REPRESENTATION OF CHARACTERS IN PSYCHOLOGICAL

THRILLERS

DETAILS

In psychological thrillers the characters are often very vulnerable and

isolated and have either got a lot to lose (example is The Lazarus

Project) or already lost what matters most to them making them

vulnerable (such as in Shutter Island). Often they are males because

they are often taken down to their lowest point which engages the

audience because it can get a fully grown man such as (Shutter

Island) on his knees begging because he doesn’t want to realise the

reality that they have let him believe he lives into. Often men with

wives and children are used because when exposed they are much more

vulnerable than just the everyday person.

EXAMPLES OF MAIN MALE ROLES IN PSYCHOLOGICAL

THRILLERS

FEMALES IN PSYCHOLOGICAL THRILLER

Women are not usually seen in the main roles from psychological

thrillers but they do get some main roles and other advanced roles such

as the mum in The Sixth Sense and the little girl from Hard Candy.

The example from Hard Candy shows her as very vulnerable yet with a

mysterious powerfulness as she tries to overpower the man she

suspects to be a paedophile. This can also be seen in Scorned because

of how she is using her power to try and get revenge on him for

cheating on her with another girl. The example from The Sixth Sense

shows how she is the main person in the little boys life and this shows

how he relies on her for support.

EXAMPLES OF FEMALE CHARACTERS IN PSYCHOLOGICAL THRILLERS

OTHER REPRESENTATIONS

Some other main types of people who are shown in psychological

thrillers are psychotic and have disturbing thoughts and images, this

makes them hard to read and creates an enigma around them, examples

of these would be in Shutter Island and The Sixth Sense.

Most of the time the people involved in psychological thrillers are of

lower and middle class as the upper class would not be seen with the

problems that are faced by the characters in these films. Normally the

people in these films are either younger making them vulnerable or

they’re middle aged with a family which makes them vulnerable through

this way

OTHER REPRESENTATIONS FROM FILMS