Join us for this one-day course looking at how contemporary cinema constructs, critiques, and reimagines masculinity.

Join us for this one-day course looking at how contemporary cinema constructs, critiques, and reimagines masculinity. Through case studies including American Psycho, Top Gun: Maverick, and Brokeback Mountain, we’ll examine toxic, traditional, queer, and progressive masculinities on screen, combining film analysis with gender theory to discuss how modern films challenge or reinforce cultural ideas about manhood.

This course offers an accessible exploration of masculinity in contemporary cinema, analysing how films represent, question, and redefine ideas of manhood. Through a blend of film theory, gender studies, and practical analysis, participants will investigate how toxic masculinity, traditional versions of ‘manliness’, and emerging progressive identities are communicated through narrative, character, and film technique.

Case studies - including American Psycho, No Country for Old Men, The Expendables, Top Gun: Maverick, and Brokeback Mountain - provide a diverse foundation for understanding the complexities of masculine identity on screen in modern times.

Across the course, learners will engage with discussions around power, vulnerability, queerness, performance, and cultural change, gaining insight into how cinema both reflects and shapes gender politics.

FURTHER INFORMATION

Price: £20 / £18 Members

Tutor: Connor Winterton

Booking Information:

This 1 day course will run at Phoenix on Saturday 2 May 2026, 11.30am - 5pm.

You must be 18 or over to attend.

Cancellation Policy:

We do not offer refunds for cancellations of bookings, except in exceptional circumstances. In the event that an advertised course is withdrawn, we will endeavour to give 7 days’ notice and a full refund will be made.

View our Learner Agreement.

ABOUT THE TUTOR

Dr Connor Winterton has taught courses at the Phoenix Cinema for nine years and also delivers one-day courses at the Broadway Cinema in Nottingham. Connor is a Subject Area Lead and Lecturer in Media Studies at Loughborough college, as well as being a freelance film critic and academic, interviewer, and podcast producer / host (‘Voice Notes, From Connor’ available on Spotify and Apple Podcasts). Connor’s Letterboxd (@Dr4Eyes) top 4 are: Persona, 2001: A Space Odyssey, Mulholland Drive, and All of Us Strangers.