The genre of thriller and how it overlaps.

Thriller is a genre associated with the entertainment industry, used commonly in film and literature. It commonly overlaps with other genre's like horror and action because of the shared theme of "fight or flight". In an action movie, the main protagonist is usually facing a foe or some sort of obstacle that's keeping them from their goal, so they must fight through it. In a Thriller, it's more common that the main protagonist will have to run from that foe rather than fight through it (although it's not exclusive to running, sometimes they will fight). And in a horror, it's nearly always flight over fight as it isn't very scary if the antagonist is beaten by a regular person. Thriller can be separated from horror by being more realistic as horror's are often supernatural. However if this is not a difference (for example the purge) then it can also be differentiated by the characterisation. In horror movies it is usually the decisions of the protagonists that lead them to trouble, for example going into the forest at night, however in thrillers, it's usually no fault of the protagonist that these tragic events have befallen them, the antagonist has started the conflict. As for differentiating thriller and action, that's much easier. A thriller is based on the threat of impending violence and danger. If the hero doesn't complete a certain task, something grave will happen. In an action, while sometimes it also follows this plot of impending doom, the hero is usually already facing the violence and danger. The threat is already upon the protagonist and he (or she but commonly male) must overcome the danger to achieve their goal. Thriller is based much more on suspense building up to the big action scene, while an action has little to no suspense and is a roller coaster of action the entire way through.