Coming Out of Age
by sheyenne | created - 06 Nov 2013 | updated - 07 Jan 2020 | PublicObscure coming-of-age films that's not your breakfast club
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1. Puberty Blues (1981)
R | 87 min | Comedy, Drama
The mating rituals of two teenage surf chicks from the southern suburbs of Sydney.
Director: Bruce Beresford | Stars: Nell Schofield, Jad Capelja, Jeffrey Rhoe, Tony Hughes
Votes: 1,663 | Gross: $0.24M
How to beat peer pressure set in late 70s/early 80s Sidney
2. Peppermint Soda (1977)
PG | 97 min | Comedy, Drama, Romance
A 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.
Director: Diane Kurys | Stars: Eléonore Klarwein, Odile Michel, Anouk Ferjac, Michel Puterflam
Votes: 1,606
Sibling Rivalry
3. Twist and Shout (1984)
R | 99 min | Comedy, Drama, Music
Denmark, 1963: Teenagers Bjørn and Erik are into girls and being in a band helps Bjørn meet Anna. Erik likes Kirsten but she likes Bjørn. Having a mentally ill mom at home also ruins Erik's chances. Anna's pregnancy changes everything.
Director: Bille August | Stars: Adam Tønsberg, Lars Simonsen, Camilla Søeberg, Ulrikke Bondo
Votes: 1,954
Swedish boys struggle with teenhood in Beatles-era Scandinavia
4. Bagets (1984)
90 min | Comedy, Drama, Romance
Five chaste adolescents attempt to navigate the wild and unpredictable drama of their final year of high school, only to discover that their friendship is what keeps them afloat.
Director: Maryo J. de los Reyes | Stars: William Martinez, Herbert Bautista, J.C. Bonnin, Raymond Lauchengco
Votes: 86
Life of middle-class teenage boys in Manila during the 80s
5. This Is England (2006)
Not Rated | 101 min | Crime, Drama
A young boy becomes friends with a gang of skinheads. Friends soon become like family, and relationships will be pushed to the very limit.
Director: Shane Meadows | Stars: Thomas Turgoose, Stephen Graham, Jo Hartley, Andrew Shim
Votes: 128,652 | Gross: $0.33M
Quiet boy is befriended by a local skinhead
6. Lucas (1986)
PG-13 | 100 min | Comedy, Drama, Romance
A socially inept fourteen-year-old experiences heartbreak for the first time when his two best friends - Cappie, an older-brother figure, and Maggie, the new girl with whom he is in love - fall for each other.
Director: David Seltzer | Stars: Corey Haim, Kerri Green, Charlie Sheen, Courtney Thorne-Smith
Votes: 17,517 | Gross: $8.20M
A jock befriends the underdog
7. My Bodyguard (1980)
PG | 102 min | Comedy, Drama, Family
When a boy comes to a new school and gets harassed by a bully, he acquires the services of the school's most feared kid as a bodyguard.
Director: Tony Bill | Stars: Chris Makepeace, Adam Baldwin, Matt Dillon, Paul Quandt
Votes: 10,826 | Gross: $22.48M
Dork hires the most fearsome boy in his batch as his bodyguard
8. Seven Minutes in Heaven (1986)
PG-13 | 88 min | Comedy, Drama, Romance
When her father goes out of town, beautiful A-student Natalie lets best friends Jeff and Polly move in. Separately and together, the trio of young teens learn much about life, love, and growing up.
Director: Linda Feferman | Stars: Jennifer Connelly, Byron Thames, Maddie Corman, Alan Boyce
Votes: 2,060 | Gross: $0.03M
A square girl trying to be an adult, another one sex-obsessed and a boy with an identity crisis and can't deal with his parents
9. Square Dance (1987)
PG-13 | 112 min | Drama, Romance
A 13-year-old girl changes a pleasant life in the countryside for a troubled life in the city.
Director: Daniel Petrie | Stars: Jason Robards, Jane Alexander, Winona Ryder, Rob Lowe
Votes: 1,071 | Gross: $0.23M
A young girl learns about the harsh realities of adult life
10. Bugsy Malone (1976)
G | 93 min | Comedy, Crime, Family
The classic gangster story of Bugsy Malone told with an all-child cast.
Director: Alan Parker | Stars: Jodie Foster, Scott Baio, Florence Garland, John Cassisi
Votes: 19,377 | Gross: $2.78M
Depression-era mobster re-telling with teens playing as adults
11. Endless Love (1981)
R | 116 min | Drama, Romance
Parental disapproval of a passionate romance between two teenagers leads to arguments, circumstance, insanity and tragedy.
Director: Franco Zeffirelli | Stars: Brooke Shields, Martin Hewitt, Shirley Knight, Don Murray
Votes: 9,559 | Gross: $31.18M
Teenage rebellion and first love
12. Over the Edge (1979)
PG | 95 min | Crime, Drama
A group of bored teenagers rebel against authority in the community of New Granada after the death of one of their own.
Director: Jonathan Kaplan | Stars: Matt Dillon, Michael Eric Kramer, Pamela Ludwig, Vincent Spano
Votes: 8,117
Teen angst pushed to the limit
13. Sweet Sixteen (I) (2002)
R | 106 min | Crime, Drama
Determined to have a normal family life once his mother gets out of prison, a Scottish teenager from a tough background sets out to raise the money for a home.
Director: Ken Loach | Stars: Martin Compston, Michelle Coulter, Annmarie Fulton, William Ruane
Votes: 15,759 | Gross: $0.03M
Adolescence is a tough life
14. The Perks of Being a Wallflower (2012)
PG-13 | 103 min | Drama
Charlie, 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.
Director: Stephen Chbosky | Stars: Logan Lerman, Emma Watson, Ezra Miller, Paul Rudd
Votes: 547,431 | Gross: $17.74M
The true difficulties of the young depicted in the film are disguised and muted. Underneath the veneer of behavior lies much darker episodes revealed in gentle shocks. And everyone is trying to cope, some fairly and some barely by the fringes. Dense, introspective and anti-iconic.
15. The Last American Virgin (1982)
R | 92 min | Comedy, Drama, Romance
Pizza delivery boy Gary, loudmouth David and hunky Rick are three high school students out to lose their virginity any way they can. Gary falls for transfer student Karen, who gets involved with Rick.
Director: Boaz Davidson | Stars: Lawrence Monoson, Diane Franklin, Steve Antin, Joe Rubbo
Votes: 9,758 | Gross: $5.83M
because life is not all peaches and cream
16. Permanent Record (1988)
PG-13 | 91 min | Drama, Music, Romance
A man who seemingly has it all together, being smart, talented, funny, and popular, is secretly overwhelmed by expectations of himself and those of his parents, and suffers what is assumed to be a horrible accident.
Director: Marisa Silver | Stars: Alan Boyce, Keanu Reeves, Pamela Gidley, Michael Elgart
Votes: 2,290 | Gross: $1.89M
A promising H.S. senior giving up on the overwhelming expectations, burdens and the anxiety of the future affected his school crew making them reflect on life in general.
17. Brighton Beach Memoirs (1986)
PG-13 | 108 min | Comedy
Eugene, a young teenage Jewish boy, recalls his memoirs of his time as an adolescent youth. He goes through the hardships of puberty, sexual fantasy, and living the life of a poor boy in a crowded house.
Director: Gene Saks | Stars: Blythe Danner, Jonathan Silverman, Stacey Glick, Lisa Waltz
Votes: 3,861 | Gross: $11.96M
Set in the era when family is the strong-hold of principles, parents - responsible, siblings - pillars of support
18. Grandview, U.S.A. (1984)
R | 97 min | Drama
With only a week left before graduation, a young dreamer itches to renounce an uninspiring scholarship, stand up to his despotic father and pursue a career in oceanography. But, has anyone ever spread his wings away from Grandview, U.S.A.?
Director: Randal Kleiser | Stars: Jamie Lee Curtis, C. Thomas Howell, Patrick Swayze, Troy Donahue
Votes: 2,277 | Gross: $4.74M
19. Hesher (2010)
R | 106 min | Comedy, Drama
A young boy has lost his mother and is losing touch with his father and the world around him. Then he meets Hesher who manages to make his life even more chaotic.
Director: Spencer Susser | Stars: Joseph Gordon-Levitt, Devin Brochu, Natalie Portman, Rainn Wilson
Votes: 54,075 | Gross: $0.38M
20. Win Win (2011)
R | 106 min | Comedy, Drama, Sport
A struggling lawyer and volunteer wrestling coach's chicanery comes back to haunt him when the teenage grandson of the client he has double-crossed comes into his life.
Director: Tom McCarthy | Stars: Paul Giamatti, Amy Ryan, Jeffrey Tambor, Bobby Cannavale
Votes: 55,239 | Gross: $10.18M
21. The Way Way Back (2013)
PG-13 | 103 min | Comedy, Drama
Shy 14-year-old Duncan goes on summer vacation with his mother, her overbearing boyfriend, and her boyfriend's daughter. Having a rough time fitting in, Duncan finds an unexpected friend in Owen, manager of the Water Wizz water park.
Directors: Nat Faxon, Jim Rash | Stars: Steve Carell, Toni Collette, Allison Janney, AnnaSophia Robb
Votes: 156,779 | Gross: $21.50M
22. The Outsiders (1983)
PG | 91 min | Crime, Drama
In a small Oklahoma town in 1964, the rivalry between two gangs, the poor Greasers and the rich Socs, heats up when one gang member accidentally kills a member of the other.
Director: Francis Ford Coppola | Stars: C. Thomas Howell, Matt Dillon, Ralph Macchio, Patrick Swayze
Votes: 97,357 | Gross: $25.60M
23. Ode to Billy Joe (1976)
PG | 106 min | Drama
In 1950s Mississippi, teenager Bobbie Lee Hartley navigates her blossoming hormones as she is courted by Billy Joe McAllister, who is headed for tragedy.
Director: Max Baer Jr. | Stars: Robby Benson, Glynnis O'Connor, Joan Hotchkis, Sandy McPeak
Votes: 2,154
24. The Diary of a Teenage Girl (2015)
R | 102 min | Comedy, Drama, Romance
A teen artist living in 1970s San Francisco enters into an affair with her mother's boyfriend.
Director: Marielle Heller | Stars: Bel Powley, Alexander Skarsgård, Kristen Wiig, Christopher Meloni
Votes: 33,530 | Gross: $1.48M
25. Valerie and Her Week of Wonders (1970)
Not Rated | 77 min | Adventure, Drama, Fantasy
Surreal tale in which love, fear, sex, and religion merge into one fantastic world. Based on a classical Czech novel of the same title.
Director: Jaromil Jires | Stars: Jaroslava Schallerová, Helena Anýzová, Petr Kopriva, Jirí Prýmek
Votes: 11,209
26. Girl in Progress (2012)
PG-13 | 93 min | Comedy, Drama
As single mom Grace juggles work, bills, and her affair with a married doctor, her daughter, Ansiedad, plots a shortcut to adulthood after finding inspiration in the coming-of-age stories she's reading for school.
Director: Patricia Riggen | Stars: Eva Mendes, Cierra Ramirez, Patricia Arquette, Matthew Modine
Votes: 7,023 | Gross: $2.59M
27. The Wanderers (1979)
R | 112 min | Crime, Drama, Romance
The Wanderers is a teenage, Italian gang in Bronx, NYC, 1963. They have their confrontations with other gangs. Drugs and weapons are uncool. Adult life awaits them.
Director: Philip Kaufman | Stars: Ken Wahl, Karen Allen, John Friedrich, Toni Kalem
Votes: 12,345 | Gross: $0.01M
28. River's Edge (1986)
R | 99 min | Crime, Drama
A high school slacker commits a shocking act and proceeds to let his friends in on the secret. However, the friends' reaction is almost as ambiguous and perplexing as the crime itself.
Director: Tim Hunter | Stars: Crispin Glover, Keanu Reeves, Ione Skye, Daniel Roebuck
Votes: 20,631 | Gross: $4.60M
29. American Graffiti (1973)
PG | 110 min | Comedy, Drama
A group of teenagers in California's central valley spend one final night after their 1962 high school graduation cruising the strip with their buddies before they pursue their varying goals.
Director: George Lucas | Stars: Richard Dreyfuss, Ron Howard, Paul Le Mat, Charles Martin Smith
Votes: 98,027 | Gross: $115.00M
30. Dazed and Confused (1993)
R | 103 min | Comedy
The adventures of high school and junior high students on the last day of school in May 1976.
Director: Richard Linklater | Stars: Jason London, Wiley Wiggins, Matthew McConaughey, Rory Cochrane
Votes: 199,095 | Gross: $7.99M
31. Quadrophenia (1979)
R | 120 min | Drama, Music
Jimmy Cooper loathes his dead-end job and his working-class parents. He seeks solace with his mod clique, scooter riding, and drugs, only to be disappointed.
Director: Franc Roddam | Stars: Phil Daniels, Leslie Ash, Phil Davis, Mark Wingett
Votes: 20,839
32. Raw (2016)
R | 99 min | Drama, Horror
A young woman, studying to be a vet, develops a craving for human flesh.
Director: Julia Ducournau | Stars: Garance Marillier, Ella Rumpf, Rabah Nait Oufella, Laurent Lucas
Votes: 88,988 | Gross: $0.51M
33. Our Little Sister (2015)
PG | 127 min | Drama, Family
Three sisters who live in their grandmother's home invite their thirteen-year-old half sister, whom they have just met, to join them.
Director: Kore-eda Hirokazu | Stars: Haruka Ayase, Masami Nagasawa, Kaho, Suzu Hirose
Votes: 16,868 | Gross: $0.46M
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