Analysis of Psychological thriller - What is the lasting impression created on the viewer?

Psychological films in general are there to make an impression. They're the films that focus on the in depth details that get your thought process in a muddle, and really impact the way that you look at things. The thriller genre in general isn't really one to make you stop and think, it's primary purpose is more to entertain and, well, thrill. However as we delve into the sub genres of thrillers we can start to decifer the inter-textual outline of the secondary purpose. Looking into the sub genre of psychology  in thrillers we tread across films such as: Silence of the Lambs (1991), Fatal Attraction (1987), Memento (2000) and Taxi Driver (1976). Having seen psychological thrillers before, I wasn't that much affected by them, however after seeing a few (mostly made in the 20th century) I could conclude it's because I couldn't relate to them. I'm not sure that many people could relate to such thrills that were conjured up in these movies, however with a new century comes along new, fresh ideas that will cause more of an impact than before. The fact that people can now relate and understand the aspects of psychological thrillers make them seem a lot more real. The cross between fiction and non-fiction is misty through the eyes of a psychological movie as everything seems to be a lot more possible than before. Although always respecting the early made thrillers I have chosen to focus my time on  more recent psychological thriller. Chatroom.

Chatroom
Made in 2010, this british movie was distributed. This movie holds a rather gripping context and one in which a lot of people can relate. To give a bit of insight in what the movie is about, I have taken the synopsis from IMDB and the trailer to accompany it:
'When jaded teens Jim, Eva, Emily and Mo meet William online, they're seduced by his charisma. But William isn't what he seems. He's calculating and manipulative and doesn't have time for people in the real world. Jim is vulnerable and he has no idea how dangerous his new friendship with William will be. When Jim confesses he's on anti-depressants, William knows he's found a victim. he vows to help Jim off his drugs, and the rest of the group fall in line. What begins as friendly advice to help Jim becomes twisted and Eva and Mo realise the deadly game William's playing, but the wheels are in motion. Jim is set on a path of self-destruction, and is going to do the unthinkable. As Eva, Emily and Mo try to save Jim, William begins a terrifying game of cat and mouse chasing them across the internet, shutting down their systems, and cutting them off from his victim. Fantasy meets reality when William and Jim are face to face in rush hour on the underground. Without the faceless security of the online world, everything becomes real. It's now a race against time to save Jim, but the clock is ticking...and we fear someone must die.'

This movie's target audience seems to be for teenagers and young adults, in accordance to this it's for the people that can relate to it the most. For thirty, fourty years ago we didn't have the vast amount of technology that we do now, and chatrooms were that of a myth. However, in modern day society the amount of online chatrooms that almost anyone can get their way into, they've become dangerous. This film exploits the idea that, when in a chatroom, you can be whoever you want to be, and no one will ever find out because your identity can be as hidden as you want to be. To explore this further we must first look at the characters. 

Mise en scene

The mise en scene of this film is very clever. It takes the virtual world and then represents it with real life rooms and corridors. This enables every change they make into the blog change the room itself. The first images we are shown as the movie starts is this sequence where William is walking through a corridor of doors, looking for an empty room that he can make his death trap. This shot is repeatedly switched with a shot of him searching the web as we see this connection between the two representing each other. 

For example within this movie, William allows the girls to virtually decorate the chatroom and we are shown in real life as they make the room pink, with fluffy bunnies and balloons and confetti etc. This realisiation that the virtual world can cross into real life is a huge message being put across to the audience and really the representation of this is extroadinary as by watching the film we are being pulled into this view of the virtual world happening in real life. By seeing it so literal it really makes you think what we are saying online may not be so acceptable as if it were in real life.

Throughout the film, we are introduced to different rooms that offer different things to people. One room is a sex line where the character goes in to experience an older woman so that he can get his mind off of someone a bit younger. This sort of action clearly would not happen in real life, well, not in a respectable area anyway. The movie is objectifying what acceptable behaviour on the internet, clearly in real life is signified as anything less than wrong. However, the most disturbing and sick room that is shown within this movie is the one that will undoubtedly have the most affect upon any viewer. This room is the room that William takes Jim to. It's a room where someone convinces people to commit suicide by telling them that their life isn't worth living anymore and that instead of going on they should just end it whilst they're ahead. In a film, this is probably normal in the fact that weird and dangerous things happen, however when we step away from the fact that this is a film production and start to realise that this is echoing real life events, as rooms like this do exist virtually and do convince poor souls that they're worthless and they should take their lives. This, above everything else throughout the movie, personally affected me the most as I couldnt bare to think that a person could sit on an online chatroom and convince people to kill themselves. However, the shocking reality of this is that it does happen. By the use of a white room and quite empty room, the mise en scene decieves the audience by projecting this room as pure and angelic, however deeds that take place are far from this.