In this chapter, I observe that some cognitive film theorists appear to have uncritically accepted basic emotions theory in their approach to cinematic expressive depiction. Instead, I argue that the theory of constructed emotion, in which emotional concepts are socially constructed categorizations of affect, better fits the available empirical data and presents greater opportunities for productive interdisciplinary synthesis. First, I draw the relevant distinctions between the two theories, noting that the former posits that each basic emotion has a distinct neurophysiological signature and a facial/vocal expression that is universally recognized, whereas the latter permits more complex relationships among brain states, physiological signs, facial movements, and their meaning. Second, I review evidence regarding the brain basis of emotion, cross-cultural research on emotional recognition, and the roles of concepts and words, noting opportunities to place the cognitive neuroscience of emotion in dialogue with philosophy of film. Third, I observe an opportunity for robust interdisciplinary triangulation in the Kuleshov effect, a phenomenon of film editing in which the meaning of a facial expression is thought to change in the context of a montage. Overall, the theory of constructed emotion might draw greater attention of experimentalists to questions of cultural relativity and historical specificity.