What makes a thriller

Thrillers are a genre of film/ television shows that create suspense and tension in order to entertain the audience. The three thrillers I chose to review were Drive, Limitless and Batman the dark knight as i feel they use suspense and tension in different ways in order to maintain the audience's attention and interest.

Drive: In the opening scenes of drive you see the driver explaining his terms and conditions in which he operates, this builds tension because you can clearly tell that he is a professional. As the scene progresses you see him pick up the robbers from the scene of the crime, as he drives away from the scene he can hear the police searching for him because he has a police radio in his car, the tension and suspense builds when he can hear that they have sighted him at some traffic lights because it leads the audience to believe that he is going to be caught. The actor Ryan Gosling is usually found in love/ romantic films, so is quite a shock to see in a thriller.

Limitless: The opening scene of limitless, shows the end of the film, with the main character on the edge of a roof, threatening to jump, while being pursued by other characters, this is typical of a thriller, to show the end first because it builds mystery and engages the audience more because throughout the whole film they will be trying to work out how the ongoing events build up to what happens at the end.

Batman the dark night: The opening scene of batman, shows an armed robbery by criminals in clown suits, saying they have been sent by the joker, during the robbery the audience thinks that the joker has sent these criminals to do the work for him, but as the scene progresses one of the criminals starts to kill off the others, you then find out that this is in fact the joker, giving a twist in the opening scene, this is a usual thriller aspect because it creates mystery and suspense, there is also a twist, to keep the audience engaged. The scene is also set in a city, in a bank, to help make the film look professional, this is also typical of a thriller film.