Mumblecore is a subgenre of independent film focused on naturalistic dialogue, low-budget production, and the relationships of young adults.
Genres
Genre & Style Terms, A to Z
Discover the rich variety of movie genres and filmmaking styles that define how stories are told on screen. From classic genres like comedy, drama, and horror to stylistic categories like film noir, found footage, and surrealism, this section explores what makes each category unique. Learn how visual aesthetics, narrative tone, and audience expectations come together to shape the identity of a film.
- genre & style terms
- 330
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- 11%
- starting letters
- 26
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All 330 Genre & Style Terms
Listed alphabetically, each with its one-line answer first. This page runs from Mumblecore to Romantic thriller. S is the busiest letter here, with 48 entries. Jump to a letter to see only the genre & style terms that start with it.
Genre & style terms starting with M
7 of 22 on this page · all M entries
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A hybrid genre combining song, dance, and humor to entertain and advance storyline.
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A musical-drama film weds character-driven conflict to songs that advance plot and deepen emotion.
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A musical fantasy film is a genre that combines the elements of a musical, where characters express themselves through song, with the magical and supernatural settings of fantasy.
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The musical film is a genre in which songs sung by the characters are interwoven into the narrative, sometimes accompanied by dancing.
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A mystery film centers on uncovering hidden truths or solving a crime through suspenseful investigation.
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A mystery thriller is a hybrid genre that combines the investigative plot of a mystery with the suspense, tension, and high stakes of a thriller.
Genre & style terms starting with N
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An art movement reviving bold, emotive styles of early 20th-century Expressionism.
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Neo-noir is a contemporary revival of classic noir that applies its stylistic and thematic elements to modern narratives.
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New Hollywood was a transformative era from the mid-1960s to the early 1980s when director-auteurs revitalized American cinema with personal, complex, and socially relevant films.
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Wave of South Korean filmmaking from the late 1990s onward marked by genre hybridity and auteur voices.
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Early 1990s movement of bold, transgressive LGBTQ+ films that rejected assimilationist storytelling.
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New Turkish Cinema describes the wave of critically acclaimed, auteur-driven filmmaking that has brought Turkish cinema to international prominence since the late 1990s.
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A noir comedy is a hybrid genre that applies the cynical themes and dark visual style of film noir to a story with comedic, often satirical, intentions.
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The Nollywood New Wave, or New Nollywood, is a contemporary movement in Nigerian cinema defined by significantly higher production values, cinematic ambitions, and a focus on theatrical and global distribution.
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Nuevo Cine Argentino (New Argentine Cinema) is a highly influential film movement that revitalized Argentine cinema in the mid-1990s with its independent spirit, realist aesthetic, and focus on contemporary social issues.
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Contemporary renaissance of Mexican cinema from the 1990s onward, mixing art-house and commercial flair.
Genre & style terms starting with O
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An occult thriller is a genre that blends the suspense and investigative elements of a thriller with supernatural themes of witchcraft, satanism, and secret societies.
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A one-liner is a brief, punchy line often used for humor or impact.
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A film or sequence presented as a seamless continuous take intensifies realism and spectatorship.
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A film-naming convention that employs a single-word title for impact and branding
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A oner is a single, uninterrupted shot that lasts for an extended period of time.
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An opening credit sequence is the artful presentation of a film's title, key cast, and creative crew at the beginning of the movie.
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Framing one subject from behind another anchors audience viewpoint within dialogue.
Genre & style terms starting with P
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A stationary camera swivels horizontally, mapping space or gesturing narrative surprise.
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An Indian art-house movement focusing on realism and social critique outside mainstream Bollywood.
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Broader than ghost stories, paranormal cinema explores any phenomenon science cannot yet explain—demons, UFOs, psychic powers.
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Italian studio epics draped in Greco-Roman tunics spun myths into pulp entertainment during the late 1950s boom.
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Narratives set in identifiable bygone eras explore timeless human conflicts through historically rooted lenses.
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Cinematic tales of treasure and treachery romanticise life on the high seas while grappling with colonial legacies.
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A poetry slam is a competitive event where poets perform their work and are judged by the audience, used in films to create high-stakes dramatic moments.
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Camera alignment with a character’s eyes merges spectator perception with on-screen subjectivity.
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The Polish Film School was a seminal group of filmmakers (c. 1955-1963) who artistically broke from socialist realism to create a complex, critical, and masterful body of work examining Poland's wartime trauma and national identity.
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Poliziotteschi are a genre of violent and cynical Italian crime films from the 1970s that reflect the era's social and political turmoil.
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A portmanteau film is a classic term for a movie composed of multiple short stories, often unified by a single director, theme, or a narrative framing device.
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Post-Classical Hollywood describes the era from the 1980s to the present, defined by the blockbuster, global marketing, and new media technologies.
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A film movement that fragments narrative and references past styles to question reality and authorship.
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Postmodern film is a cinematic style that deconstructs traditional storytelling through irony, pastiche, intertextuality, and self-awareness.
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A film style characterized by irony, pastiche, and self-aware play with genre conventions
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Prêt-à-porter, or ready-to-wear, refers to high-end, factory-made clothing sold in standardized sizes that is presented in seasonal collections by fashion houses.
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Psychodrama is a film subgenre that uses cinema to explore the interior psychological states and emotional conflicts of its characters.
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Psychological horror focuses on characters’ inner fears and mental instability to terrify audiences.
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A psychological thriller delves into characters’ mental states to create suspense and uncertainty.
Genre & style terms starting with Q
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Queer cinema explores non-normative sexualities and gender identities, challenging heteronormative perspectives and celebrating LGBTQ+ experiences.
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A queer drama is a genre of film that focuses on the lives, experiences, and relationships of lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, and queer (LGBTQ+) characters within a dramatic narrative framework.
Genre & style terms starting with R
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Shifting the plane of sharpness mid-shot redirects audience attention without cutting.
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A video style where creators film their real‑time responses to media content.
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A cinematic approach aiming to depict life authentically and without artifice
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Realist cinema is a filmmaking style that aims to represent reality truthfully and objectively by minimizing overt stylistic manipulation.
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A television genre presenting unscripted, real‑world scenarios and non‑professional participants.
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A trend reviving past styles and genres within contemporary media
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A revisionist western is a subgenre of the western that subverts, questions, or dismantles the traditional myths and heroic archetypes of the classic western.
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A comedic subgenre where characters embark on a journey, encountering humorous obstacles and revelations.
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A road movie is a film genre in which the main characters embark on a journey, with the journey itself serving as the central plot and a catalyst for character development.
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The Romanian New Wave is a critically acclaimed 21st-century film movement known for its stark realism, long takes, and bleakly comic critiques of post-communist society.
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A romantic comedy, or rom-com, is a subgenre that combines the lighthearted, humorous tone of comedy with a central plot focused on the development of a romantic relationship.
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A romantic comedy-drama is a film genre that combines the lighthearted, humorous plot of a romantic comedy with more serious, dramatic themes and character development.
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A romantic drama is a film genre that places a central focus on the emotional journey of a romantic relationship, often exploring the obstacles that test the couple's love.
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Romantic-fantasy cinema stages love tales in speculative realms, using magic to externalise emotional longing.
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The romantic thriller entwines desire and danger, leveraging love’s vulnerability to amplify suspense.
Other categories
The Other Seven Categories
The rest of the glossary, each with its own A to Z index: filmmaking craft, characters and tropes, storytelling, industry and awards, pop culture and fandom, general terms, and the odd ones out.
