Psychological Thriller Conventions

Doppelganger - Black Swan

Central theme of identity - mistaken identity, stolen identity, dual identity, doppelgangers, confused identity, amnesia

Donnie Darko - Thinks the rabbit is
real

Perception and reality - seeing the narrative from the perspective of multiple characters of what is and isn't real compared to the norm establishes in the film.

Memory - the torture of an individual with a traumatic memory. The trauma of a specific lost memory.

unreliable narrator - Momento

Stream of consciousness - this is a device often used in psychological thrillers to give an insight into the psyche of a particular character, this is usually the main protagonist.


unreliable narrator - Psychological thrillers often play on the ideal of the inherit trust placed in the narrator or the central character that the narrative follows

Flashbacks - beguiled

Technical devices - Flashbacks and repetition in editing is common

use of eye imagery - the butterfly effect

Imagery - eyes are a frequent motif