Gender Studies (2026) Short Film Review

★★★★

Directed by: Jamie Kiernan O’Brien

Written by: Jamie Kiernan O’Brien

Starring: Jake Junkins, Fannie Massarsky, Austin Cassel

Film Review by: William Hemingway

A transgender student on a feminist literature course explores her body and her sexuality as she comes to terms with what it means to be a woman in the eyes of others.

Maisie (Junkins) is in a room with a class full of girls. There’s one man with them, Aaron (Cassel), the teaching assistant, and he seems to be getting the attention of Rachel (Massarsky), who Maisie deems to be the prettiest girl in the room. Rachel flirts and displays her interest readily as she desires to be wanted by Aaron, ready to throw herself at him at his request, and revel in the attention and status she receives from being that girl.

Maisie, however, has not yet had that gaze fall upon her, and doesn’t know what it feels like to be desired in that way. She takes her cues from Rachel, borrowing her lip gloss in the bathrooms, trying her best to emulate the girl that every boy wants and every girl wants to be, without realising just what that entails and just how that feels when the gaze inevitably shifts. Still, buoyed by the studying of Edith Wharton’s exploration of sexual awakening, Summer, Maisie decides to try it out for herself and embarks upon a pointed seduction of Aaron, to see if she has what it takes to elicit the same desire and gaze that she sees others receiving.

Written, directed, and edited by transgender filmmaker, Jamie Kiernan O’Brien, Gender Studies becomes a semi-autobiographical tale for her, showcasing a lot of the thoughts and ideas that surround feminism and femininity in the modern age. The theme of acceptance rides high amongst the narrative, as Maisie just wants to be one of the girls as she is introduced to and navigates the world of sexual interest. Being asked if she has a tampon is a big win for Maisie, aside from the fact that she is utterly at home in the women’s toilets and is completely accepted there, but it is the desire of men that is the big test of femininity for her, and she intends to find out if she’s just as able in that regard as Rachel is.

What she finds is that actually it doesn’t take much at all, and when you act with passion and desire, what others might look at and call ‘being a slut’, the attention falls at your feet in droves. The reality of the male gaze isn’t exactly what Maisie had imagined though, and with this awakening comes a whole host of new thoughts and problems that inevitably comes with wanting male attention. This is all handled with obvious care and attention by O’Brien, but is also presented with a heavy dollop of reality, as we are invited into some of the most personal and safe spaces for women to get up-close and personal with the facts of the situation.

For a film that is only eleven minutes long, there is a large amount of unease and tension created by O’Brien. While nothing is overtly graphic in its depiction, we are privy to some very personal details, and are invited to get under the skin of the characters we are watching. We get in the faces of Maisie and Rachel, hear their breath and watch their smiles grow, and become enclosed in the world of bathrooms, where almost all of the salient narrative takes place. The feeling is one of overwhelming claustrophobic desire, and O’Brien ensures that we get ourselves right into the middle of it all to experience it along with Maisie, offering a unique and honest perspective.

Gender Studies is a tour-de-force in the opening of eyes to transgender relationships. With its direct approach and knowledgeable writing and direction, it forces us to challenge our ideas of feminism and femininity, and ask ourselves just what we are teaching young women, and who they are learning from, in order to make themselves feel seen and accepted. In a very short space of time, Gender Studies covers enough ground to fill an entire syllabus, with the uneasy nature about what’s being learnt seemingly the exact point of the lesson.

Gender Studies will premiere at the 2026 SXSW Film Festival.