psychological thriller

specific sub-genre of the broad-ranged thriller

Psychological thriller is a genre combining the thriller and psychological fiction genres. It is commonly used to describe literature or films that deal with psychological narratives in a thriller or thrilling setting. In terms of context and convention, it is a subgenre of the broader ranging thriller narrative structure, with similarities to Gothic and detective fiction in the sense of sometimes having a "dissolving sense of reality". It is often told through the viewpoint of psychologically stressed characters, revealing their distorted mental perceptions and focusing on the complex and often tortured relationships between obsessive and pathological characters. Psychological thrillers often incorporate elements of mystery, drama, action, and paranoia. The genre is closely related to and sometimes overlaps with the psychological drama and psychological horror genres, the latter generally involving more horror and terror elements and themes and more disturbing or frightening scenarios. Realistic thrillers are a subgenre where the protagonist(s) possess common sense essentially where the main character does everything right, but it still doesn't work out for them in the end. This eliminates the reader/watcher's frustration and eliminates the amount of yelling at the television.
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