuggets of information which make us rethink what we thought we knew about Nick and Amy. The initial white picket fence lifestyle of the supposedly loving couple is quickly shattered as we find that neither Nick nor his sister can stand his wife Amy. When we discover he has been having an affair with a young student, even his sister begins to wonder if he had something to do with Amy’s disappearance, which has now been elevated to murder. With the voiceover of Amy writing in her diary, she gives more background to their marriage and we are not sure who to believe. Just when we are beginning to think Nick is indeed the bad guy, the story takes a complete about turn and we now hear from Amy. From then onwards, we begin to see what a crazy, vindictive and relentless villain she really is, willing to knock herself out with a hammer and sacrifice a man who has done nothing but help her to compete her plan. The thrills continue to the end as we wonder how the movie will end, will Nick be done for killing his wife and when she returns, will Amy kill him. The movie keeps us guessing until the very end, and further still.
3. The Big Mystery – what has happened to Amy. Did Nick kill Amy? When we discover Amy is not dead, the mystery becomes more intricate, how will the story end.
The Big Intrigue – Amy, a loving beautiful wife and perfect daughter has set up her own disappearance and potential murder in order to frame her husband Nick to punish him for having an affair and for disappointing her by not loving her until death.
The Big Suspense – there are many big suspenses and I’m not sure which is the biggest, is it what happened to Amy?
I found this a hugely suspenseful movie as it was almost impossible to know how it would end, particularly when Amy decided to return to Nick. Where could the movie go from here?
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Sorry – I forgot to name the movie – Gone Girl
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The DaVinci Code Thriller Conventions.
This movie seemed to have the thriller conventions: The big mystery- the symbol carved into flesh, Intrigue- under the rose alter, the rose line, and big suspense- the hero is deliberately set up so that the police investigator follows him relentlessly.
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MINORITY REPORT – Thriller Conventions:
What I learned doing this assignment is how to ask questions / brainstorm in search for layers and intrigue to create mystery and how to use this model.
Unwitting but Resourceful Hero:
John Anderton, best cop of the DC police force, and chief who leads the pre-crime unit. Although he totally believes in the Pre-crime program and it’s commissioner Lamar whom he blindly trusts, the entire Pre crime ends up chasing him for killing Leo Crow in the future.
Dangerous Villain: Lamar Burgess director of the DC police experiment program called Pre-crime, presents himself as a close friend to John and his family, while he’s behind the set up against John, in which John looses his son and has to run for his life as the entire Pre-crime chases him as a killer.
Lamar will destroy anyone in order to save the Pre-crime experiment going.
High stakes: John’s life, his wife, the pre-cogs’s freedom.
Life and death situations: the pre-crime officers chase, the fight with Witwer, John inside the car while the car was being built, the spiders eye scan, John kidnapping Agatha and their subsequent chase by the pre- crime officers, John’s encounter with Leo Crow and John’s final encounter with Lamar.
This movie is thrilling because? Throughout the story, we are constantly worried for John after he’s being chased by the Pre-crime unit- he tries to prove his innocence and resolve the mystery behind his set up as he seeks answers to what happened to his son and Agatha’s mother?
Big Mystery: who is behind John’s set up/ why is he being set up of his partaking in Leo Crow? Will he kill Leo Crow? what happened to his son and Agatha’s mother?
Big Intrigue: The evil plan of Lamar to keep Pre-crime running: which has involved the murder of Agatha’s mother, Anne Lively John’s set up, John’s son missing and the killing of Danny Witwer.
Big Suspense: Will the pre-crime unit catch John? Will John be able to get the Minority Report he needs? Will he have a choice when facing Leo Crow? What will happen when at the final confrontation with Lamar?
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‘The Stranger’ Thriller Conventions
Unwitting but Resourceful Hero: Henry (not very resourceful, though always felt he could escape / get violent) / Mark
Dangerous Villain: The senior police investigator John / the ‘bad guy’ Henry
High stakes: For Henry: that he might get beaten up or killed or framed; later: that he might be proven to be the killer. For the cops: that Henry might disappear; that they might not find the evidence they need.
Life and death situations: Getting caught, Boy in garden
This movie is thrilling because? It has mystery, tension, unknown elements that are slowly revealed, trust & betrayal. Also: the music.
3. What is the BIG Mystery, Intrigue, and Suspense of this story?
Big Mystery: who is who? Did he do it? Will they get him?
Big Intrigue: The police’s covert plan
Big Suspense: Mark: being discovered, danger to his son. Henry: being beaten up, getting caught …
4. Anything else you’d like to say about what made this movie a great thriller?
Great twists on the conventions: We are led to think our hero is Henry – a criminal – but then Mark is the Hero; they also look alike. ‘Villains’ with a covert plan are the cops.
5. “What I learned doing this assignment is…?” Hero & villain are not necessarily good or bad; playing with the conventions; use the layers (trust, reveals etc).
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