Genre studies in cinema enable different models of thinking about films. As films undergo significant changes over time, analytical models are subject to critical evaluation and correction. This paper gives a critical overview of three interrelated fields in genre studies involving nature, development, and functions. By methods of logical analysis and deductive reasoning, the general framework, and then the potentialities and challenges of each theory, this article intends to describe and review some paradigms of thinking about the genre theory. Findings show that the theories concerning definitions, cultural consensus, evolution, iconography, ritual, and ideological functions are not inclusive enough for the various formulations of the genre. Therefore, by adopting a pluralistic theoretical view of genres, one must consider their limitations and capacities. At the same time, by focusing on the semantic/syntactic approach, one can utilize the potentialities of different genre theories. In this way, a kind of theoretical hybridity similar to the hybrid nature of the genres themselves emerges.