Maybe there's an arbitrary marker that made you feel like you had grown up—from milestones like graduating from school or landing a first job to emotional experiences like falling in love or experiencing grief. But in reality, we're always coming of age. That's perhaps why coming-of-age movies are so resonant, no matter what age they focus on.
The coming-of-age film is a classic Hollywood narrative, which finds a character of any age—although more often than not in their young adulthood—as they step into their own. Whether they're a comedy, drama, or somewhere in between, they tend to tug on the heartstrings, and feature trials and tribulations that you can relate to in some form. We rounded up a handful of the best films from the genre, ranging from inspirational LGBTQ+ films to '80s classics—and some that we even consider the best movies of all time.
'20th Century Women' (2016)
Few filmmakers have a pen as stunning as Mike Mills. Most entries in the writer/director’s filmography have been dedicated to people in his life, and 20th Century Women is like a love letter to his mother and the other women who raised him. His stand-in is a teenage boy named Jamie (Lucas Jade Zumann) whose mother (Annette Benning) insists he seeks guidance from his friend Julie (Elle Fanning) and their art school tenant Abbie (Greta Gerwig). Through punk shows, discussions of menstruation, and a series of firsts, he learns what it means to be a good man in the world, and ultimately, human.
'Are You There God? It's Me, Margaret.' (2023)
It took over 50 years, but generations of girls everywhere finally got the Judy Blume adaptation of their dreams with this 2023 comedy. Based on the author’s iconic YA novel, it chronicles the throes of adolescence when 11-year-old Margaret (Abby Ryder Fortson) moves from New York City to a New Jersey suburb, begins to hit puberty, and questions her faith. It’s the kind of movie that feels like a warm hug.
'Boyhood' (2014)
Richard Linklater’s Boyhood is truly one of a kind. For 12 years, the writer/director and cast (including stars Ethan Hawke and Patricia Arquette) reunited to shoot the same project so Linklater could accurately document them as they aged. It’s a humble tale of how potent life’s joys and struggles can be, as seen through the perspective of one boy (Ellar Coltrane)—from major milestones to parents’ divorce to the most simple moments. You’ll be touched by both its intimacy and experimental storytelling method.
'The Breakfast Club' (1985)
No movie quite captures the deep burn of teen angst like The Breakfast Club, which set out to teach a generation of teens that even the kids in other cliques were suffering on the inside too.
'The Dangerous Lives of Altar Boys' (2002)
The film, set in the '70s rural South, follows the monotonous, difficult trajectories of two altar boys (Emile Hirsch and Kieran Culkin) and their. Together, while collaborating on a comic book, they navigate the typical teenage stuff—girls, booze, pranks—but with some very adult twists. It doesn't always hit the right notes, but in that sense, it mimics growing up pretty perfectly.
'Dead Poets Society' (1989)
This one’s for the kids who had a close relationship with their English teacher. Robin Williams gives a career-best performance as Mr. Keating, a new faculty member at an all-boys boarding school in ‘50s New England. With an enthusiasm for the romantics, he inspires a love for the arts in his students, many of whom struggle with expectations from their families and traditional masculinity. "O Captain! My Captain!" forever and ever.
'Diary of a Teenage Girl' (2015)
Based on Phoebe Gloeckner’s graphic novel of the same name, Marielle Heller’s Diary of a Teenage Girl tears through the gleeful journal entries of youth to look exclusively at the confession pages you’d never want anyone to read. It examines the sexual awakening of 15-year-old Minnie, who lives in hippie-era San Francisco with her single mother (Kristen Wiig) and ends up having an affair with her boyfriend (Alexander Skarsgård). Rather than glamorizing teenage morality or lack thereof, it examines its complexities and sees how challenging it can be for a girl to step into womanhood on her terms.
'The Edge of Seventeen' (2016)
The Edge of Seventeen offers an honest look at the most awkward and self-destructive moments of being a teen. It sees one high school junior named Nadine (Hailee Steinfeld) start to spiral when she finds out that her brother (Blake Jenner) has been dating her best friend (Haley Lu Richardson) behind her back. You'll feel all the melodrama and wish you had a teacher like Woody Harrelson to eat lunch with.
'Eighth Grade' (2018)
Nothing will prepare you for how visceral this slice-of-life film written and directed by Bo Burnham in his directorial debut is. The film closely follows 13-year-old Kayla (Elsie Fisher) in her final week of middle school—from the horror of going to a pool party to standing up to mean girls to daydreaming about how different next year could be. It’s distinctly Gen Z as Kayla doom-scrolls through social media and documents her days on a seldom-viewed YouTube channel, but as it wavers through hysteria and cringe-comedy and outright tragedy, it’ll feel just like your own middle school experience.
'Frances Ha' (2012)
We never stop coming of age, which is a theme of this collaboration between Greta Gerwig and (her now husband) Noah Baumbach. Gerwig stars in the film as Frances, a 27-year-old New York City transplant whose dreams of being a dancer aren’t coming to fruition, her friend (Mickey Sumner) is moving out and they’re growing apart, while she simply feels stuck. It balances melancholy and whimsy deftly, as it’s both an ode to holding onto youth and welcoming whatever’s next when you just don’t feel like “a real person yet.”
'Ghost World' (2001)
Ghost World follows two high school graduates and best friends (Scarlett Johansson and Thora Birch) who grow up in every sense of the word. It featured protagonists who weren't supremely likable but endeared themselves to you anyway. It felt cool. And watching it from this side of the puberty fence, it's about the cruelty you can inflict on others, starting over, and changing from what you always thought you would be. Oh, and fried chicken.
'Girlhood' (2014)
Famed French filmmaker Céline Sciamma tasked herself with thoughtfully documenting the lives of Black teenage girls in Paris in this film, as they had seldom been represented before. In turn, she created a powerful examination of race, class, and female friendship that’s as tender as it is tough.
'The Graduate' (1967)
Benjamin Braddock is a recent graduate back home with his parents—something he never expected for himself, but was inevitable, considering he has no idea what he wants to do with his life (and plastics certainly isn’t the answer). So a summer of seductions by the Robinson family women (Anne Bancroft, Katharine Ross) ensues. The Graduate is a classic; let its incredible Simon & Garfunkel soundtrack bring on all of the young adult ennui.
'Kids' (1995)
No one knew what to make of Kids when it premiered, with some critics dismissing it as exploitative and borderline child pornography and others applauding it as a wake-up call for kids' sexual behavior in the '90s. But for many of us, it exposed a side of sex we hadn't seen—where real consequences come from young kids who don't know what they're doing. But does anyone?
'Lady Bird' (2017)
Sometimes it takes leaving where you’re from to realize how much you love it, or at least how much it’s shaped you. Greta Gerwig’s feature directorial debut Lady Bird is a meditation on home and when you’ve grown out of it, mother-daughter relationships, and growing up. Her beautiful, Oscar-nominated screenplay will have you in stitches and tearing up, and Saoirse Ronan’s portrayal of the titular character feels like the best friend you wish you had at 17.
'Mid90s' (2018)
Sometimes our chosen families are what we need to pull us through. After being a teen-star-turned-A-lister, Jonah Hill got behind the camera to direct this film about a group of skaters in ‘90s Los Angeles. Based on his childhood kicking it at the skate shop, listening to hip-hop music, and connecting with other skateboarders, it’s a delightful ode to the community skate culture can provide for boys and a rare look at embracing emotionality in boyhood.
'Moonlight' (2016)
Barry Jenkins’ Best Picture winner stuns even more than a full moon on the horizon. The LGBTQ+ film is like an epic about the life of a young Black boy named Chiron as he grows up in Miami. Over three phases—childhood, his teen years, and adulthood—he learns what forms love and strength can take from various role models and love interests, making for one of the most moving coming-of-age stories of all time.
'My Girl' (1991)
My Girl did an amazing job of showing the seriousness of adolescence. Vada (Anna Chlumsky) is every precocious kid who already felt like an adult in middle school. She lives with her father (Dan Aykroyd) upstairs at the funeral home he runs and is forced to face her grief over her mother's death in more ways than one when he starts seeing somebody new (Jamie Lee Curtis).
'Pariah' (2011)
Dee Rees proved to be a force in filmmaking when she adapted her short of the same name, with Spike Lee as a producer, and it premiered at Sundance to acclaim. It’s one of the best LGBTQ+ films in history, as it sees 17-year-old Brooklynite Alike (Adepero Oduye) embrace her lesbian identity. It’s a story of coming into your own and realizing the path you must forge to accept yourself.
'The Perks of Being a Wallflower' (2012)
13 years after Stephan Chbosky published his beloved YA novel The Perks of Being a Wallflower, he adapted it into a film. The early-90s-set drama follows a teenage boy named Charlie (Logan Lerman) who enters high school on his own, as his closest friend died by suicide before their freshman year. Dealing with shyness, anxiety, and trauma, he writes letters to an anonymous classmate about all that he’s going through, while simultaneously befriending siblings in their senior year (Emma Watson, Ezra Miller) who introduce him to all the joys of adolescence he had been missing. Its resonance holds no bounds and it’ll surely make you feel infinite.
'Real Women Have Curves' (2002)
America Ferrera gives her feature film debut performance in this modern classic, which has since been added to the National Film Registry by the Library of Congress. Adapted from Josefina López’s play by the same name, Ferrera plays 18-year-old Ana García, who’s growing up in East Los Angeles and wrestling with familial obligations and aspirations of going to college. It’ll hit children of immigrants hard, and touch anyone who’s had to weigh the feasibility of pursuing their dreams.
'Stand By Me' (1986)
It’s true: We never have friends again like the ones we did when we were 12. Rob Reiner’s adaptation of the Stephen King novella The Body (and perhaps possibly the best-ever King adaptation!) joins a group of boys in Oregon as they go out looking for the body of a missing boy. River Phoenix will warm your heart as the loyal group leader, and it’ll take you back to all that you feared, and the comforts your friends offered, all at once.
'Stealing Beauty' (1996)
Stealing Beauty cemented Liv Tyler as the next "It" girl and teens everywhere were transfixed by her nuanced sexual awakening that was somehow both familiar and new. Watching it now, the film takes you away to the moment of discovering sex—in all its fresh, tension-filled, innocent glory.
'Thirteen' (2003)
While some coming-of-age movies are heartwarming, Thirteen is terrifying. Directed by Catherine Hardwicke and from a screenplay she wrote with star Nikki Reed, based on her own experience, it centers on 13-year-old Tracy (Evan Rachel Wood) as she spirals out of control. Tracy meets the rebellious Evie (Reed), starts dressing differently, and experimenting with sex and substances, much to her mother’s (Holly Hunter) horror. With their raw performances and Reed’s compelling screenplay at its helm, it’s a no-holds-barred look at how gruesome it can be to be a teenage girl.
'Welcome to the Dollhouse' (1995)
Welcome to the Dollhouse was unlike every coming-of-age movie circa 1995 in that it was disturbingly accurate in portraying the injustices of middle school/adolescence. Dawn Weiner (Heather Matarazzo) is an unpopular seventh grader, simultaneously teased/hit on by the school bully, and mocked by others in her grade. After asking why the other girls despise her, she's told in all seventh-grade candor that it's simply because she's "ugly." There's no happy ending, no swept-off-her-feet moment, no, "Wow, thank goodness that happened" feelings. Re-watching it, you'll immediately think back to your own experiences in middle school—and feel relieved we all made it through.
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