Psychological Thriller Film Openings

 Wednesday, January 28, 2026

             Analyzing Psychological Thriller Film Openings

Me and my partner have finally came to the decision to do our film opening on the psychological thriller genre. 

It's What's Inside (2024)

The film opening for It's What's Inside is very strong and interesting to see. The characters meet up for the weekend for a reunion, and the very normal house setting and the casual attire they're all wearing makes the scene feel more realistic. The music being played helps to build suspense. It starts of pretty friendly and calm, but soon becomes more serious when the mysterious brief case is opened. This shows the audience that something bad might happen. The lighting visibly is changed from brighter to darker as the film continues which shows there's a change in mood. The film opening also uses lots of close-up shots of the characters to show tension and emotions. 

Gone Girl (2014) 

The film opening for Gone Girl, begins with a mysterious and strong mood. It starts off with very quiet voice-over and calm music, this makes the scene itself feel peaceful and uncomfortable at the same time. The audience immediately starts thinking what could happen next. The setting and costuming are relatively normal, only showing a married couple in their town. This also makes the story feel more realistic. They used slow camera movement and soft lighting to develop a serious mood. The music slowly goes from calm to darker which creates suspense. The voice-over makes the audience curious as to if something is wrong, which starts the mystery. 

Shutter Island (2010)

The film opening for Shutter Island has a mysterious and dark vibe. It starts off with slow music and fog, while a boat is traveling to the Island, this creates an uncomfortable and serious mood, which develops a sense to the audience that something is wrong. The costuming of the main characters make it known that they are U.S. Marshals, which develops an idea of their roles to the audience. The Island and old hospital setting look scary and isolated which creates an idea that there is no escape. Dark and gloomy lighting were utilized which adds to the films created tension.