Being a teenager is easy.
Whether it’s the sensitive transition from the years of formation to puberty or the moment when, despite everything, you leave your home and find yourself on your own, adolescence is an emotional and messy enterprise.
What’s it about?
In short, eighth grade is about the hellscape of being a 13-year-old.
Why are you looking at him?
Eighth grade will air on NOW TV in the UK and Amazon Prime in the US.
What’s it about?
Greta Gerwig’s Oscar-nominated solo directorial debut revolves around Christine (Saoirse Ronan), a 17-year-old high-level student who calls herself Lady Bird and aspires to drop her off in Sacramento and go to school in the east. Coast.
Their dating is full of contrasts and sharp edges: they are close in some respects but very remote (and different) to others. Lady Bird’s father told him at one point that “they both have such a strong personality.” The question of whether or not these personalities will separate them, or whether one of them will bend, is at the center of this moving film. – S.H.
As the title suggests, Pariah follows a protagonist who feels like an outcast — not just in society at large, but within her own community and family. Her parents seem barely able to voice their suspicions about her sexuality, let alone acknowledge or accept it; meanwhile, she’s still awkwardly feeling out the local gay scene, trying to figure out how she fits in. But Pariah isn’t the stark tragedy you might assume from the title. Writer-director Dee Rees, who also directed the stellar Mudbound, treats Alike with too much care and empathy for that. Alike’s journey encompasses moments of joy as well as heartbreak, humor as well as sorrow. We watch as she slips between the person she thinks she’s supposed to be, the person others want her to be, and the person she hopes she is, finally reaching, in the end, space to truly become herself. — Angie Han, Deputy Entertainment Editor
What’s it about?
Jesminder “Jess” Bhamra (Parminder Nagra) is the perfect daughter to her Punjabi parents in London — except for her undying love of football. Bend It Like Beckham finds Jess at a crossroads, fresh out of school and thinking about university while her family prepares for sister Pinky’s wedding (Archie Panjabi). In the midst of this madness, Jess starts playing for a local women’s football team, led by Jules (Keira Knightley) and coached by the handsome Joe (Jonathan Rhys-Meyers). With her own dreams and her parents’ expectations locking horns, Jess faces massive decisions about her future — and about who she wants in it.
There are so many reasons! First of all, this film is directed by Luca Guadagnino, and every scene feels deeply sensual and erotic while also being infused with a great deal of emotion. It’s hard to watch this movie and not feel transported back to your own adolescence, to holiday crushes and short-lived romances. The film beautifully captures the intensity and intoxication of young love while contrasting it with its transience. Elio and Oliver’s romance is sun-drenched, emotionally-charged, but it is also sadly short-lived. The Sufjan Stevens soundtrack brings a powerful energy to a few scenes and could honestly serve as some kind of anthem to young love. Oh, and you’ll never be able to look at a peach the same way after watching. — Rachel Thompson, Senior UK Culture Reporter
Why are you looking at him?
What’s it about?
I’m not going to spoil the ending, but I’ll say that the music – “Always With Me” through Youmi Kimura – satisfies me when I think about it. – S.H.
Marieme (Karidja Touré) is a black teenager in the rough suburbs of Paris, who suffers with a violent brother at home and faces a long dubious career after high school. She falls into a local clique of bad girls, who find joy, strength and a new sense of themselves in their connection.
Girlhood must be streamed on Amazon Prime in the UK and US.
Its uniqueness and ambition are valuable to see, however, the film has much more to offer than that. It is also magnificently transformed and full of the kind of nostalgic moments and memories that make you reflect on the trampolines that took you on your own teenage journey, no matter how much possible. – S.H.
Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse is available to stream on NOW TV in the UK and Netflix in the U.S.
What’s this about?
Olivia Wilde’s director’s debut follows two proudly intelligent and productive friends, Amy (Kaitlyn Dever) and Molly (Beanie Feldstein), as they navigate a wild night to celebrate their graduation from the best school. Crashes are involved and, as you can guess, things don’t go as planned.
As Mashable’s Angie Han wrote when the movie came out, Booksmart is destined to become a classic of its genre.
What’s this about?
The presence of Luisa (Maribel Verde) adds a detail of mystery, and in the end emotion, to the film, drumming at home the concept that the trips we make when we are younger can never be re-embodied. – S.H.
And Your Mama is also available for streaming on Netflix in the United States.
Don’t look at this one over dinner. – S.H.
What’s this about?
A thorny and provocative young teenager named Ricky Baker (Julian Dennison) digs up with his dog Tupac in the chimney in the New Zealand forest with a fierce and reluctant caregiver (Sam Neill), chased through a cursed but well-meaning child officer.
While the film’s premise is fairly straightforward, what The Edge of Seventeen has that no other movie can match is director Kelly Fremon Craig’s impeccably sharp script. Particularly in the hands of Steinfeld and Woody Harrelson as her jaded teacher/sounding board, so many lines that could be caustic or cringey reach new heights of dark and distressed comedy gold. Hayden Szeto will steal your heart as Erwin, a boy at school crushing on Nadine, and you’ll root for the two of them and for Nadine and her best friend to pull things back, if only a little, from the edge. — P.K.
Why should you watch it?
Brick is far from the realism of videos like Eighth Grade (above) or Fish Tank (which comes on this list), however, it’s through design, all through design, everything has the feeling of a graphic novel, a stylized and satisfying mystery. about an important character who surely has nothing to lose.
What’s this about?
Like other films on this list, Real Women Have Curves is a basic story about the quotes we have with our parents during our training years. The tension between Ana and Carmen is at the center of the film and is perfectly familiar to women and mothers around the world, especially immigrant families. Carmen is difficult with her daughter, criticizes her weight and is furious about her secret dates; however, each and every mother was once girls. Although she requires time and work, she tries to see Ana as she really is: not a girl, but a woman, whose ambitions and desires were made imaginable thanks to the woman who raised her. – P.K.
Real Women Have Curves is available for broadcasting on Hulu in the United States.
A troubled teenager is haunted by visions of a giant rabbit that tells him the world is going to end in 28 days. As his visions intensify, the rabbit starts telling him to do bad things.
Why are you looking at him?
Based on Melina Marchetta’s beloved young-school novel, Looking for Alibrandi follows Josie Alibrandi, a 17-year-old Australian-Italian girl who has just started her senior year at Sydney High School, with all the painful infatuation, an unthinkable racist tragedy. and the bullying of the classists, and the separate circle of family drama that accompanies it.
Why should you watch it?
OK, admittedly there are a number of good reasons to watch this movie — the performances from Jarvis and Fassbender are both excellent, for instance, and the story told is an important (if dark) one — but Fish Tank’s writer/director is what really makes this sing.
The Perks of Being a Wallflower is available to stream on Netflix.
Back in the United States after 12 years abroad, 16-year-old Cady (Lindsay Lohan) is forced to navigate the sensitive world of america’s best schools.
But when she falls in with a trio of girls known as “The Plastics,” led by the manipulative Regina George (Rachel McAdams), she becomes embroiled in a war of words, rumours, and backstabbing.
Set in the 1960s and brandishing Anderson’s favorite supporting star organization, Moonrise Kingdom is as sweet an image as you can believe of young love. If you’ve wanted to take your enjoy in your hand and flee to the desert, you deserve to watch this movie. As our young fugitives quietly escape the fearsome adults of the fictional island of New Penzance with limited supplies of explorers, Suzy’s kitten, a turntable and the will to succeed, their romance blossoms. The sheer discomfort of suddenly being alone with someone you love at this age is immortalized in a delicious dance scene in the creek, a stupid moment of independence and expression discovered in your own little kingdom. – S.C.
Moonrise Kingdom can be rented or purchased on Prime Video in the UK and US.