Some key features of the thriller genre

To research more into the thriller genre, I have decided to conduct some research into typical themes of thriller films. I will apply some of these films to specific examples in thriller films.

• The protagonist faces death, either his and/or her or somebody else's, often somebody close to them. (In the film 'Looper', where in 2074, when a mob wants to get rid of someone, the target is sent into the past, where a hired gunman awaits. If the gunman fails to kill them, they are hunted own themselves.) 
• The antagonists accomplices are nearly always initially cleverer and/or stronger than the protagonist, and his/her forces. (In the film 'Prisoners', the antagonist succeeds at first by kidnapping the protagonists children.)
• The main plotline for the protagonist is often a mystery/quest. (In the film 'Non-Stop' the protagonist gets a text saying someone will die on the plane he is marshalling every few minutes until he transfers a sum into an account, he must find out who is the terrorist.)
• The narrative construction is dominated by the protagonist's point of view, the audience emphasises with the character as they often have a harrowing backstory.( In the film 'The Silence of the Lambs', the plot is told from the protagonists point of view, her backstory, which is troubled, connects her with the antagonist who also has a troubled past.)
• All action and characters must be realistic or natural in their representation on screen. Thriller films often need to be realistic as the plotlines pose potential threat, added realism heightens this frightening effect on the audience. (In the film 'Zero Dark Thirty', the plot is based on true events, so the film must incorporate various realistic elements such as the characters personalities to make it a success.
• The two main themes that define a thriller is the desire for justice and  morality. (In the film 'The Judge' lawyer Hank Palmer returns to his childhood home where his father, the town's judge, is suspected of murder, he sets out to discover the truth)
• Their is often the presence of innocence in a corrupt world. (As seen on the film 'Flight Plan' where the protagonists innocent daughter is put in danger when she goes missing)
• The protagonist(s) and antagonist(s) often battle each other, on a physical and  mental level. (In 'Gone Girl', the protagonist emotionally battles with the media who thinks he is guilty of his wife's murder)
• Either by accident/ curiousness, each character is placed into a dangerous conflict or situation that they are not prepared to resolve. (In the film 'The Equalizer' A man believes he has put his mysterious past behind him, but when he meets a young girl under the control of Russian gangsters, he can't stand by)