Editing Film genre (section)

== Examples of genres and subgenres ==
{| class="wikitable"
|+Genres and subgenres
!Genre
!Description
!Subgenre(s)
!Examples
|-
|[[Action film]]
|Associated with particular types of spectacle (e.g., [[explosion]]s, [[Chase scene|chases]], [[Combat in film|combat]])<ref name=":6">{{Cite web|title=Action and Adventure Films {{!}} Encyclopedia.com|url=https://www.encyclopedia.com/arts/encyclopedias-almanacs-transcripts-and-maps/action-and-adventure-films#:~:text=Action%20is%20associated%20with%20a,in%20such%20films%20as%20King|access-date=2021-02-25|website=www.encyclopedia.com}}</ref>
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* [[Disaster film]]
* [[Heroic bloodshed]]: defined by stylized action sequences and themes such as duty, brotherhood, honour, redemption.
* [[Martial arts film]]: focusing on the excitement and values of [[martial arts]]
* [[Spy film]]: centered on the excitement and entertainment of espionage rather than political or psychological aspects.
* [[Superhero film]]
* [[War film]]
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* ''[[Commando (1985 film)|Commando]]'' (1985)
* ''[[Die Hard]]'' (1988)
* ''[[Face/Off]]'' (1997)
* ''[[The Last Samurai]]'' (2003)
* ''[[Pushpa: The Rise]]'' (2021)
|-
|[[Adventure film]]
|Implies a narrative that is defined by a journey (often including some form of pursuit) and is usually located within a fantasy or exoticized setting. Typically, though not always, such stories include the [[quest narrative]]. The predominant emphasis on violence and fighting in action films is the typical difference between the two genres.<ref name=":6" /><ref>{{Cite web|title=Adventure Films|url=https://www.filmsite.org/adventurefilms.html|access-date=2021-02-25|website=www.filmsite.org}}</ref>
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* [[Pirate film]]
* [[Swashbuckler film]]
*[[Samurai cinema|Samurai film]]
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* ''[[Swiss Family Robinson (1960 film)|Swiss Family Robinson]]'' (1960)
* ''[[Romancing the Stone]]'' (1984)
* ''[[Wanted: Dead or Alive (1984 film)|Wanted: Dead or Alive]]'' (1984)
* ''[[Stardust (2007 film)|Stardust]]'' (2007)
* ''[[Jungle Cruise (film)|Jungle Cruise]]'' (2021)
|-
|[[Animated film]]
|A film ''medium'' in which the film's images are primarily created by computer or hand and the characters are [[Voice acting|voiced by actors]].<ref name=":7">{{Cite web|title=AFI's 10 TOP 10|url=https://www.afi.com/afis-10-top-10/|access-date=2021-02-25|website=American Film Institute|language=en}}</ref> Animation can incorporate any genre and subgenre.
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* [[CGI animation]]
* [[Cutout animation]]
* [[Live-action animated film]]
* [[Stop motion film]]
* [[Claymation]]
* [[Traditional animation]]
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* ''[[Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs (1937 film)|Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs]]'' (1937)
* ''[[Toy Story]]'' (1995)
* ''[[Spirited Away]]'' (2001)
* ''[[Wallace & Gromit: The Curse of the Were-Rabbit]]'' (2005)
|-
|[[Comedy film]]
|Defined by events that are primarily intended to make the audience laugh.
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* [[Action comedy film]]
* [[Buddy comedy]]
* [[Dark comedy film|Dark/black comedy film]]
* [[Mockumentary]]
* [[Parody film]] (including [[spoof film]])
* [[Screwball comedy]]
* [[Slapstick film]]
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* ''[[Safety Last!]]'' (1923)
* ''[[Some Like It Hot]]'' (1959)
* ''[[Caddyshack]]'' (1980)
* ''[[Old School (2003 film)|Old School]]'' (2003)
* ''[[3 Idiots]]'' (2009)
|-
|[[Drama (film and television)|Drama film]]
|Focused on emotions and defined by conflict, often looking to reality rather than [[sensationalism]].
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* [[Docudrama]]
* [[Legal drama]]
* [[Medical drama]]
* [[Political drama]]
* [[Psychological drama]]
* [[Teen drama]]
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* ''[[The Grapes of Wrath (film)|The Grapes of Wrath]]'' (1940)
* ''[[Citizen Kane]]'' (1941)
* ''[[The Shawshank Redemption]]'' (1994)
* ''[[Sooryavansham]]'' (1999)
* ''[[Changeling (film)|Changeling]]'' (2008)
|-
|[[Fantasy film]]
|Films defined by situations that transcend [[natural law]]s and/or by settings inside a [[fictional universe]], with narratives that are often inspired by or involve human [[myth]]s.<ref name=":7" />
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* [[Contemporary fantasy]]
* [[Dark fantasy]]
* [[High fantasy|High/epic fantasy]]
* [[Urban fantasy]]
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* ''[[The Wizard of Oz (1939 film)|The Wizard of Oz]]'' (1939)
* ''[[Willy Wonka & the Chocolate Factory]]'' (1971)
* ''[[Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone (film)|Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone]]'' (2001)
* ''[[The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring]]'' (2001)
* ''[[Brahmāstra: Part One – Shiva]]'' (2022)
* ''[[Barroz]]'' (2024)
|-
|[[List of historical drama films and series set in Near Eastern and Western civilization|Historical film]]
|Films that either provide more-or-less accurate representations of historical accounts or depict fictional narratives placed inside an accurate depiction of a historical setting.
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* [[Alternate history]]
* [[Biopic]]
* [[Historical epic]]
* Historical event
* [[Historical fiction]]
* [[Period piece]]
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* ''[[Cleopatra (1963 film)|Cleopatra]]'' (1963)
* ''[[Schindler's List]]'' (1993)
* ''[[Gladiator (2000 film)|Gladiator]]'' (2000)
* ''[[RRR]]'' (2022)
|-
|[[Horror film]]
|Films that seek to elicit [[fear]] or [[disgust]] in the audience for entertainment purposes.<ref>{{Cite web|title=What is a horror film? {{!}} Screenwriter|url=https://www.irishtimes.com/blogs/screenwriter/2011/09/02/what-is-a-horror-film/|access-date=2021-11-06|website=www.irishtimes.com|archive-date=2018-08-17|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180817225915/https://www.irishtimes.com/blogs/screenwriter/2011/09/02/what-is-a-horror-film/|url-status=dead}}</ref>
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* [[Found footage (film technique)|Found footage]]
* [[List of ghost films|Ghost films]]
* [[Monster movie]]
** [[Vampire films]]
** [[Werewolf films]]
* [[Slasher film]]
* [[Splatter film]]
* [[Zombie film]]
* [[Supernatural horror]]
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* ''[[Frankenstein (1931 film)|Frankenstein]]'' (1931)
* ''[[Night of the Living Dead]]'' (1968)
* ''[[The Exorcist]]'' (1973)
* ''[[Shaun of the Dead]]'' (2004)
* ''[[Tumbbad]]'' (2018)
* ''[[The Priest (2021 film)|The Priest]]'' (2021)
|-
|[[Melodrama film|Melodrama]]
|A genre, [[Mode of expression|mode]], [[Film styles|style]] or [[sensibility]] characterized by an emphasis on intense and exaggerated emotions and heightened dramatic situations.<ref name="melodrama"/> Much like ''[[film noir]]'', its recognition as a genre with specific formal and thematic characteristics came retrospectively, and was driven by a 1970s critical re-evaluation of the films of [[Douglas Sirk]], who came to be considered the greatest exponent of melodrama.<ref name="melodrama">{{cite book |title=Melodrama: Genre, Style, Sensibility |isbn=978-0-231-50306-8 |type=eBook |year=2013 |orig-year=2004 |publisher=Wallflower, [[Columbia University Press]] |location=London; New York |series=Short Cuts |last=Mercer |first=John |first2=Martin |last2=Shingler}}</ref><ref name="melodrama2"/> The canonical form of melodrama, associated with the 1950s Hollywood films of Sirk, [[Vincente Minnelli]], [[Nicholas Ray]], [[George Cukor]], [[Billy Wilder]] and [[Joseph Losey]], among others, is known as "family melodrama" and centers on middle-class family conflicts, often generational, within contexts of [[social mobility]] and [[emotional trauma]].<ref name="melodrama"/><ref name="melodrama2">{{cite book|editor-first=Christine|editor-last=Gledhill|title=Home is Where the Heart Is: Studies in Melodrama and the Woman's Film|publisher=[[British Film Institute]]|year=1987|location=London|isbn=0-85170-200-7|pages=7–18}}</ref> Unlike drama, melodrama functions as a code that opposes realism, exaggerating the conventions of representation and ''[[mise-en-scène]]'' to depict the emotional states of the characters.<ref>{{cite book|title=All that Hollywood Allows: Re-reading Gender in 1950s Melodrama|first=Jackie|last=Byars|location=London|year=1991|publisher=[[Routledge]]|isbn=0-231-11328-5|page=9}}</ref>
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* [[Korean melodrama]]
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* ''[[Way Down East]]'' (1920)
* ''[[Brief Encounter]]'' (1945)
* ''[[All That Heaven Allows]]'' (1955)
* ''[[Imitation of Life (1959 film)|Imitation of Life]]'' (1959)
|-
|[[Musical film]]
|A genre in which songs performed by the characters are interwoven into the narrative, sometimes accompanied by dancing. The songs usually advance the plot or develop the film's characters or may serve merely as breaks in the storyline, often as elaborate "production numbers".
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* [[Jukebox musical]]
* [[Sung-through|Sung-through musical]]
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* ''[[Singin' in the Rain]]'' (1952)
* ''[[West Side Story (1961 film)|West Side Story]]'' (1961)
* ''[[The Rocky Horror Picture Show]]'' (1975)
* ''[[Moulin Rouge!]]'' (2001)
* ''[[Secret Superstar]]''(2017)
|-
|[[Film noir|Noir film]]
|A genre of stylish crime dramas particularly popular during the 1940s and '50s. They were often reflective of the American society and culture at the time. 
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* [[Neo-noir]]
* [[Horror noir|Horror-noir]]
* [[Tech noir|Tech-noir]]
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* ''[[The Letter (1940 film)|The Letter]]'' (1940)
* ''[[Laura (1944 film)|Laura]]'' (1944)
* ''[[Chinatown (1974 film)|Chinatown]]'' (1974)
* ''[[Blood Simple]]'' (1984)
* ''[[Marco (2024 film)|Marco]]'' (2024)
|-
|[[Pornographic film]]
|Pornographic films are typically categorized as either [[Softcore pornography|softcore]] or [[hardcore pornography]]. In general, softcore pornography is pornography that does not depict explicit [[Human sexual activity|sexual activity]], [[sexual penetration]] or extreme [[Sexual fetish|fetishism]].<ref name="Amis">{{cite news |author=Amis |first=Martin |author-link=Martin Amis |date=17 March 2001 |title=A rough trade |url=https://www.theguardian.com/Archive/Article/0,4273,4153718,00.html |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200524071906/https://www.theguardian.com/books/2001/mar/17/society.martinamis1 |archive-date=24 May 2020 |access-date=29 February 2012 |work=[[Guardian.co.uk]]}}</ref> It generally contains [[Nudity in film|nudity]] or partial nudity in sexually suggestive situations. Hardcore pornography is pornography that depicts penetration or extreme fetish acts, or both. It contains graphic sexual activity and visible penetration.<ref>{{cite web |title=P20th Century Nudes in Art |url=http://www.arthistoryarchive.com/arthistory/modern/20th-Century-Nudes.html |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120215175749/http://www.arthistoryarchive.com/arthistory/modern/20th-Century-Nudes.html |archive-date=Feb 15, 2012 |access-date=29 February 2012 |publisher=The Art History Archive}}</ref>
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*[[Erotic horror]]
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*''[[Blue Movie]]'' (1969)
*''[[Mona the Virgin Nymph]]'' (1970)
*''[[Deep Throat (film)|Deep Throat]]'' (1972) 
*''[[Behind the Green Door]]'' (1972) 
*''[[The Devil in Miss Jones]]'' (1973) 
*''[[The Opening of Misty Beethoven]]'' (1976) 
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|[[Romance film]]
|Characterized by an emphasis on passion, emotion, and the affectionate romantic involvement of the main characters, with romantic love or the search for it typically being the primary focus.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.filmsite.org/romancefilms.html|title=Romance films|website=[[Filmsite.org]]|access-date=January 21, 2023}}</ref>
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* [[Historical romance]]
* [[Paranormal romance]]
* [[Romantic comedy]]
* [[Romantic drama (film and television)|Romantic drama]]
* [[Romantic fantasy]]
* [[Romantic thriller]]
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* ''[[Gone with the Wind (film)|Gone with the Wind]]'' (1939)
* ''[[Casablanca (film)|Casablanca]]'' (1942)
* ''[[When Harry Met Sally...]]'' (1989)
* ''[[Ghost (1990 film)|Ghost]]'' (1990)
* ''[[Ohm Shanthi Oshaana]]'' (2014)
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|[[Science fiction film]]
|Films are defined by a combination of imaginative speculation and a scientific or technological premise, making use of the changes and trajectory of technology and science.<ref name=":7" />
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* [[Dystopian film]]
* [[Post-apocalyptic film]]
* [[Military science fiction]]
* [[Steampunk films|Steampunk film]]
* [[Tech noir]]
* [[Utopian fiction|Utopian film]]
* [[Space opera]]
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* ''[[2001: A Space Odyssey (film)|2001: A Space Odyssey]]'' (1968)
* ''[[Star Wars (film)|Star Wars]]'' (1977)
* ''[[Back to the Future]]'' (1985)
* ''[[Gravity (2013 film)|Gravity]]'' (2013)
* ''[[Kalki 2898 AD]]'' (2024)
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|[[Thriller film]]
|Films that evoke excitement and [[suspense]] in the audience. The suspense element found in most films' plots is particularly exploited by the filmmaker in this genre. Tension is created by delaying what the audience sees as inevitable, and is built through situations that are menacing or where escape seems impossible.<ref>{{Cite book|last=Konigsberg|first=Ira|url=https://www.worldcat.org/oclc/36112196|title=The complete film dictionary|publisher=[[Penguin Books]]|year=1997|isbn=0-670-10009-9|edition=2nd|location=New York|language=en|oclc=36112196}}</ref>
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* [[Psychological thriller]]
* [[Mystery film]]
* [[Techno-thriller]]
* [[Political thriller]]
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* ''[[M (1931 film)|M]]'' (1931)
* ''[[Deliverance]]'' (1972)
* ''[[Fight Club]]'' (1999)
* ''[[Runaway Jury]]'' (2003)
* ''[[L2: Empuraan]]'' (2025)
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|[[Western film]]
|A genre in which films are set in the [[American west|American West]] during the 19th century.<ref name=":7" />
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* [[Epic Western]]
* [[Revisionist Western]]
* [[Spaghetti Western]]
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* ''[[Stagecoach (1939 film)|Stagecoach]]'' (1939)
* ''[[The Good, the Bad and the Ugly]]'' (1966)
* ''[[True Grit (1969 film)|True Grit]]'' (1969)
* ''[[Tombstone (film)|Tombstone]]'' (1993)
|}