The machinist

The machinist is a rather dark, mysterious, psychological thriller. The pace seems to be quite slow, Everything is almost cryptic, enigma is created and the viewer isnt fully aware of whats going on, but the opening still gives the impression that later on in the film, the viewer will start to make some sence of it.

Initial idea in under 140 characters. (one for opening, one for actual film)

Man on bench, having cigarette, disturbing cuts to scenes as zooms in, after last cut, man is gone.


Man with psychological issues, isolated. Questions issues re what is normal, differences in human psyche.

The Girl With The Dragon Tattoo

The girl with the dragon tattoo, keeps up with the theme of looking for someone who is lost, much like shutter island (but obviously different) and the sequel "The Girl Who Played With Fire" is about the main character being framed for murder. this also strengthens the idea of psychological thrillers having the crime theme.

Psychological thriller techniques

Psychological thrillers tend to have a first person narrative, starting with a back story.
like, in "Shutter Island" it starts with someone missing, so the whole story is about looking for this person.
 A lot of psychological thrillers have an element of crime, so some may have a detective or gangster theme.