Romantic thriller is a subgenre that primarily focuses around the growth of a romantic relationship surrounded by suspense and excitement. Romantic thrillers include the simultaneous presence of romance and the threat of danger. Usually at least one member of the couple or romantic triangle is placed in an uncomfortable or threatening setting due to an opposing force or an antagonist that interferes or challenges the relationship of the couple. Moreover, the love story is typically epic, such as unrequited love, the uniting of a forbidden couple, or lovers who overcome difficulties to be together. The narrative plot consists of conflict, danger, or mystery, a tragic occurrence or situation that troubles the protagonist, and the viewer or reader experiences a heightened sense of worry associated with suspense, anxiety embellished due to a dramatic tone and in the case of audio availability, suspenseful music that is played in the background. Various compositions fulfill these genre conventions, such as television shows, books, and movies. A few narratives that fulfill the genre conventions of a romantic thriller as listed above are The Vampire Diaries, The Hunger Games, and Beauty and the Beast.

     The Vampire Diaries is a television series that is categorized as an American teen drama and the audience experiences the composition as audio/visual. The media, the means of which the audience has access to the series, is digitally and the show can be procured on streaming platforms such as Netflix or Amazon Prime Video. The Vampire Diaries caters to an audience of teenagers and young adults, probably ages 13-25, because the primary users of streaming bases are young adults and the characters in the series are around that age. The audience is primarily female because of the show’s emphasis on romance and relationships. The characters in the show are usually dressed in darker colors, specifically shades of gray, wine red, navy blue, and black, such as Damon’s leather jacket. The costumes are gloomy to reflect the mood of the television series as dark and mysterious. In the series, numerous scenes have darker and paler colors to create a suspenseful atmosphere and more intense scenes occur at nighttime. Intense moments have fast-paced scenes with characters acting impulsively and displaying powerful emotions, such as Elena’s rash reaction to Jeremy’s death as she burned her house down and turned off her humanity. On the other hand, love scenes are slower and the camera tends to focus on those involved in the relationship. Monologues as well as romantic scenes usually include music in the background to determine the scene’s mood. Overall, the show is designed to cause the audience to emotionally relate to the characters and feel their pain and happiness.  

     The Vampire Diaries includes many rhetorical appeals, such as ethos and pathos, to aid in persuading the viewer to invest in the characters and the series as a whole. The composer practices ethos by realistically portraying vampires as supernatural beings who possess traits of confidence, intense speed, and heightened emotions. The composer also utilizes flashbacks to the past to signify the vampires’ old age and long existence. The composer uses pathos to allow the audience to watch Damon’s journey and transformation from a heartless, murderous monster to a man desperately in love and willing to do anything for Elena. The viewer watches this transition and sees the heartache that Damon casts onto himself, Stefan, and Elena, all in the name of love.

     Damon and Elena’s relationship in The Vampire Diaries is surrounded by dangerous and deadly mystical beings such as the Originals and the Heretics, forces which were created by the composer to add suspense and action to the composition. Moreover, brothers, Damon and Stefan, both love Elena romantically and their timeline of doing so overlaps, causing the three to form a love triangle for a period of time. Altogether, The Vampire Diaries tells the story of how Damon and Elena fall in love despite their dangerous differences and occasionally hostile environment.

     The Hunger Games has a text-based mode and is experienced by the audience as book series that is available in print as well as digitally in the form of an e-book. The composition can be purchased at most commercial bookstores and on the Kindle and other e-readers. The series is fairly easy to read and is centered around teenagers and young adults, specifically those involved in The Hunger Games and its victors, allowing for the audience to consist of teenagers. Furthermore, the presence of mentors and middle-aged characters as well as the inclusion of a dystopian governing society attracts adults to series.  

     The descriptions of characters’ costumes vary as residents of the Capitol are described as being dressed in complicated and decorative outfits to display their wealth while citizens of District Twelve are dressed in tattered, dirty clothing. The twenty-four tributes of the twelve districts wear elaborate clothing while residing in the Capitol and are changed into uniform garments before entering the Arena. The difference in costumes between those in the Capitol and District Twelve display the wide economic gap that Panem faces and how the mass suffers and starves while a few thousand live lavishly. The atmosphere of the Arena is created by the author’s use of mood and tone and the reader understands that the all areas of the Arena, the forest, meadow, and water sources, are extremely dangerous. Apart from teenagers hunting and killing each other, the composer includes mutations, such as tracker jackers and wolf “mutts” to heighten suspense and the threat of impending death. Romantic scenes occur in more remote and quiet locations, safe from danger while in the Arena, such as when Katniss and Peeta kiss in the cave before Katniss risks her life to get medicine for Peeta and supplies necessary for their survival from the Cornucopia. On the other hand, intense scenes move at a faster pace, such as when Katniss was attacked by Clove, Clove was killed by Thresh, and Thresh let Katniss live. The style of this book series and its design of having escalating, intense scenes and climaxes allows for certain scenes and characters’ emotions to be emphasized.

     The Hunger Games author, Suzanne Collins, also utilizes the rhetorical appeals of ethos and pathos. Ethos is used when Collins explains how the government functions and how the President uses Peacekeepers to control the citizens who are divided up into twelve districts. Collins uses pathos by writing in a first person narrative through Katniss Everdeen. By doing so, the reader is able to understand and comprehend what Katniss is thinking and feeling. For instance, the reader knows that Katniss is devastated at the death of Rue and stands numb while on the Victory Tour in District 11 when she sees Rue’s family. Collins uses ethos and pathos to keep the viewer emotionally invested in the well-being of specific characters, usually the protagonists.

     The Hunger Games fulfills the conventions of a romantic thriller as Katniss and Peeta’s care and love for each other grows while in the Arena at two consecutive Hunger Games and as they fight for the Districts against the Capitol and President Snow. President Snow acts as the primary antagonist as he is in charge of The Hunger Games and later in the series tortures and brainwashes Peeta into believing Katniss is a murderous monster. The reader is in constant fear that one of the “star-crossed lovers” is going to be brutally killed and the couple’s love is in constant distress brought about by The Hunger Games. Overall, The Hunger Games series tells the story of how two teenagers fall in love after being put through a hell on earth experience dictated by a dystopian government.

     Beauty and the Beast (2017) is a digital film that is experienced by viewers as an audio and visual composition. The audience can access the composition my purchasing or renting the movie on streaming services or DVD. The movie has multiple target audiences, such as younger children, specifically girls, who are fascinated by Disney princesses, as well as adults who have watched this tale in the 1991 animated version. The Beauty and the Beast contains suspenseful scenes that occur in darker areas of the castle, such as when Belle sees the Beast and his dreadful appearance for the first time while trying to save her father. In contrast, cheerier and more romantic scenes occur in lighter and more colorful settings, such as when the Beast and Belle danced in the ballroom. In this scene, Belle wears a bright yellow gown, the Beast is in a bright blue tuxedo, and the castle is lit up with candles. The mood of scenes is further emphasized with audio background music, such as the “Beauty and the Beast” song playing during the ballroom dance, intensifying the romance. Regarding the pace of the movie, the beginning is slightly slower paced as action and suspense do not occur until the Beast, a mysterious being, is introduced.

     The 2017 movie is a live-action and more realistic version of the animated 1991 version of Beauty and the Beast. Rhetorical appeals, specifically pathos is employed throughout the movie. The composer uses pathos by displaying the internal pain experienced by both the Beast and Belle as the Beast learns to love and respect himself again and Belle learns how to love a monster. As a whole, the different colors, music, and pacing allows for the audience to experience a roller coaster of emotions while watching the movie, feeling as if they themselves are captives of the Beast’s castle.

     The Beauty and the Beast is considered a romantic thriller because the narrative tells the tale of a village girl, Belle, who falls in love with a Beast after being held captive in his isolated castle. Initially the Beast is physically appalling and short tempered, but Belle is able to teach him to love again nonetheless. Despite not filling all of the conventions of the subgenre, Beauty and the Beast is still considered a romantic thriller. The narrative subverts the subgenre because the plot is centered around a folktale in which the Beast himself is the opposing force that threatens the relationship and he single-handily causes Belle to be filled with fear and discomfort. Moreover, this movie has a “happily ever after” ending and no compromise or lasting pain is experienced as opposed to most thrillers that result in the death of multiple characters. Also, the Beast and Belle’s love story is not necessarily epic as most scenes lack other characters or conflicts to interfere with the growth of their relationship and the vitality love is only tested by the Beast. Overall, the narrative subverts the subgenre because the plot of the Disney movie is kept in a safe space and concludes with a fairytale happy ending. Nonetheless, love and suspense are both present.

     Romantic thriller is a fairly large subgenre that has grown in the past decade. Overall, the subgenre has expanded in size and has evolved to become more action-packed and adventurous rather than simply a sappy love story. Romantic thrillers catch the attention of the audience quite easily and are enjoyable by a large range of audience members due to its mixture of love, passion, and adventure. The subgenre could change by including psychological factors that fill the audience with fear and suspense in addition to audio and visual elements. The subgenre could grow and avoid becoming repetitive by the composer including multi-dimensional characters who have more than one driving force that influences their decisions and increasing stakes of the conflicting force or adversary. Overall, the romantic thriller subgenre is increasingly widespread and narratives of the subgenre can be found in various compositions.