Affective Neurothriller: A Gendered Approach

Abstract

The purpose of this thesis is to situate what Patricia Pisters calls the contemporary neurothriller through a gendered lens. The emergent field of neurofilmology and neuroaesthetics set the stage for Patricia Pisters’ “neuro-image” as an extension of Deleuzian movement-image and time-image periodization. Pisters coins the term “neurothriller” as a genre within the neuroimage, which I compare and contrast to the older psychothriller genre where more emphasis is placed on narrative development rather than affective states, as Pisters suggests happens in the neurothriller. My approach in this thesis is to include a gendered aspect to Pister’s findings on the neuro-image and neurothriller, which includes ventures into two traditional genres of melodrama and horror, where more attention is focused on women as characters and spectators. Throughout this thesis, I analyze two films, Always Shine and Queen of Earth which I classify as contemporary neurothrillers. Finally, I focus on my thesis film, Figments as an affective neurothriller.