Finding feel good coming of age movies never gets old. No matter what the time, or age, these films carry a sense of universality with them that make them counterparts of one of the most comforting genre of all time. Growing up is merely a case of hit and miss scenarios with most of us hitting highs with our awkward demeanours and missing the bigger picture in sight, only for us to make sense of it later.
It’s a given that such movies carry in a load of emotions that make us want to keep coming back to them despite having grown up. In the end, it’s the journey that matters, which makes us who we are at the end of it. We’re switching the mood to the nostalgic fever by going about on a rollercoaster of hilarious, solemn, deeply twisted and confusing emotions that we all go through while growing up. Here are some movies that depict this stage better than others.
Feel Good Coming of Age Movies That We Keep Coming Back to
The Edge of Seventeen
The best representation of this movie comes with how clumsily fidgety Hailee Steinfeld’s character is, which quite aptly exhibits the nervous energy contained in most young adults at this age. The portrayal of the same hits one too hard to the extent that it may tire out the audience at some points, leading one to raise the question, “Why is she like this?”, Until it draws you to the epiphany that most of us have gone through the same phase of confusion, while trying to draw attention to oneself even in moments when you may be claiming not to do so. The Edge of Seventeen is streaming on Netflix.
Me and Earl and the Dying Girl
Remember the trope of a trio of main characters, wherein, one of them has been diagnosed with cancer, while the other one has to come to terms with the life-shattering headline, and to complete the set, he’s accompanied by his childhood best friend? No, this isn’t The Fault in Our Stars, rather, this is a more grounded, heartfelt, nuanced and most importantly, underrated indie story of a friendship with those characters.
If I get into explaining the plot of the story, you won’t be able to grasp the differences between it and the various other movies that centre around a similar trajectory. So, I’ll take you a step closer to Greg, the ostensible main character in the trio, who’s possibly also the most awkwardly relatable distant young man who opts to call even his childhood buddy, Earl, a co-worker. Ultimately, being pushed to spend time with Olivia, the one diagnosed with the terminal disease in this story, he finds a new meaning to friendship, which will hit close to home for some. It’s streaming on Prime Video in select locations.
The Way, Way Back
Some overbearing relationships can distort our view of ourselves, which leads us to the simplest, yet the hardest to accept moral of the story – surround yourselves with people who make you feel good about yourself.
When a shy 14-year-old heads out on a summer vacation with his mother, her boyfriend (whom he detests, and it shows), and the boyfriend’s daughter, he tries his best to fit in with the crowd. An unlikely friendship with the manager of a water park teaches him to look at everything with a new outlook, bringing him a step closer to accepting himself and the right people around him. The Way, Way Back is streaming on YouTube Movies.
Lady Bird
You already know it’s going to be a good project when Greta Gerwig and Saoirse Ronan come together under the same roof. With Lady Bird‘s senior year coming to an end, she has a lot on her plate, ranging from filing college applications, to finding a direction in her life and dealing with relationships that are synonymous to a rollercoaster ride. Of course, riding with the tag of being the popular one among the bunch is another added burden and coveted desire in the mix. The film can be watched on Prime Video.
The Breakfast Club
John Hughes made the genre look cooler way before the notion of a posse and cliques became a common defining factor in teen movies. Starring Emilio Estevez, Paul Gleason, Anthony Michael Hall, John Kapelos, Judd Nelson, this ’80s flick puts together the counterparts of groups that stayed poles apart at the high school – ‘the athlete, the brain, the criminal, the princess and the basket case’.
However, when pitted against the same tyrannical nemesis, i.e. their presumptuous bully principal, they digress their social code to form an unexpected bond, while revealing their true hidden feelings that they’ve never expressed to their supposed friends either.
Eighth Grade
A24 movies really know how to tug on our heartstrings, and this Bo Burnham coming of age film takes us back to the Eighth Grade, proving that if its never too early to believe in yourself, then the same follows suit for not believing in yourself as well.
With the modern world of Gen-Z being hyper fixated on promoting the case of toxic positivity, it’s barely the case when one propagating a certain speech actually owns up to it. Kayla is an introverted eighth-grader, who’s trying her all to make sense of the social paradigm around her while posting about ‘being yourself’ on the internet. It only hits her later that she’s been pretending to be someone else all this time while pushing her true self further down. Now available on Prime Video.
Boyhood
Encompassing the various stages of a bildungsroman quite literally, the film takes you through the actual journey of growing up. You live through the various phases of Boyhood with the protagonist, which may come across as a slow-paced narrative to some, but it’s the sense of relatability that brings you closer to a truer sense of the circle of life. You can watch it on Prime Video.
Love Simon
Love makes the world go around, and Simon’s story has a note for us all that “everyone deserves a love story”, but the nature of that love is up for us to decide. 17-year-old Simon Spier (Nick Robinson) has the near perfect life with a loving family and group of friends surrounding him. Personally, he’s a happy and proud gay, but neither of his dear ones know it yet except one anonymous friend, ‘Blue’, from school, for whom he’s taken a liking to.
Things start falling apart when a blackmailer outs him without his consent. Based on the lovely novel Simon vs. the Homo Sapiens Agenda authored by Becky Albertalli, its adaptation is brought to us from the camera of director Greg Berlanti. It’s streaming on Disney+ Hotstar.
Superbad
Tired of the superficial decorations of the new age, and missing the absolute awkwardness of the 2000s? It’s time to take a trip down the second-hand embarrassment lane with Superbad starring the comical genius duo of Michael Cera and Johan Hill. Stream the flick on ZEE5.
Moonlight
Available on Prime Video, the Academy award-winning film moves its focus to Chiron, who finds an unlikely safe haven with Juan, a drug dealer. While growing up in Miami, Juan’s words help him walk down a path of his design.
Scott Pilgrim Vs the World
Leading with a fierce graphic novel aesthetic, which makes sense since it’s actually based on one created by Bryan Lee O’Malley, Scott Pilgrim Vs the World is not a rom-com, it’s a rom-action-com. Starring Michael Cera as the titular character, this movie is almost like a living video game, depicting the extreme visualisation and tendencies of one’s unfiltered brain images
The 22-year-old Scott Pilgrim is a bassist in his failing indie garage band Sex Bob-bOmb. His heart is fired up upon meeting Ramona despite being in a relationship with someone else already. This makes way for the comically absurd tensions in the air, which get even worse when he realises that he has to face off against Ramona’s seven exes to win her heart. Watch it all go down on Prime Video.
The Perks of Being a Wallflower
Know the saying that goes, “Introverts don’t make friends, an extrovert finds them and adopts them”? That’s exactly how the 15-year-old Charlie found his inner circle with his seniors upon entering high school. And this is how he finds a way to cope with the loud, yet silent and volatile traumas of his past.
Based on Stephen Chbosky’s novel from the year 1999, this film will leave you with great lessons about friendships and other relationships in general, because, in the end, nothing describes life in a better way than these two quotes from the book/ movie – “So, this is my life. And I want you to know that I am both happy and sad and I’m still trying to figure out how that could be.” and “We accept the love we think we deserve.” The movie is streaming on Lionsgate Play.
Ferris Bueller’s Day Off
Even slacking off needs a heavy deal of hard work to achieve, and who better to teach us the ropes than the biggest slacker of all time himself – Ferris Bueller. Watch his shenanigans with his best friends on Prime Video.
Dead Poets Society
I’m starting to feel this has largely been a deceptive list as far as the “feel goof” factor is concerned, since the majority of the titles included on this list actually bring you to tears. Dead Poets Society probably tops the list in that sense. I still remember bawling my eyes out to the gut-wrenching twist that tore us all apart. Even then, the movie is a high-art piece of nuanced storytelling.
I know for a fact, literature enthusiasts are still a sucker for it to this date. Robin Williams’ character in this movie breathed a new life into English teachers, a motif that later become a commonly employed element across coming of age movies. You can watch this gem of a film on Disney+ Hotstar.
Which one of these movies has made you cry the most, be it the tears of happiness or otherwise? Is there any other film in the same category that you would like to suggest to us? Our ears are waiting for more recommendations. Let us know your thoughts in the comments section below.
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