Establishment of narratives

Flashbacks- Non chronological scenes are a common convention for psychological thriller films as the main protagonists past usually is the reason behind their erratic behaviour. Flashbacks can be filmed the same way as the present day shots just using younger characters, or they are shot with a blurred effect or in black and white(such as in Memento) by adding the colour contrast or blurring the audience pick up on the fact that the scene they're watching is a flashback or dream like episode rather than becoming confused between flashbacks and the present day.

Exposition - In some psychological thriller films the introduction to characters is the first thing that the audience are exposed to through a voice over, such as in Gone Girl or an extreme close up shot, like in Memento. However some psychological thrillers leave the character introductions out and just confuse the audience from the very beginning leaving them to understand the narrative, despite this fitting well with the genre it doesn't always work as intended depending on the target audience.

First-person narrative- a narrative technique that is a popular convention for this genre of film. An individual's point of view is produced as the main plot line so the audience are able to see the characters thought process. In psychological thrillers, the narrative tries to manifest the character's psyche through the way they present themselves to the audience through body langue, dialogue and hostility towards other characters. (Eva, from We need to talk about Kevin).