Coming-of-age movies that are actually good

I´m a huge fan of coming-of-age movies, as they are the ones which I can relate with the most, and in this post, I´ll write about some of the coming-of-age movies which I consider to be the best in the genre.

The breakfast club, 1985.

A classic in this genre and a big reference for many movies, this John Hudges film is about 5 teens who spend a Saturday morning in detention and have to write an essay on "who do you think you are". The movie talks about the cliches in high school, in fact, every character follows a cliche: the criminal, the princess, the athlete, the brain and the basket case. The movie talks about lots of stuff regarding teens like peer pressure and identity quest. The movie has some good performances and the soundtrack is really good and epic, especially in the end scene.

The Perks of Being a Wallflower, 2012.

This 2012 movie written and directed by Stephen Chbosky based on his own novel with the same name is about a freshman, Charlie, whose best friend has recently died, that starts being friends with Sam and Patrick, who are seniors, and he starts experiencing lots of new stuff like love, drugs, and parties. The novel is one of my favorite books and the movie is even better. The whole story is really well-told and is very transparent, the movie is not ashamed or scared to talk about some really big themes like for example depression or sexual assault, among others. The performances are really good especially Logan Lerman, Emma Watson, Ezra Miller, and Paul Rudd. Also, the soundtrack is amazing and there are some scenes regarding music, like for example the car scene, which are really powerful.

Clueless, 1995.

This 90s comedy directed by Amy Heckerling starring Alicia Silverstone as Cher is surprisingly based on Jane Austen´s Emma. One of the most iconic movies ever with lots of comedy and good outfits. The movie talks about social class, love, and outward appearance. It´s considered to be one of the best coming-of-age movies and the performances are pretty good, especially Alica Silverstone and Paul Rudd.

Mean Girls, 2004.

Clueless is iconic but Mean Girls is the most iconic movie EVER. The script of this movie is written by the comedy queen Tina Fey and is directed by Mark Waters. Cady, Linsday Lohan, is a 16-year-old who just arrived in the states after spending her whole life in Africa. Cady finds herself in a completely new place with completely new people and manners in high school, there she meets "the greatest people you will ever meet", Janis and Damien, and also Regina and the rest of "The Plastics". The movie talks about all the cliches in high school, peer pressure and also about slut-shaming, among some other themes. One of the best comedies ever with really good performances especially by Lindsay Lohan, Rachel McAdams, Lizzy Caplan, and Tina Fey.

Booksmart, 2019.

This movie written and directed by Olivia Wilde, her directing debut, stars Kaithlyn Denver and Beanie Feldstein as 2 teens, Molly and Amy who realized on their last day of senior year that they haven´t enjoyed their high school life and try to have all the fun they haven´t had in 3 years in one night. Booksmart is one of my favorite comedies ever and in my opinion, one of the best coming-of-age movies ever. Many people compared Booksmart with Superbad, but Booksmart is actually much better than Superbad. Extremely funny but also really educational, it mainly talks about friendship but also about prejudice. The movie is general is really good especially the script and the performances, Beanie Feldstein is one of the best young actresses out there right now.

Mid 90s, 2018.

Jonah´s Hill directorial debut couldn´t have been better! Mid 90s is about a 13-year-old boy who starts being friends with a group of older kids who skate and eventually becomes one of them. The movie is really good, the whole story was really interesting and entertaining and the characters felt really real. The best thing this movie has is the cinematography which is awesome, as with most of the A24 movies. The soundtrack is also really good and perfectly fits with the 90s skating vibe the whole movie has and the performances are really good, especially Sunny Suljic who is only 14 and plays Sunburn.

Love Simon, 2018.

One of the most beautiful coming-of-age movies ever, based on the novel Simon Vs the Homo Sapiens Agenda is about a normal teen who is going through his last year of high school and is gay but doesn´t want anyone to know yet. Simon stars sending emails to another anonymous gay guy at school and he starts to fall in love. The movie is not a masterpiece, and sometimes it feels like an average teen movie but there are some scenes that are really good, especially the ones regarding the parent talk. I also feel like this movie is really necessary as teen movies with an LGBT main character are not really common and it was time a movie like this was released. The movie mainly talks about respect and love, and as I´ve said, there are some scenes that should be shown at schools as they are really educational and relatable. The performances are really good especially Nick Robinson as Simon and Jennifer Garner as Simon´s mom.

Lady Bird, 2017.

Lady Bird was Greta´s directorial debut and I personally believe that is the best coming-of-age movie ever made. Lady Bird is about the last year of highschool of Christine, a 17-year-old living in Sacramento going to a catholic school. The movie talks about pretty much every big theme of adolescence like friendship, love, sex, drugs, parties, college, becoming an adult and mainly mother-daughter relationships. Lady Bird has my favorite script ever, every scene feels like there was a hidden camera shooting some random average teens, everything feels so natural and realistic, and you really get to relate with the characters in how they feel. The performances are really good, Saoirse Ronan is amazing, Beanie Feldstein, Laurie Metcalf, Timothée Chalamet, Lucas Hedges, they are all really good. The cinematography is also pretty amazing, there are some really beautiful scenes. Lady Bird is a must-watch for any movie lover.