Whether seeing a film for the first time or the 100th time, unraveling the motives and the metaphors make a movie better, says Robert Dutton, who is offering a new class that begins on Tuesday, March 15, called We Are All George Bailey: Living Vicariously Through Film.

The five-session course offered free to Martha’s Vineyard Film Society members will teach audiences how to critically engage with movies and examine the art of storytelling through film. While a movie could be described as passive entertainment, Mr. Dutton the film societies manager, said critically engaging with a film only heightens the experience.

“It makes a good movie better and a bad movie worse,” said Mr. Dutton. Good movies are not defined by high production value, he continued. “The worst movie is not the one that is poorly made, it’s the one you forget.”

He explained appreciation for films grows parallel with understanding the nuances.

“You realize the theme [of a movie] and you go back and see it everywhere,” he said. This added layer of experience can change the audience’s perception of the film, he said.

Mr. Dutton has worked a number of jobs in the entertainment industry from professional actor and stage director to drama and English teacher to video store owner and theatre manager. Though he has taught similar classes before, this will be the first time the course is offered at the film center in the Tisbury marketplace. Mr. Dutton began thinking about offering a course six months ago and has since been working on the details.

During the five sessions, participants will see and discuss clips from classic films as well as short films and television programs. The course will begin by focusing on what makes a story before delving into plot structure, conflict and character. The final session is called Putting It All Together. The opening film for the course will invite participants to rethink a classic many will know very well.

“You can be 85 years-old or five years-old and you know this movie,” said Mr. Dutton, not giving away the title.

However, familiarity is not a prerequisite for analysis, said Mr. Dutton, as long as the audience waits until the end of the film to make a judgement.

“Ultimately, the goal is to get people to develop insight,” he said. “The beauty of film is directors can do something that connects to you on a sub-conscience level.”

Watching a movie can be a way to unwind, but Mr. Dutton noted audiences can leave the film anything but relaxed.

“Technically we sit in a chair in the theatre for two hours, comfortable as we can be, and yet we can sometimes walk out exhausted, because we’ve gone on an emotional journey,” he said. “That’s the mark of a good film, we become the characters in an emotional sense, we get scared for them, we laugh, we cry, we scream, yet we are watching shadows on the wall.”

We are all George Bailey: Living Vicariously Through Film will run from March 15 to April 19 with each class held on Tuesday at 6:30 p.m. at the Film Center. Space can be reserved by emailing mvfilmcenter@gmail.com or stopping by the center during regular hours. There is a possibility the course will be offered again in the summer.