Thriller Sub Genre Conventions

Thriller Films by themselves have their own conventions for example having the lighting dark and gloomy, also in every thriller films there is a protagonist and either one or a number of antagonists.

Spy Thriller:
Traditional Spy Thriller films consist of the hero who is generally a government agent who takes violent action against agents of a rival governent or more recently terrorists. They often revolve spies who are involved in investigating various events, often on against the clock.Examples of spy thrillers would be James Bond films, SALT and The Mission Impossible Series. In most spy thiller films there is one protagonist trying to catch the group of antagonists.

Conspiracy Thriller:

Conspiracy Thrillers consist a hero/heroine confronting a large, powerful gorup of enemies whose true extent only he or she recognises.Most conspiracy thrillers have a protagonist who is often either a journalist or amateur investigators who find themselves pulling on a small thread which reveals a vast conspiracy that ultimately goes to far for them to solve by themselves.Conspiracies are often played out as "man-in-peril" or "woman-in-peril" stories, or quest narratives similar to those found in whodunnit situation and detective stories.Examples of conspiracy thrillers would be The Da Vinci Code and Awake.

Both Spy Thriller and Conspiracy Thrillers are very similar when it comes to both having protagonists and antagonists in the film, although most films do but both spy and conspiracy have very significant roles. Also both films have a narrative which presents ordinary situations in which extraordinary things happen.