More and more research!

As we continued to brainstorm the storyline for our plot, Alexia and I decided to do more research, specifically for movies where the wife kills her husband. What I discovered is that there aren't really any specific genre conventions for these types of movies, however, they help in the development of our main character.

The first movie I studied was The Girl on the Train (2016) dir. by Tate Taylor:

The opening scene allows the reader to understand who the character but at the same time it leaves her with an aura of mystery. Why is she so observant of the couple? Does she know them at all? Furthermore, the opening scene leaves the viewer intrigued by how her life will be intertwined with the life of the couple or whether she will remain an observant of their lives.

I also took time to read the synopsis of the film to understand where the "wife killing husband" factor came in. In the opening scene, there was nothing in her behavior that could entail that she would kill her husband. It turns out that at the end, she kills him for revenge of what he has done to the other characters, serving justice. Unlike male killers in horror films, she doesn't have any psychological disorders.

The second film I studied was Kill Bill (2003) dir. by Quentin Tarantino:

In this opening scene, the main character, The Bride, is left to die by her ex-lover, Bill, on her wedding day.  She is on the floor completely helpless, overtowerd by a man, whose voice is the only thing revealed about him. The wedding dress she wears gives her a touch of feminity, playing with the idea of a damsel in distress. However, she vows to seek revenge on Bill and his friends for trying to kill her and her unborn child and embarks on a journey where she hunts them down, killing them one by one. The character goes from being helpless and weak to being a killing machine, driven by revenge.

Even though the films have very different plots and the characters have very little in common, they both transform in order to fulfill their mission of seeking revenge and serving justice, their main motives. Unlike movies of similar genres such as slasher films, the killers aren't mentally ill and their actions don't reciprocate past traumas. Their victims are their husbands/lovers, which are the source of their abuse and trauma, not innocent people. The main theme is revenge.