Review of foreign cinema thriller trailer

The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo (2009) 

From the trailer of a film you can learn a lot, it is very important as it is used to sell the film and to encourage the audience to view the whole film. This trailer of The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo was made in Sweden and has English subtitles, this means that the trailer is incredibly important to encourage the audience as many people are not in favour of reading subtitles throughout a film. 

From the trailer we learn about the main characters and some of their background. We're told about different characters that lead us to wonder about their role in the film and whether they'll be the protagonist or antagonist. We're also informed of a murder; this tells us that it plays a large part in the thriller and other scenes revealed in the trailer give snippets on how different events and people are impacted by it. 

What thriller conventions does the trailer meet?

• The narrative centres around a crime eg. a theft or a murder. 
• The protagonist will be seen 'in peril' in one or more scenes before the resolution.
• The narrative presents ordinary situations in which extraordinary things happen.
• Micro elements combine in a build up of suspense.
• Themes of seeing, reflection and mirroring. Manipulation of perspectives, visual McGuffins, and optical illusions are common.
• A series of/ one important enigma(s) are/is set up in the opening sequence of the film, is further complicated during the first part of the film and only resolved at the very end.