Thriller

PHOTO: Tom Cruise as Ethan Hunt in Mission: Impossible / © Paramount

Read Thriller Screenplays, Teleplays & Transcripts

8FLiX Genre Code: 100159

A thriller is suspense with a ticking pulse. The protagonist is under threat, the stakes keep tightening, and the story weaponizes uncertainty: who can you trust, what’s really happening, and what’s the worst thing that could happen next? Thrillers don’t just move fast, they move with pressure, forcing characters to make decisions before they have enough information.

You’ll find psychological thrillers, crime and conspiracy stories, domestic thrillers, political thrillers, spy paranoia, survival scenarios, and genre hybrids that borrow tools from horror and mystery without living fully in either. For writers, thrillers are craft clinics in escalation, reversals, and scene design where every sequence ends with a new problem, a new risk, or a new truth.

Reading Thrillers Like a Writer

Ready to read thriller screenplays? Track the pressure system: deadlines, pursuit, exposure, danger, and secrets that can’t stay buried. Study how writers build suspense through partial information, shifting alliances, and scene turns that change the plan. Compare scripts to transcripts to see how pacing, emphasis, and performance amplify tension and sharpen the reveal timing.

Read, Study, & Download Thriller Scripts

Explore our library of screenplays, teleplays, and transcripts tagged Thriller.