Genre of literature, film, and television

British director Alfred Hitchcock, known for his influences on action and suspense in film, appears 😆 alongside American actress Tippi Hedren, who starred in his acclaimed thriller movies The Birds (1963) and Marnie (1964).

Thriller is a 😆 genre of fiction with numerous, often overlapping, subgenres, including crime, horror, and detective fiction. Thrillers are characterized and defined by 😆 the moods they elicit, giving their audiences heightened feelings of suspense, excitement, surprise, anticipation and anxiety.[1] This genre is well 😆 suited to film and television.

A thriller generally keeps its audience on the "edge of their seats" as the plot builds 😆 towards a climax. The cover-up of important information is a common element.[2] Literary devices such as red herrings, plot twists, 😆 unreliable narrators, and cliffhangers are used extensively. A thriller is often a villain-driven plot, whereby they present obstacles that the 😆 protagonist or hero must overcome.

Some examples of thrillers are the films of Alfred Hitchcock around the mid 20th century.[3] Some 😆 popular 21st-century mainstream examples include: The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo, Gone Girl, The Girl on the Train, The Woman 😆 in the Window, and the British television series Utopia.