Best Coming-of-age Films
Greatest portraits of becoming an adult, which is one of the hardest life period one must cross. It can tell us a lot not only about young, but also about the world we live in and how difficult time it can be.
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- DirectorBernardo BertolucciStarsMichael PittLouis GarrelEva GreenA young American studying in Paris in 1968 strikes up a friendship with a French brother and sister. Set against the background of the '68 Paris student riots.
- DirectorJohn HughesStarsEmilio EstevezJudd NelsonMolly RingwaldFive high school students meet in Saturday detention and discover how they have a great deal more in common than they thought.
- DirectorKim Ki-dukStarsKim Ki-dukOh Yeong-suJong-ho KimA boy is raised by a Buddhist monk in an isolated floating temple where the years pass like the seasons.
- DirectorSam MendesStarsKevin SpaceyAnnette BeningThora BirchA sexually frustrated suburban father has a mid-life crisis after becoming infatuated with his daughter's best friend.
- DirectorSofia CoppolaStarsKirsten DunstJosh HartnettJames WoodsA group of male friends become obsessed with five mysterious sisters who are sheltered by their strict, religious parents in suburban Detroit in the mid 1970s.
- DirectorWes AndersonStarsGene HackmanGwyneth PaltrowAnjelica HustonThe eccentric members of a dysfunctional family reluctantly gather under the same roof for various reasons.
- DirectorRichard KellyStarsJake GyllenhaalJena MaloneMary McDonnellAfter narrowly escaping a bizarre accident, a troubled teenager is plagued by visions of a man in a large rabbit suit who manipulates him to commit a series of crimes.
- DirectorMike NicholsStarsDustin HoffmanAnne BancroftKatharine RossA disillusioned college graduate finds himself torn between his older lover and her daughter.
- DirectorFernando MeirellesKátia LundStarsAlexandre RodriguesLeandro FirminoMatheus NachtergaeleIn the slums of Rio, two kids' paths diverge as one struggles to become a photographer and the other a kingpin.
- DirectorDanny BoyleStarsEwan McGregorEwen BremnerJonny Lee MillerRenton, deeply immersed in the Edinburgh drug scene, tries to clean up and get out despite the allure of drugs and the influence of friends.
- DirectorAlfonso CuarónStarsMaribel VerdúGael García BernalDaniel Giménez CachoIn Mexico, two teenage boys and an older woman embark on a road trip and learn a thing or two about life and each other.
- DirectorGoran DukicStarsPatrick FugitShea WhighamTom WaitsA film set in a strange afterlife way station that has been reserved for people who have committed suicide.
- DirectorJames MangoldStarsWinona RyderAngelina JolieClea DuVallA directionless teenager, Susanna, is rushed to Claymoore, a mental institution, after a supposed suicide attempt. There, she befriends a group of troubled women who deeply influence her life.
- DirectorGregg ArakiStarsBrady CorbetJoseph Gordon-LevittElisabeth ShueTwo pre-adolescent boys both experienced a strange event and later it affects their lives in different ways. One becomes a reckless, sexually adventurous prostitute, while the other retreats into a reclusive fantasy of alien abduction.
- DirectorDanny BoyleLoveleen TandanStarsDev PatelFreida PintoSaurabh ShuklaA teenager from the slums of Mumbai becomes a contestant on the show 'Kaun Banega Crorepati?' When interrogated under suspicion of cheating, he revisits his past, revealing how he had all the answers.
- DirectorLarry ClarkStarsLeo FitzpatrickJustin PierceChloë SevignyA day in the life of a group of teens as they travel around New York City skating, drinking, smoking and deflowering virgins.
- DirectorRikki Beadle BlairStarsDuncan MacInnesLudvig BoninSasha FrostTakes a look at gay and straight love among the new millennials. Everything from secret crushes to homophobic attitudes are revealed by the rambunctious students taking Drama and Dance from Loris. None of the teens are what they seem at first glance, with gay hearts lurking behind tough exteriors and straight kids expressing themselves in very queer ways.
- DirectorJK YounStarsChang Jung LimHa Ji-WonChoi Seong-gukAt a South Korean university most students are busy having a good time. A 28 y.o. and his horny friends are always getting into hilarious situations. He likes a much younger, pretty girl but she likes someone else.
- DirectorPeter WeirStarsRobin WilliamsRobert Sean LeonardEthan HawkeMaverick teacher John Keating returns in 1959 to the prestigious New England boys' boarding school where he was once a star student, using poetry to embolden his pupils to new heights of self-expression.
- DirectorRichard AyoadeStarsCraig RobertsSally HawkinsPaddy Considine15-year-old Oliver Tate has two objectives: to lose his virginity before his next birthday, and to extinguish the flame between his mother and an ex-lover who has resurfaced in her life.
- DirectorLukas MoodyssonStarsAlexandra DahlströmRebecka LiljebergErica CarlsonTwo teenage girls in small-town Sweden. Elin is beautiful, popular, and bored with life. Agnes is friendless, sad, and secretly in love with Elin.
- DirectorGary RossStarsTobey MaguireJeff DanielsJoan AllenTwo 1990s teenage siblings find themselves transported to a 1950s sitcom where their influence begins to profoundly change that colorless, complacent world.
- DirectorPawel PawlikowskiStarsNatalie PressEmily BluntPaddy ConsidineIn the Yorkshire countryside, working-class tomboy Mona meets the exotic, pampered Tamsin. Over the summer season, the two young women discover they have much to teach one another, and much to explore together.
- DirectorCéline SciammaStarsPauline AcquartLouise BlachèreAdèle HaenelAfter meeting at a local pool over their summer break, a love triangle forms between three adolescent girls, which proves difficult to sustain as they each desire the love of another.
- DirectorAndrea ArnoldStarsKatie JarvisMichael FassbenderKierston WareingEverything changes for 15-year-old Mia when her mum brings home a new boyfriend.
- DirectorAlan BallStarsSummer BishilAaron EckhartPeter MacdissiA young Lebanese-American girl struggles with her sexual obsession, a bigoted Army reservist and her strict father during the Gulf War.
- DirectorLukas MoodyssonStarsOksana AkinshinaArtyom BogucharskiyPavel PonomaryovSixteen-year-old Lilja and her only friend, the young boy Volodja, live in Russia, fantasizing about a better life. One day, Lilja falls in love with Andrej, who is going to Sweden, and invites Lilja to come along and start a new life.
- DirectorTodd SolondzStarsJennifer Jason LeighEllen BarkinStephen Adly GuirgisAviva is thirteen, awkward and sensitive. Her mother Joyce is warm and loving, as is her father, Steve, a regular guy who does have a fierce temper from time to time. The film revolves around her family, friends and neighbors.
- DirectorKimberly PeirceStarsHilary SwankChloë SevignyPeter SarsgaardA young man named Brandon Teena navigates love, life, and being transgender in rural Nebraska.
- DirectorJason ReitmanStarsElliot PageMichael CeraJennifer GarnerFaced with an unplanned pregnancy, an offbeat young woman makes a selfless decision regarding the unborn child.
- DirectorDennis GanselStarsJürgen VogelFrederick LauMax RiemeltA high school teacher's experiment to demonstrate to his students what life is like under a dictatorship spins horribly out of control when he forms a social unit with a life of its own.
- DirectorJordan ScottStarsEva GreenJuno TempleMaría ValverdeA look at the lives and relationships among girls at an elite boarding school.
- DirectorJohn CrowleyStarsAndrew GarfieldPeter MullanShaun EvansThe story of a young Jack, newly released from serving a prison sentence for a violent crime he committed as a child.
- DirectorJonathan DaytonValerie FarisStarsSteve CarellToni ColletteGreg KinnearA family determined to get their young daughter into the finals of a beauty pageant take a cross-country trip in their VW bus.
- DirectorChristophe BarratierStarsGérard JugnotFrançois BerléandJean-Baptiste MaunierPierre, a successful orchestra conductor, returns home when his mother dies. He stumbles upon an old diary and recollects the childhood school memories and his music teacher Clement Mathieu.
- DirectorLee DanielsStarsGabourey SidibeMo'NiquePaula PattonIn New York City's Harlem circa 1987, an overweight, abused, illiterate teen who is pregnant with her second child is invited to enroll in an alternative school in hopes that she can re-route her life in a better direction.
- DirectorVincent ParonnaudMarjane SatrapiStarsChiara MastroianniCatherine DeneuveGena RowlandsA precocious and outspoken Iranian girl grows up during the Islamic Revolution.
- DirectorAdam ElliotStarsToni CollettePhilip Seymour HoffmanEric BanaIn 1976 Melbourne, a lonely 8-year-old girl strikes up a correspondence with an unlikely pen pal: a severely obese 44-year-old New Yorker with Asperger's syndrome.
- DirectorPeter JacksonStarsMelanie LynskeyKate WinsletSarah PeirseTwo teenage girls share a unique bond; their parents, concerned that the friendship is too intense, separate them, and the girls take revenge.
- DirectorAnh Hung TranStarsKen'ichi MatsuyamaRinko KikuchiKiko MizuharaToru recalls his life in the 1960s, when his friend Kizuki killed himself and he grew close to Naoko, Kizuki's girlfriend, and another woman, the outgoing, lively Midori.
- DirectorNiki CaroStarsKeisha Castle-HughesRawiri ParateneVicky HaughtonA contemporary story of love, rejection and triumph as a young Maori girl fights to fulfill a destiny her grandfather refuses to recognize.
- DirectorStephen DaldryStarsJamie BellJulie WaltersJean HeywoodA talented young boy becomes torn between his unexpected love of dance and the disintegration of his family.
- DirectorPedro AlmodóvarStarsGael García BernalFele MartínezJavier CámaraAn examination on the effect of Franco-era religious schooling and sexual abuse on the lives of two longtime friends.
- DirectorGabor CsupoStarsJosh HutchersonAnnaSophia RobbZooey DeschanelA preteen's life turns upside down when he befriends the new girl in school and they imagine a whole new fantasy world to escape reality.
- DirectorLisa CholodenkoStarsAnnette BeningJulianne MooreMark RuffaloTwo children conceived by artificial insemination bring their biological father into their non-traditional family life.
- DirectorPhillip NoyceStarsEverlyn SampiTianna SansburyKenneth BranaghIn 1931, three half-white, half-Aboriginal girls escape after being plucked from their houses to be trained as domestic staff, and set off on a journey across the Outback.
- DirectorYorgos LanthimosStarsChristos StergioglouMichele ValleyAngeliki PapouliaA controlling, manipulative father locks his three adult offsprings in a state of perpetual childhood by keeping them prisoner within the sprawling family compound.
- DirectorMichael LehmannStarsWinona RyderChristian SlaterShannen DohertyAt Westerburg High where cliques rule, jocks dominate and all the popular girls are named Heather, it's going to take a Veronica and mysterious new kid to give teen angst a body count.
- DirectorGiuseppe TornatoreStarsPhilippe NoiretEnzo CannavaleAntonella AttiliA filmmaker recalls his childhood when falling in love with the pictures at the cinema of his home village and forms a deep friendship with the cinema's projectionist.
- DirectorGiuseppe TornatoreStarsMonica BellucciGiuseppe SulfaroLuciano FedericoAmidst the war climate, a teenage boy discovering himself becomes love-stricken by Malèna, a sensual woman living in a small, narrow-minded Italian town.
- DirectorMarc ForsterStarsJohnny DeppKate WinsletJulie ChristieThe story of Sir J.M. Barrie's friendship with a family who inspired him to create Peter Pan.
- DirectorScott HicksStarsAnthony HopkinsAnton YelchinHope DavisWidowed Liz Garfield and her son Bobby change when mysterious stranger Ted Brautigan enters their lives.
- DirectorLarry ClarkEdward LachmanStarsAdam ChubbuckJames BullardSeth GrayKen Park is about several Californian skateboarders' lives and relationships with and without their parents.
- DirectorDamien O'DonnellStarsOm PuriLinda BassettJordan RoutledgeIn early 1970s England, a Pakistani father finds the authority he has previously maintained challenged by his increasingly Anglicized children.
- DirectorJamie BabbitStarsNatasha LyonneClea DuVallMichelle WilliamsA naive teenager is sent to rehab camp when her straitlaced parents and friends suspect her of being a lesbian.
- DirectorCéline SciammaStarsZoé HéranMalonn LévanaJeanne DissonA family moves into a new neighborhood, and a 10-year-old named Laure deliberately presents as a boy named Mikhael to the neighborhood children.
- DirectorEmir KusturicaStarsDavor DujmovicBora TodorovicLjubica AdzovicIn this luminous tale set in the area around Sarajevo and in Italy, Perhan, an engaging young Romany (gypsy) with telekinetic powers, is seduced by the quick-cash world of petty crime, which threatens to destroy him and those he loves.
- DirectorWolfgang BeckerStarsDaniel BrühlKatrin SassChulpan KhamatovaIn 1990, to protect his fragile mother from a fatal shock after a long coma, a young man must keep her from learning that her beloved nation of East Germany as she knew it has disappeared.
- DirectorAndrés WoodStarsMatías QuerAriel MatelunaManuela MartelliTwo 12-year-old Chilean children from different social classes become friends in 1973. They both discover each other's world as political tensions in their country increase.
- DirectorScott HicksStarsAnthony HopkinsAnton YelchinHope DavisWidowed Liz Garfield and her son Bobby change when mysterious stranger Ted Brautigan enters their lives.
- DirectorVijjapat KojiwSongyos SugmakananNithiwat TharatornStarsCharlie TrairatFocus JirakulCharwin JitsomboonJeab hears that his childhood sweetheart Noi-Naa is to be married, so he makes the trip back home to his provincial village. As he does so, the memories come flooding back to his childhood in 1980s Thailand. He remembers always being late to school, so his father would have to give him a ride on the back of the motorcycle. After school, he would always play with Noi-Naa and her girlfriends while the neighborhood boys rode their bicycles and played football and Chinese fantasy characters.
- DirectorPeter BogdanovichStarsRyan O'NealTatum O'NealMadeline KahnDuring the Great Depression, a con man finds himself saddled with a young girl who may or may not be his daughter, and the two forge an unlikely partnership.
- DirectorChris WeitzPaul WeitzStarsHugh GrantNicholas HoultToni ColletteWill, who attends single parent meetings to woo women, meets Marcus, a troubled 12-year-old boy. As they become friends, Will learns to be responsible while he helps Marcus with his studies.
- DirectorWes AndersonStarsJared GilmanKara HaywardBruce WillisTwo 12-year-olds, who live on an island, fall in love with each other and elope into the wilderness. While people set out on a search mission, a violent storm approaching them catches their attention.
- DirectorStephen ChboskyStarsLogan LermanEmma WatsonEzra MillerCharlie, a 15-year-old introvert, enters high school and is nervous about his new life. When he befriends his seniors, he learns to cope with his friend's suicide and his tumultuous past.
- DirectorRobert MulliganStarsGregory PeckJohn MegnaFrank OvertonAtticus Finch, a widowed lawyer in Depression-era Alabama, defends a Black man against an undeserved rape charge, and tries to educate his young children against prejudice.
- DirectorRoberto BenigniStarsRoberto BenigniNicoletta BraschiGiorgio CantariniWhen an open-minded Jewish waiter and his son become victims of the Holocaust, he uses a perfect mixture of will, humor and imagination to protect his son from the dangers around their camp.
- DirectorMona AchacheStarsJosiane BalaskoGarance Le GuillermicTogo IgawaThe life of a determined young girl is changed when she befriends her building's concierge, a solitary woman who is more than what she seems.
- DirectorBrian DannellyStarsJena MaloneMandy MooreMacaulay CulkinWhen a girl attending a Christian high school becomes pregnant, all of her former friends turn on her and she is ostracized and demonized.
- DirectorLasse HallströmStarsJohnny DeppLeonardo DiCaprioJuliette LewisA young man in a small Midwestern town struggles to care for his mentally-disabled younger brother and morbidly obese mother while attempting to pursue his own happiness.
- DirectorNicholas RayStarsJames DeanNatalie WoodSal MineoA rebellious young man with a troubled past comes to a new town, finding friends and enemies.
- DirectorPeter BogdanovichStarsTimothy BottomsJeff BridgesCybill ShepherdIn 1951, a group of high schoolers come of age in a bleak, isolated, atrophied North Texas town that is slowly dying, both culturally and economically.
- DirectorGuillermo del ToroStarsIvana BaqueroAriadna GilSergi LópezIn the Falangist Spain of 1944, the bookish young stepdaughter of a sadistic army officer escapes into an eerie but captivating fantasy world.
- DirectorVictor FlemingKing VidorStarsJudy GarlandFrank MorganRay BolgerYoung Dorothy Gale and her dog Toto are swept away by a tornado from their Kansas farm to the magical Land of Oz, and embark on a quest with three new friends to see the Wizard, who can return her to her home and fulfill the others' wishes.
- DirectorDanny DeVitoStarsDanny DeVitoRhea PerlmanMara WilsonA girl gifted with a keen intellect and psychic powers uses both to get even with her callous family and free her kindly schoolteacher from the tyrannical grip of a sadistic headmistress.
- DirectorAgnieszka HollandStarsKate MaberlyMaggie SmithHeydon ProwseA young, recently-orphaned girl is sent to England after living in India all of her life. Once there, she begins to explore her new, seemingly-isolated surroundings, and its secrets.
- DirectorStephen DaldryStarsKate WinsletRalph FiennesBruno GanzPost-WWII Germany: Nearly a decade after his affair with an older woman came to a mysterious end, law student Michael Berg re-encounters his former lover as she defends herself in a war-crime trial.
- DirectorJoe WrightStarsKeira KnightleyJames McAvoyBrenda BlethynThirteen-year-old fledgling writer Briony Tallis irrevocably changes the course of several lives when she accuses her older sister's lover of a crime he did not commit.
- DirectorGil JungerStarsHeath LedgerJulia StilesJoseph Gordon-LevittA high-school boy, Cameron, cannot date Bianca until her anti-social older sister, Kat, has a boyfriend. So, Cameron pays a mysterious boy, Patrick, to charm Kat.
- DirectorJan KomasaStarsJakub GierszalRoma GasiorowskaAgata KuleszaAfter suffering extreme humiliation at school, Dominik holes himself up in his room and begins spending all his time in a virtual reality chat room.
- DirectorLucía PuenzoStarsRicardo DarínValeria BertuccelliGermán PalaciosThe story of an intersex fifteen-year-old. She lives with her parents, who have to cope with the challenges of her medical condition.
- DirectorGeoff BennettStarsSaskia BurmeisterTracy MannRichard CarterClassmates Erica Yurgen and Alison Ashley vie with each other to become the undisputed star of their class.
- DirectorJan SvankmajerStarsKristýna KohoutováCamilla PowerA surrealistic revision of Alice in Wonderland.
- DirectorJoze BevcStarsBert SotlarDare ValicMajda PotokarIn Ljubljana lives a bus driver Stebe. He's a widower. He lives with five sons and a maid Rozi. The boys are very naughty and keep annoying Rozi and, in fact all neighbourhood. One day Rozi in desperation declares that she is leaving them, because she cant stand it no more. And she does leave, although she is fond of the boys. Soon afterwards Rozi's niece Meri comes by, asking if she might stay because she wants to find herself a job in town. Meri is good girl but cannot cope with the kitchen work as successfully as her aunt. But the whole Steb family seems to be charmed by her. Even one of Stebe's own colleagues, Tone, begins to take interest in the girl. Meri likes him too. Stebe's boys feel quite disappointed because of it. But all's well that ends well: in full conspiracy Meri qualifies as bus driver while Rozi returns to the Stebe family.
- DirectorNejc GazvodaStarsLuka CimpricJure HenigmanNina RakovecThree friends embark on a road trip like in high school, but things have changed - Gregor is going to war mission, Ziva is going to study abroad, while Andrej is still the same. There are secrets left unsaid. Can their friendship survive?
- DirectorJane KavcicStarsMatjaz GrudenMatija TavcarNino de GleriaThis film takes place in Ljubljana, the capital of Slovenia. Matic lives in a large neighbourhood of concrete blocks of flats with his mother. As his father is temporarily working in Libya, they live alone. Matics' otherwise monotonous life changes dramatically when he is chosen to feature in a film. At the shooting he meets Milena, a girl his own age whom he begins to like. When the shooting is over, the film company gives him a present, a huge black Newfoundlander. Although his mother is not really pleased about it, Matic brings the dog home. And that is just the beginning of their adventures...
- DirectorTodd SolondzStarsHeather MatarazzoChristina BrucatoVictoria DavisAn awkward seventh-grader struggles to cope with inattentive parents, snobbish class-mates, a smart older brother, an attractive younger sister and her own insecurities in suburban New Jersey.
- DirectorSteven SpielbergStarsDanny GloverWhoopi GoldbergOprah WinfreyA tale spanning forty years in the life of Celie, an African-American woman living in the South who survives incredible abuse and bigotry.
- DirectorElla LemhagenStarsGustaf SkarsgårdTorkel PeterssonTom LjungmanA Swedish gay couple adopt what they think is an 18-month-old orphan, only to meet their new son, a 15-year-old homophobic delinquent.
- DirectorMike NewellStarsJulia RobertsKirsten DunstJulia StilesA free-thinking art professor teaches conservative 1950s Wellesley girls to question their traditional social roles.
- DirectorDiane KurysStarsEléonore KlarweinOdile MichelAnouk FerjacA year in the life of two adolescent sisters at an all-girls school in France as they experience a rapid-fire onslaught of 'firsts' during a time of political protest and social change.
- DirectorAzazel JacobsStarsJohn C. ReillyJacob WysockiBridger ZadinaIn a small town, a morbidly-obese, 15yo's bullied, as he struggles to adjust to his difficult life.
- DirectorTerry GilliamStarsJeff BridgesJennifer TillyJodelle FerlandBecause of the actions of her irresponsible parents, a young girl is left alone on a decrepit country estate and survives inside her fantastic imagination.
- DirectorNoah BaumbachStarsOwen KlineJeff DanielsLaura LinneyFollows two young boys dealing with their parents' divorce in Brooklyn in the 1980s.
- DirectorCameron CroweStarsBilly CrudupPatrick FugitKate HudsonA high-school boy in the early 1970s is given the chance to write a story for Rolling Stone magazine about an up-and-coming rock band as he accompanies them on their concert tour.
- DirectorJasmila ZbanicStarsMirjana KaranovicLuna Zimic MijovicLeon LucevA woman and her daughter struggle to make their way through the aftermath of the Bosnian War.
- DirectorJ.B. Ghuman Jr.StarsSavannah StehlinRodney EastmanRobert BradvicaA colorful and foul-mouthed feature musical comedy. A film about a frizzy-haired, pink-cheeked outcast named Spork who is trying to navigate her way through the annals of junior high. When a school dance show provides a chance for Spork to show up a mean girls gang, her trailer-park neighbor steps up to coach her with some "booty-poppin" moves. Featuring a vintage '90s soundtrack (that includes 2-Live Crew, JJ Fad's "SuperSonic," Dimples T's "Get It Girl"), a score by Casey James and the Staypuft Kid; and extended school hall dance sequences, Spork is a film about standing out and fitting in.
- DirectorMike MillsStarsLou Taylor PucciTilda SwintonVincent D'OnofrioJustin throws himself and everyone around him into chaos when he attempts to break free from his addiction to his thumb.
- DirectorMichael PavoneStarsEd HarrisChase EllisonMolly ParkerIn 1965, 13 y.o. paperboy Andy's paired up with a geek on a project in the popular junior high teacher's class. Andy learns and grows from it.
- DirectorFrançois OzonStarsFabrice LuchiniVincent SchmittErnst UmhauerA high school French teacher is drawn into a precocious student's increasingly transgressive story about his relationship with a friend's family.