What to include in a Thriller

There are some elements that need to be in a thriller film to make it exciting throughout.
Firstly the protagonist needs to be ordinary like the audience members so that they can relate to the character but they also need to be heroic, where a regular person who's thrown into a stressful situation must summon all of their courage, strength and inner resources to overcome odds to save themselves and others too. The protagonist also needs to be likeable so that the audience can identify with him/her so that they care what happens to the character.

The antagonist needs to be as clever, strong and determined just like the protagonist so that the story is more entertaining rather than the antagonist being weak meaning the struggle between the two characters would be one sided, thus making the audience know who will win whereas if throughout the film the antagonist and protagonist are equally matched it will make for more suspense during the movie with no-one knowing who will win, if either do. The most important characteristic of the antagonist is that they are truly nasty, immoral and frightening.

The plot of a thriller film needs to have on going conflict and tension throughout and an inciting incident where something happens to the main character which leads to the story of events in the thriller. To keep the audience involved in the film keep putting the protagonist in danger to let him/her show their courage, determination and physical abilities which increases the audiences admiration and emotional investment in them, making them root for them to win. Add obstacles in the way for the heroine for example the 'bad guy' is in her home she goes to ring the police but her mobile battery is dead to keep it dramatic.

Towards the ending of the film, put the protagonist at a disadvantage in the final conflict with the antagonist, to heighten the stakes, so that there is more adversity for the hero to overcome at the end.