Investigation Into Romantic Thrillers

A genuine, standalone thriller is a film that provides thrills and keeps the audience cliff-hanging at the "edge of their seats" as the plot builds towards a climax. The tension usually arises when the character(s) is placed in a menacing situation, a mystery, or a trap from which escaping seems impossible. Life is threatened, usually because the principal character is unsuspectingly or unknowingly involved in a dangerous or potentially deadly situation. Thrillers mostly take place in ordinary suburbs/cities. Though sometimes, they may take place wholly or partly in exotic settings such as foreign cities, deserts, Polar Regions, or the high seas. The heroes in most thrillers are frequently ordinary citizens unaccustomed to danger. However, more common in crime thrillers, they may also be "hard men" accustomed to danger, like police officers and detectives. While such heroes have traditionally been men, women lead characters have become increasingly common. (Further detail can be discovered on my As Media blog; )
An example I have used to exemplify this is the trailer for the new film, Scream 4;



A romance film can be loosely defined as any film in which the central plot (the premise of the story) revolves around the romantic involvement of the story's protagonist. Common themes include the characters making decisions based on a newly-found romantic attraction. The questions, "What am I living for?" or "Why am I with my current partner?" often arise. The appeal of these films is in the dramatic reality of the emotions expressed by the characters. Another prerequisite is that the film has a happy ending (or at least bittersweet) and many would argue that no film with a sad ending may be correctly defined as "romance;" however, this second prerequisite is admittedly disputable and many screenwriters and directors will push the boundaries of the genre in this aspect. The following is a list of recent romantic films. The most successful romantic film is the 1997 blockbuster, Titanic which grossed over $600 million in America and $1.8 billion, worldwide.
To demonstrate a generic romantic film, I have found a trailer for Love Actually, a true classic of a romantic film. It is shown below;



Our film is a romantic thriller, borrowing some elements of mystery, danger and suspense from a thriller, combined with a love story, clearly from the romance genre. A common ideology for this genre is a man will engage in battle with the villain, fight for their own life and are saved in the nick of time, and through it all, fall in love. There is a double amount of suspense because not only is there romantic suspense (Will the guy get the girl?) but there is plot suspense too (Will the hero save the protagonist in time?). I believe ours is a fair balance of both genre's and does not represent one more than the other too much.
Finally, our genre, a romantic thriller, Unfaithful i believe most fits the area of a romantic thriller our best suits, so here is a trailer for the film;