Movies And Shows That Explore The Different Facets Of Masculinity
The good, the bad, and the in-between, there's space for everything here
Masculinity on screen has long been packaged as strength, control, and emotional restraint, but the stories that linger are the ones that interrogate those assumptions. Cinema, in that regard, has long examine how masculinity is shaped by class, power, poverty, ambition, and fear. They show men navigating systems that reward dominance and punish vulnerability, often forcing them to make choices that blur the line between survival and moral compromise. Whether it is authority wielded quietly or violence carried out efficiently, masculinity in cinema is never neutral. It can be tender, insecure, suffocating, or cruel, sometimes all at once.
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That being said, these shows and movies sit with the discomfort around masculinity and conversations around it rather than resolve it, revealing how easily care turns into control, responsibility into entitlement, and silence into damage. By focusing on men who are flawed, afraid, or quietly breaking, these films and series expose masculinity not as an ideal to aspire to, but as a system that must be examined, questioned, and unlearned.
Delhi Crime
Where to watch: Netflix
What Delhi Crime nails is the duality of men in the same city. You have cops who genuinely want to protect, and then you have those running trafficking networks with the same efficiency. The show doesn’t dramatise this contrast, it lets you sit with the uncomfortable truth that both kinds coexist, sometimes in the same lane, breathing the same air. Masculinity here is defined by choices, not by uniforms.
Paatal Lok
Where to watch: Amazon Prime Video
Pataal Lok understands that masculinity changes depending on what class they belong too. The men who suffer consequences aren’t always the ones pulling strings, making it a sharp study of how power, privilege, and masculinity operate differently across social layers.
Dead Poets Society
Where to watch: JioHotstar
Dead Poets Society reminds us that masculinity doesn’t always break men loudly. Sometimes it suffocates them with silent stares and rigid decisions. In a world that values discipline over emotion and legacy over desire, the film exposes how societal ideas of manhood can be just as damaging as overt violence.
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The Pursuit of Happyness
Where to watch: Zee5, MXPlayer
The Pursuit of Happyness shows masculinity at its most vulnerable moment. A father stripped of stability, status, and certainty, holding on not to have pride, but responsibility on his shoulders on raising a son amidst everything. It reminds us that sometimes strength is just showing up every single day when it feels like everything in life is falling apart at the same time.
Paddleton
Where to watch: Netflix
The film strips masculinity down to its most fragile layer awkward conversations, humour and long silences between two people who don't know how to express them. No grand gestures here, just two men learning what intimacy, vulnerability, and loyalty look like.
Homebound
Where to watch: Netflix
Neeraj Ghaywan's Homebound feels like a reset button in an era ruled by boisterous, loud heroes, reminding us that masculinity can be soft, scared, emotional, and still powerful. What makes it stand out is the pressure that comes from poverty, caste discrimination, and the quiet, everyday humiliations that men are expected to swallow without any complaints. The strength here is not in aggression but in endurance. The bravery is in vulnerability. And the heroism is simply two young men refusing to give up on themselves or each other.
Superbad
Where to watch: Netflix, Zee5
At first glance, Superbad feels just like another teen comedy, but beneath the storyline it’s a surprisingly honest look at male insecurity. Seth and Evan aren’t trying to be ‘the alpha male’, instead, they’re trying to survive embarrassment, rejection, and the fear of being left behind. Masculinity here is fragile, clumsy, and deeply anxious, shaped by peer pressure and the need for validation. The film captures how young men often fake confidence while feeling completely lost inside.
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Atonement
Where to watch: JioHotstar
Atonement shows masculinity in its quietest, most destructive form, not through violence, but through authority, silence, and unchecked entitlement. Robbie’s fate is decided not by what he does, but by how easily society believes the worst of him, while the men in power protect themselves.
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Breaking Bad
Where to watch: Netflix
Breaking Bad is a masterclass in how masculinity is quietly rotten when ego and entitlement takes the driver’s seat. Walter White doesn’t begin as a villain, he simply starts as a frustrated man bruised by failure, insecurity, and a desperate need to feel significant. What makes the show unsettling is how easily his ‘provider’ instinct turns into domination, manipulation, and control.
Nightcrawler
Where to watch: Amazon Prime Video
Nightcrawler looks at masculinity as ambition without empathy. What makes it disturbing isn’t what Lou Bloom does, it’s how normal he makes it look. He doesn’t scream or threaten, he smiles, negotiates, and reframes ethics as ‘opportunity’. It’s the kind of masculinity that thrives in capitalism, feeds on chaos, and never once feels guilty.