The Drama Genre is arguably the most common film classification.

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"The Drama Genre is arguably the most common and straightforward film classification."

The Drama Genre may be a tad on the pedestrian side as film genres go, but it's definitely the "bread and butter" of genres as well. Many films could certainly be considered in this film style, and their entertainment value is not diminished in any way because the genre is so common.

This film genre usually deals with serious emotional conflicts between the main character and other characters, or a social reality, or even nature itself. It's the conflict and how it resolves that creates the actual dramatic elements of the movie. Typical themes for drama would be racism, addiction, crime, poverty, corruption and religion.

Film Genres

Action	Horror
Adventure	Independent
Animation	Music
Biography	Musical
Black & White	Mystery
Comedy	Romance
Crime	Science Fiction
Cult Film	Short
Documentary	Sport
Drama	Suspense
Family	Thriller
Fantasy	TV Mini-Series
Film-Noir	War
History	Western

Some classic examples of drama films are The Godfather (1972), Schindler's List (1993) and The Shawshank Redemption (1994). Many times films such as these have an unfair advantage at the awards table. The Academy Awards seem to shine their lights on drama films more frequently than any other genre.

shawshank redemption graphic for drama genre page