Prey vs. Predator

How to Weaponize Point-of-View

In most horror, thriller, and sci-fi films, tension is not just about what happens. It is about how the audience experiences it. One of the most powerful and often underused tools we have as writers is point-of-view. It is the decision of whose experience we are trapped inside and when we shift that gaze.

Weaponizing POV means strategically pulling your audience inside the prey or forcing them inside the predator. This can generate dread, tension, empathy, and sometimes a cruel kind of complicity.

Here are some examples: