Spoilers for Thriller Films
Shutter Island
Shutter Island is a
psychological thriller based on two detectives sent to investigate a
psychiatric facility on a remote island. The detectives attempt to solve a
murder that happened on the grounds of the facility and end up discovering that
the owner has been performing ‘questionable’ experiments on the patients in an
abandoned lighthouse known as ‘Ward C’. The detectives attempt to get to ‘Ward
C’ but soon get separated. The main character arrives at the lighthouse and
breaks into ‘Ward C’ to find the owner at the top. The owner of the facility
tells him that he is not a detective but in fact their ‘most dangerous
patient’. Two police lead him off the premises and the film ends with him
posing the question ‘Is it better to live as a monster, or to die a good man?’
The film itself is a
Thriller because it focuses on building suspense and intrigue in its story line
to draw in viewers. It is a dark, gritty film that engrosses the audience and
captivates them. It builds suspense by using dark themes and music, also by
using a sinister setting and the assertion that leads to a deeper plot within
the psychiatric facility. The film is a Thriller also because rather than using
blood and gore it captivates audiences by playing on the main characters
emotions and gives a feeling of empathy, it also has a dream scene where he is
shown with his wife (that he killed) in a meadow of bright and vibrant flowers.
This shows a feeling of guilt towards the main character.
The Grey
The Grey is an
American Psychological thriller. The main character (played by Liam Neeson) is
hunted by wolves while he is trying to keep him and a team of oil workers alive
when their plane crashes in a blizzard in Alaskan wilderness, which happens to
be wolves’ territory. The group leave the crash site and attempt to stay alive
and find civilisation, however, the wolves pick away at them until there are
only three people left. The main character, A Christian and an Atheist who
questions the main characters leadership. The Christian falls into a stream and
drowns while the last to remaining members split up. The main protagonist is
found to have wandered into the wolves’ den and is surrounded. He starts a
fight with the Alpha Wolf and the result is unknown because the closing credits
start to roll.
The film is a good
thriller because it holds the suspense of the viewer by creating a series of
challenges for the group and makes the viewer wonder how they will overcome
them in time before the wolves attack. It holds suspense by showing the wolves
are always on their trail and are shadowing their every move. It is also a good
Thriller because it leaves the ‘Cliff Hanger’ ending open to suggestion. Did
the main character survive the attack? Or did he get killed and ravaged by the
wolves? Or did he escape? The film also uses music and a unique sound track to
maintain the suspense.
Flightplan
Flightplan is a
Psychological Thriller where a woman and her child board a plane to bury their
father/ husband. While on this plane, the main character falls asleep and
awakes to find that her child has disappeared. In a frantic search to find her
child she asks the flight captain if he’s seen her and is she can search the
plane. In her search she encounters an Air Marshal and he agrees to help her
with the search. After being unsuccessful in finding her, the crew aboard the
plane question the Childs very existence. The passengers also begin to question
her allowance on the plane. In her schizophrenic state and the outrage that
people would deny the fact that her child was ever on the plane, the main
character searches the storage compartment and finds that inside her husbands
coffin there is a bomb. Framed by the Air Marshal as a terrorist she is
confined and the plane lands. Now she must find her child and stop the Air
Marshal before he destroys the plane and any evidence that her child existed.
She finds her daughter hidden in the nose of the ship and stops the Air
Marshal.
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