Todorov's theory of the thriller genre, Equilibrium, Disruption, Resolution. This is the most common way narratives and story lines are set out in thriller films. The equilibrium is the start of the film when everything is balanced and nothing bad has yet happened to the characters. The disruption is when something bad happens to the characters that will disrupt the equilibrium. This could be anything from a murder to a stalker, as long as it disrupts the balance of the storyline. The resolution is the outcome of the disruption, this could be the protagonists escaping from the antagonists. The film could end there or there may be a new equilibrium, this is when the protagonists have a 'good' and balanced storyline again. Usually things are almost back to normal if this happens. There will then be a restored order and this is the conclusion to the storyline and generally the ending to the film.
A film a with conventional story line is The Girl on the Train. This is a story of Rachel Watson's life, she gets on the train everyday to New York for work. She passes a house where she sees her 'perfect' couple, this couple live on the same street as her ex husband and his new wife. One day when she passes the house she sees Megan (the girl from the couple) cheating on her significant other, this fills her with rage. She wakes up the next day with a terrible hangover, and is covered in bruises and wounds, she can't help but think that something bad has happened. TV reports show that Megan is missing, Rachel becomes invested in the case trying to find out what happened to Megan and what she herself was doing the night Megan went missing.
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