• Blog
  • »
  • Film Genres Explained: What Types of Movie Genres Are There?

Film Genres Explained: What Types of Movie Genres Are There?

/ WeVideo

Three expressive faces from two women and one man eating popcorn and drinks at a film with the WeVideo "Film School" logo in the left corner.

Genre. What is it? Well, by definition, it’s the style or category that film, music, and literature fall into. In knowing a genre, it will also serve as a potential framework for filmmakers, and it will also shape the audience’s expectations and provide a style guide for the artists who craft the film.  

You could argue that a movie cannot exist without knowing its genre. Many films have even fallen flat because they couldn’t establish what genre they were aiming for or perhaps tried to combine too many genres at once.

Genre theory

On the surface, genre theory may seem straightforward. For example, we know both the “Star Wars” and “Star Trek” franchises as sci-fi films (it says it in its name) and “Halloween” and “Friday the 13th” films as part of the horror genre; again, it's in the name. However, understanding the deeper workings of genre theory and how genres are constructed can be crucial for making films that genuinely resonate with audiences. But before we dive into what genre conventions are, let’s first look at the core genres that populate our films.  

In Hollywood's golden era, genre definitions were clear and definitive under the studio system. At a basic level, films were categorized as:

  • Action
  • Comedy
  • Drama
  • Fantasy
  • Horror
  • Mystery
  • Romance
  • Thriller
  • Western
  • Sci-Fi

 Let’s look at what each genre offers. 

The Action genre

Action films have one primary goal: to create a spectacle through entertainment and awe. They don’t typically ask philosophical questions, evoke fear, or challenge one’s perception of social issues. Their purpose is simple: to entertain. 

Because of this, action films have become the tentpoles of many studios’ film libraries. Dating back to some of the earliest films of the 1900s, the action genre has long been an audience favorite. It is characterized by intense, high-octane scenes, daring stunts, kinetic movement, and larger-than-life heroes who will stop at nothing to save the day! 

 

The characters in these stories often face overwhelming odds and will take us on a ride we cannot experience anywhere else. And once that ride starts, it never slows down.

 

Action film subgenres 

However, "action" is a broad term. Like rock music, you wouldn’t necessarily group Led Zeppelin, Blink-182, Slipknot, and Judas Priest under the same label — they each belong to their own identifiable subgenres, from pop-punk to death metal.

The same concept applies to film genres. Each genre is propped up and defined by its sub-genres, which allows filmmakers to borrow elements from other genres to create unique experiences. For audiences, this creates opportunities to connect on a more niche level.

In the case of action films, sub-genres can include:

The Comedy film genre

As the name suggests, the comedy genre is here to make audiences laugh. It has been a favorite genre since the very beginning of cinema. Some of Hollywood’s earliest legends rose to fame through their comedy films.

 

Comedy is created through exaggerated situations, absurd dialogue, quirky characters, witty quips, and great or bad timing. The genre spans a broad spectrum but truly shines by transforming conflicts, tension, and misunderstandings into amusing, relatable experiences. An informant bribing a police officer is drama, but when the police officer asks for a bribe to answer the informant's question, that’s comedy. 

 

While the action genre aims to wow, the comedy genre exists to amuse and often leaves you with a sense of contentment once the film ends. However, comedy is frequently regarded as one of the hardest genres to write, as humor is subjective; what one person finds funny may not resonate with someone else.

The comedy genre relies heavily on expectations and established situations that audiences can recognize. The jokes and laughs may fall flat if viewers are unfamiliar with these concepts.

Film School illustration with the call to action, “Seamless video creation starts here.”

Comedy subgenres 

The comedy genre can branch out into many sub-genres because it inherently thrives on the flexibility to adapt humor to different settings and them.

Some of the most popular comedy sub-genres include:

 

The Drama genre

Drama is one of the cornerstones of filmmaking; it allows filmmakers to create powerful narratives with minimal spectacle, and the genre will often explore profound, realistic narratives centered around emotion and personal conflict.

 

While action and fantasy films feature larger-than-life characters, a drama can focus on something as grounded as a baseball manager trying to wrangle together a good team with no budget, a war veteran struggling to reintegrate into society, or an aging actor finding himself at odds in a different country. 

 

This genre allows audiences to connect to humanity's shared experiences emotionally.  The drama genre's core strength is to present relatable, authentic stories that let audiences see the world through someone else’s eyes.

 

Drama sub-genres

As drama can address many themes and stories, it is undoubtedly one of the most versatile genres in film. Some of the more popular sub-genres of drama include:

The Horror genre

Audiences either love or hate the horror genre. This is because the genre’s primary goal is to evoke fear and terror—not necessarily emotions that everyone looks forward to feeling when settling in for a relaxing movie night. For some, however, the sensation of fear and the thrill of hiding behind your cushion offers a form of excitement and entertainment that’s hard to replicate elsewhere.

 

Horror is characterized by suspense, unsettling scenarios, and a lingering dread. Its entertainment value comes from how much it can disturb and unsettle its audience. While the genre has its staples, like frightening sequences, gory showdowns, and haunting atmospheres, it really excels when it subverts expectations to explore deeper fears and themes.

Unlike other genres, horror relies heavily on visual and auditory conventions to establish its tone. Ghostly drones, jarring strings, and dissonant scores are staples of the genre, designed to send chills down the audience's spine. Likewise, horror cinematography is far more synonymous with its genre than, for example, comedy.

Haunting image of abandoned house in the woods next to a barren tree against thick fog.

Image via Unsplash 

Psychological fear of the unknown — often tied to darkness — plays a key role in horror's visual style. Low-key lighting and shadow-heavy cinematography are frequently employed to evoke the narrative's unsettling themes.

Horror subgenres 

As fear itself is not a singular concept but one that spans a wide range of topics, the same diversity can be found in horror’s subgenres, such as:

The Fantasy genre

The fantasy genre appears in many forms, from low fantasy “Harry Potter” (low fantasy takes place in the real world) to the high-fantasy “The Lord of the Rings.” Despite these differences, a common thread unites them—magic. Fantasy transports audiences to realms or regions filled with magic and extraordinary elements that defy the laws of our reality.

Bright landscape with sun shining on river with boats against a rocky, mountainous town.

Image via Amazon 

The genre is rich with unique and easily recognizable tropes and conventions. Unlike many other genres, fantasy often creates its own fully realized world with distinct laws to which the narrative's plot must abide.

While action films typically revolve around a protagonist-versus-antagonist dynamic, fantasy stories are often distilled into a broader conflict: the forces of good versus the forces of evil. Typically, the hero is an unlikely individual who unexpectedly becomes the only one capable of saving the kingdom despite being the least expected to take on such a role. 

 

While fantasy films are often set in entirely different universes, many draw inspiration from the mythology and folklore embedded in societies worldwide. Cultures and religions worldwide serve as rich sources of influence, yet fantasy remains the purest form of escapism.

Untethered from the constraints of scientific and societal laws, the only true limits in fantasy films are the imaginations of the filmmakers and screenwriters behind them.

Film School illustration with the call to action, “Seamless video creation starts here.”

Fantasy subgenres 

Fantasy naturally lends itself to recurring characters, themes, and location types often found in multiple films within the genre. For example, if we asked you to picture a sword-wielding protagonist facing off against an army of monsters in derelict ruins, there's likely more than one film that comes to mind. 

As a result, its subgenres are less broad than other genres but remain highly distinctive. Some of the key fantasy subgenres include:

The Romance genre

The beauty of film and storytelling lies in its universal accessibility as an art form. While individual preferences for specific genres vary, romance has consistently demonstrated a notable demographic trend. A 2021 study by the Romance Writers of America revealed that 82% of romance readers were women, with men making up 18%. Similar patterns are often seen in romance films, which have historically been labeled with terms like “chick flicks.” This disparity, however, could be attributed to societal influences and cultural conditioning rather than inherent differences in interest.

 

Romance often focuses on love and relationships, highlighting characters' emotional journeys as they find their way through their attraction; however, these feelings are typically challenged by obstacles that prevent them from being fulfilled. These obstacles, external forces or internal conflicts, create the emotional stakes that drive the narrative forward. Romance thrives on the tension between desire and adversity.

 

Romance subgenres 

Given the broad spectrum of love and romance, the romance genre is incredibly rich with subgenres, each catering to different aspects of storytelling and emotion. These include:

 

The Western genre

While many film genres are broad and can explore a variety of territories, the Western genre is most deeply rooted in a specific geographical location: the 19th Western frontier. This genre is painted against the backdrop of a rugged, untamed landscape.

 

The Western genre is about cowboys and outlaws and a grim, often bleak depiction of that era. It explores themes of survival, individualism, and freedom, with protagonists frequently battling antagonists and the harsh environment around them.

 

At one time, the Western was a cornerstone of the Hollywood studio system, with countless films produced yearly. However, today, Western films are few and far between, linking the genre to a bygone era of filmmaking.

Western subgenres 

 At first glance, it may seem like the Western genre doesn’t allow much wiggle room for variation. However, interpretations of the classic frontier are vast, giving rise to a diverse range of subgenres, including:

Western film scene with three cowboys following a close-up of one cowboy.

Image via MGM

The Thriller genre

The thriller genre is intriguing as it straddles the line between action and drama. However, unlike those genres, where the world and its context are presented to the audience, thrillers thrive on withholding information. This keeps not only the characters but also the audience on edge as the narrative unfolds through unexpected twists.

 

Thrillers emphasize suspense and a sense of unpredictability. Whether it’s a wrong turn or discovering someone in the protagonist's inner circle might be a sinister adversary, but they’re not quite sure. The core concept of a thriller is the unknown. In contrast to action or fantasy films, where the threat is usually established early on, thrillers rely on ambiguity. If that mystery were revealed too soon, it would undermine the experience.

 

The danger in thrillers often leans toward the psychological rather than the physical, adding complexity to the tension.

Film School illustration with the call to action, “Seamless video creation starts here.”

Thriller subgenres

Since suspense is not inherently tied to one specific genre, it makes thriller a dynamic and versatile category. It houses a wide variety of subgenres, including:

 

The Sci-Fi genre 

When people think of sci-fi, they might place it among the newer genres in terms of innovation. However, as a species, humanity has always been fascinated by the future and the idea of tomorrow. One of the earliest sci-fi films, “Le Voyages de la Lune” (1902), depicted a journey to the moon, showcasing the genre's imaginative roots.

 

Throughout the 1920s to the 1960s, films like ”Planet of the Apes” and the groundbreaking ”2001: A Space Odyssey” continued to expand the genre's possibilities. However, in the late 1970s and early 1980s—thanks to tech advancements and early CGI— sci-fi films hit their stride. This era brought us iconic titles such as “Star Wars”, “Star Trek: The Motion Picture,” “Alien,” “Blade Runner,” and many more.

At their core, sci-fi films typically explore the world of tomorrow. They delve into advanced civilizations with technology far beyond our imagination, featuring robots and humanoids, and introduce alien races—sometimes as allies, other times as adversaries.

 

While the sci-fi genre often dazzles with its visual portrayal of technological marvels like spaceships and futuristic cities, its core thematic focus revolves around humanity's relationship with technology. Sci-fi films frequently explore moral dilemmas, questions of human identity, dystopian realities, and the impact of humanity’s actions—even when the stories are set light-years away or far into the future. 

 

While fantasy and sci-fi are often seen as opposite ends of the spectrum—and fantasy doesn’t lend itself to as many subgenres—sci-fi offers a wide variety of them, including:

Genre conventions 

Now that we’ve explored the core foundational genres and the diverse subgenres that fall under their umbrellas, the question arises: what do you do with this information beyond becoming a walking encyclopedia of film knowledge?

The answer lies in understanding and applying genre conventions. By knowing these genres and subgenres, you can begin to identify the recurring themes, visual styles, narrative structures, and character archetypes that define them. This knowledge can assist when it comes to your own storytelling.

These conventions are elements found within a specific genre, helping to build the genre's structural properties. They can include visual elements within the film, such as costumes, props, and locations; structural elements, like character roles and plot development; and production aspects, such as color grading and music choices.

For example, suppose we asked you to picture a film featuring vast, epic landscapes with archaic ruins built into the sides of mountains, an evil race of monstrous beings trying to overtake the land, an ensemble of characters with unique skills, a young protagonist guided by an older mentor, and a sweeping orchestral score. In that case, you’d likely think of a fantasy genre film.

As for which specific fantasy film, there are many possibilities; “Dungeons & Dragons: Honor Among Thieves,” “The Lord of the Rings Trilogy,” “The Chronicles of Narnia,” “Warcraft,” and the list goes on. Despite their differences, the conventions of the genre are consistent across them all.

The culmination of genre conventions helps establish a genre's identity. However, genres are not exclusively bound by their conventions. When filmmakers successfully break these conventions, subvert audience expectations, or blend genre elements, the art of filmmaking truly comes alive. But to do this effectively, we must first understand the genres themselves. 

We recommend dedicating set periods to watching a collection of films within a specific genre to understand genre conventions. As you watch, note the shared elements, from character archetypes to the instruments used in the score.

Additionally, Joseph Campbell's “The Hero with a Thousand Faces " is a highly recommended purchase. This work explores mythology and, more importantly, outlines the hero’s journey, a framework that documents the typical transformation a protagonist undergoes in a film.

Start your video editing journey

Sign up free

More resources for you