There is a lot of talk about the dangers of toxic masculinity, in a cultural moment where masculinity is increasingly shaped by algorithm-fuelled extremes. Belief Studio has taken up the challenge of guiding better attitudes in the next generation of men. The studio has launched, a stark and emotionally charged AI-produced film, Here’s To You, My Son, that shows parents from across the UK answering a question many are avoiding – what does it actually mean to be a good man? 

The project offers something different from the usual solutions – clarity, honesty, and presence.

Built using AI as a production tool, but driven by human truth, the film shows parents and grandparents speaking directly to young boys. Each voice is personal, representing a broad range of people, all from different backgrounds, and living different lives. But together, they form a single, unbroken piece of prose, an alternative definition of masculinity at a time when the loudest voices are often the worst. The result is something that feels both intimate and universal, a quiet counterpoint to the noise, that speaks plainly.

The film aims to counter social platforms serving young boys simple, certain answers to complex questions about identity, success, and manhood. The loudest voices are often the most reductive, offering binary rules, performative strength, and transactional definitions of worth.

Social media algorithms rapidly amplify toxic masculinity and misogynistic content, feeding it to teen boys at a high frequency. Studies show that within minutes of creating accounts appearing as teenage boys, platforms like TikTok and YouTube Shorts begin recommending large volumes of toxic content such as misogyny, extremism, and male supremacist ideologies – easy to consume, and hard to unlearn.

In a Dublin City University study, after only 2 minutes of browsing as a “teenage boy,” algorithms began to feed toxic masculinity and misogynistic videos. After 2 hours and 32 minutes, up to 76% of recommended content on TikTok and 78% on YouTube Shorts was classified as toxic content. Most of this content was suggested rather than actively searched for, indicating that algorithmic design itself accelerates exposure and, by extension, sharing.

At the same time, many good men – fathers, mentors, and role models – are quieter, more hesitant, more aware of nuance, and as a result, often silent. That silence is leaving space, and something else is rushing in to fill it.

Belief Studio’s response, Here’s To You, My Son, exists to challenge that dynamic.

Elliott Starr, founder and creative partner of Belief Studio and creator of the project, explained, “If good men don’t define masculinity, someone else will, and right now, they are – loudly, clearly, and often, dangerously. The hard part to say out loud is that they’re effective. Not because they’re right, but because they’re simple, which the algorithms like, and young boys can understand, and find certainty in.

“Meanwhile, a lot of good men are second-guessing themselves into silence. Silence is a terrible strategy when the other side is shouting. Boys don’t need perfect answers, we all know those don’t exist. They need present ones, clear ones, and honest and moral ones.”

While the film is AI-produced, Belief Studio is clear about where the real value lies. The words are human, as is the creative intent, judgement, and pre and post production. AI simply allowed the team to bring the idea to life as a unified piece.

The decision was led by budget restrictions. “There are 13 locations and 27 cast members. That’s a very expensive passion project. If I’d insisted we could only do it if we shot it, it wouldn’t exist, and wouldn’t have any chance of pushing back against the cultural poison that is the Manosphere,” Starr stated.

“There was also the challenge. I wanted to see if an AI film could genuinely make me feel something, maybe even make me cry? If I invested enough of my own time, and brain power, in the visual writing for this film – painting each scene and character with words, could I get a performance from the AI that I hadn’t seen anywhere else?”

At its core, Here’s To You, My Son is a provocation to parents, mentors, and anyone shaping the next generation to show up.

Credits:
Creative: Belief Studio
Sound Design: Neil Johnson Audio
Music: We Move Lightly, by Dustin O’Halloran