Subgenre Sampler

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Mountain, The (2024): Dir. Rachel House
Feat. Elizabeth Atkinson, Reuben Francis, Terence Daniel…; A young girl, raised outside of her Maori culture, is determined to fulfil her mission of connecting with her mountain in the hope they can heal her…
Holdovers, The (2023): Dir. Alexander Payne
Feat. Paul Giamatti, Dominic Sessa; A jaded teacher is forced to remain on campus during the snowy Christmas break to babysit a handful of students with nowhere else to go. He soon…
How To Have Sex (2023): Dir. Molly Manning Walker
Feat. Mia McKenna-Bruce, Lara Peake, Samuel Bottomley…; A vibrant and sometimes confronting portrait of youth binge culture that clings like day–glo lycra to three British teenage girls at a Greek…
Monster (Kaibutsu) (2023): Dir. Kore-eda Hirokazu
Feat. Sakura Ando, Eita Nagayama, Soya Kurokawa; Director Hirokazu Kore–eda returns home with his first Japanese film since the Palm d'Or–winning "Shoplifters" (2018) with this…
Radical (2023): Dir. Christopher Zalla
Feat. Eugenio Derbez; A quality, engaging drama based on the true story of a teacher in a neglected Mexican border town that tries a radical new method to unlock his…
Son, The (2023): Dir. Florian Zeller
Feat. Hugh Jackman, Laura Dern, Vanessa Kirby…; A teenage son moves out on his single mother to live with his father. The part time dad tries to make the best of the situation. But juggling his new…
Playground (2022): Dir. Laura Wandel
Feat. Maya Vanderbeque, Günter Duret; 7–year–old Nora and her big brother Abel are back to school. When Nora witnesses Abel being bullied by other kids, she rushes to protect…
The Teachers' Lounge (Des Lehrerzimmer) (2022): Dir. Ilker Catak
Feat. Leonie Benesch; A bracing drama about an idealistic maths teacher caught in the pressure–cooker environment of a contemporary German high school. Leonie…
Belfast (2021): Dir. Kenneth Branagh
Feat. Caitriona Balfe, Judi Dench, Jamie Dornan…; Richly evocative cine–memoir from director Kenneth Branagh, depicting a young boy's childhood in late 60's Belfast, Northern Ireland. Set…
Licorice Pizza (2021): Dir. Paul Thomas Anderson
Feat. Alana Haim, Cooper Hoffman, Sean Penn…; Celebrated auteur Paul Thomas Anderson amusingly runs through the fads of the 1970s while loosely following the relationship between a precocious…
Paris, 13th District (Les Olympiades, Paris 13e) (2021): Dir. Jacques Audiard
Feat. Noémie Merlant, Makita Samba, Lucie Zhang…; Jacques Audiard’s film charts the interwoven relationships between four twenty–somethings, beautifully played by Lucie Zhang, Makita Samba,…
Poppy (2021): Dir. Linda Niccol
Feat. Libby Hunsdale, Ari Boyland, Seb Hunter…; Endearing Kiwi drama about an ambitious teenager who aspires to be a car mechanic despite the hurdles – which include her protective brother…
Tale of Love and Desire, A (2021): Dir. Leyla Bouzid
Feat. Sami Outalbali, Zbeida Belhajamor; Ahmed, an 18–year old Frenchman of Algerian origin, meets Farah, a young Tunisian girl. He discovers a collection of sensual and erotic Arab…
To Chiara (A Chiara) (2021): Dir. Jonas Carpignano
Feat. Swamy Rotolo, Claudio Rotolo, Giorgia Rotolo…; A rites–of–passage drama in the Italian neo–realist tradition that examines the impact of Mafia activity on those in the close…
West Side Story (2021): Dir. Steven Spielberg
Feat. Rachel Zegler, Ansel Elgort, Ariana DeBose…; Steven Spielberg's dazzling adaptation of the 1957 musical, an American fairy tale of doomed love and the rivalry between Puerto Rican and white…
Craft: Legacy, The (2020): Dir. Zoe Lister Jones
Feat. Cailee Spaeny, Gideon Adlon, Lovie Simone…; Sequel to the 1996 film THE CRAFT, following four high school students who form a coven of witches. After the original's all–male creative…
Babyteeth (2019): Dir. Shannon Murphy
Feat. Eliza Scanlen, Toby Wallace, Michelle Lotters…; Australian coming–of–age drama marking the feature debut for director Shannon Murphy (KILLING EVE), from a screenplay by Rita Kalnejais,…
Days of the Bagnold Summer (2019): Dir. Simon Bird
Feat. Earl Cave, Tamsin Greig, Rob Brydon; Charming coming–of–age comedy–drama starring newcomer Earl Cave (son of Nick Cave) as a teenage heavy metal fan struggling to get…
Five Feet Apart (2019): Dir. Justin Baldoni
Feat. Haley Lu Richardson, Cole Sprouse, Moises Arias; Teen romance with two cystic fibrosis patients whose undeniable attraction threatens the rules and boundaries put in place to protect their health,…
Honey Boy (2019): Dir. Alma Har’el
Feat. Shia LaBeouf, Lucas Hedges, Noah Jupe…; A fascinating and confronting drama based on a script that actor Shia LaBeouf wrote in rehab as a form of therapy, with the actor playing a…
Hunting, The (TV Series) (2019): Feat. Asher Keddie, Richard Roxburgh, Sam Reid…; Miniseries set in a contemporary, multicultural Australia and following two high school teachers after the revelation that their students are sharing…
Waves (2019): Dir. Trey Edward Schults
Feat. Kelvin Harrison Jr., Lucas Hedges, Taylor Russell…; An emotionally resonant character drama from accomplished director Trey Edward Shults (IT COMES AT NIGHT, KRISHA) following a suburban African…
Eighth Grade (2018): Dir. Bo Burnham
Feat. Elsie Fisher, Josh Hamilton, Emily Robinson; Superb coming–of–age drama providing an unflinching glimpse into the experience of a 13–year–old girl striving to gain social…
Every Day (2018): Dir. Michael Sucsy
Feat. Angourie Rice, Justice Smith, Debby Ryan…; Romantic drama based on the New York Times bestseller by David Levithan. A 16 year old girl called Rhiannon falls in love with a mysterious traveling…
Hate U Give, The (2018): Dir. George Tillman Jr.
Feat. Amandla Stenberg, Regina Hall, Russell Hornsby…; A powerful and thought provoking drama about the consequences of gun violence, police brutality and racism in America. Starr is a black teenager who…
Love, Simon (2018): Dir. Greg Berlanti
Feat. Nick Robinson, Josh Duhamel, Jennifer Garner; A high school love story taking the best of the genre cliches (yes, John Hughes) and translating them into a gay context – an unprecedented…
Mid 90s (2018): Dir. Jonah Hill
Feat. Sunny Suljic, Katherine Waterston, Lucas Hedges…; Evocative coming–of–age drama from actor–director Jonah Hill, following a 13–year old boy in 90's Los Angeles who falls in…
Miseducation of Cameron Post, The (2018): Dir. Desiree Akhavan
Feat. Chloe Grace Moretz, Jennifer Ehle, John Gallagher, Jr.…; Surprise winner of the U.S. Grand Jury prize at the 2018 Sundance Film Festival, this heart–breaking indie drama stars Chloe Grace Moretz as a…
13 Reasons Why (TV Series) (2017): Feat. Dylan Minnette, Katherine Langford, Christian Navarro…; Controversial and sometimes gruelling teenage mystery series about a high school student who discovers a box of cassette tapes recorded by his friend…
Before I Fall (2017): Feat. Zoey Deutch, Elena Kampouris, Logan Miller…; Teen drama following the likeable Samantha as she re–lives the final day in her life seven times and confronts the meaning of her existence and…
High Life (2017): Feat. Odessa Young; A humorous and heartfelt portrayal of Bipolar Disorder, following a grounded and intelligent Australian teen (Odessa Young) who unexpectedly begins…
I Kill Giants (2017): Dir. Anders Walter
Feat. Madison Wolfe, Imogen Poots, Zoe Saldana; A magical–realist coming–of–age movie following an independent young girl who escapes the troubles of her reality by retreating…
Lady Bird (Ladybird) (2017): Dir. Greta Gerwig
Feat. Saoirse Ronan, Laurie Metcalf, Tracy Letts…; Sublime coming–of–age drama which marks the writing and directing debut of formidable indie talent Greta Gerwig, who draws upon her own…
Riverdale (TV Series) (2017): Feat. KJ Apa; Millennial neo–noir teen drama set in the deceptively idyllic town of Riverdale, based on characters from the Archie Comics universe. Centres…
Screwed (Pihalla) (2017): Dir. Nils-Erik Ekblom
Feat. Mikko Kauppila, Sanna Majuri, Valtteri Lehtinen; Sweet–natured Finnish coming–of–age drama about two teenage boys who fall in love during a summer in the countryside.
Skate Kitchen (2017): Dir. Crystal Moselle
Feat. Rachelle Vinberg, Dede Lovelace, Nina Moran; Beautifully evocative and uplifting teen drama set in the world of NYC skateboarding, following a group of real–life female skaters who are…
Space Between Us, The (2017): Dir. Peter Chelsom
Feat. Asa Butterfield, Gary Oldman, Carla Gugino…; Sci–fi romance where a teenage boy who has grown up on Mars visits earth for the first time. Enlisting the help of a misfit girl from Colorado,…
American Honey (2016): Dir. Andrea Arnold
Feat. Sasha Lane, Shia LaBeouf, Riley Keough…; Esteemed British director Andrea Arnold changes pace in her American debut, taking a cast of mostly non–actors through a poetically…
Edge of Seventeen (2016): Dir. Kelly Fremon Craig
Feat. Hailee Steinfeld, Haley Lu Richardson, Blake Jenner…; Candid and humourous coming–of–age drama where an awkward seventeen year old comes to terms with her all–star older brother dating…
Handsome Devil (2016): Dir. John Butler
Feat. Fionn O’Shea, Nicholas Galitzine, Andrew Scott; This sweet and amiable Irish coming–of–age story in which a loner and the star athlete at a rugby–mad boarding school become…
Jasper Jones (2016): Dir. Rachel Perkins
Feat. Levi Miller, Aaron L. McGrath, Angourie Rice…; A nostalgic portrait of Australian childhood in the summer of '69 that tells the story of a bookish boy who finds himself caught up in a local murder…
Bang Gang (A Modern Love Story) (2015): Dir. Eva Husson
Feat. Finnegan Oldfield; A refreshingly non–judgemental account of female promiscuity, following a group of adolescents in a sleepy French town who start a sex party…
Diary of a Teenage Girl, The (2015): Dir. Marielle Heller
Feat. Bel Powley, Alexander Skarsgard, Kristen Wiig…; This brave and bittersweet portrait of an unusual sexual awakening has Bel Powley as a fledgling cartoonist entering into a relationship with her…
Downriver (2015): Dir. Grant Scicluna
Feat. Reef Ireland, Kerry Fox, Robert Taylor…; Arresting, but undeniably downbeat character study that follows a teenager freshly released from juvenile prison as he attempts to adjust to life on…
Girl Asleep (2015): Dir. Rosemary Myers
Feat. Bethany Whitmore, Harrison Feldman, Amber McMahon; Based on the theatre production, this colourful coming–of–age tale set in 1970’s Australia expressively journeys into the absurd, scary…
Jem and The Holograms (2015): Dir. Jon M. Chu
Feat. Stefanie Scott, Aurora Perrineau, Hayley Kiyoko…; Live–action update of the popular '80's cartoon about a small–town girl who catapults from underground video sensation to global…
Me and Earl and the Dying Girl (2015): Dir. Alfonso Gomez-Rejon
Feat. Thomas Mann, RJ Cyler, Olivia Cooke…; Winner of the Grand Jury prize at Sundance, this imaginative, eclectic dramedy follows an awkward high–school filmmaker and a gravely ill…
Paper Towns (2015): Dir. Jake Schreier
Feat. Nat Wolff, Cara Delevingne, Austin Abrams…; From the pen of John Green, the writer of THE FAULT IN OUR STARS, comes a wistful teen adventure in which a boy and his friends search for his…
Testament of Youth (2015): Dir. James Kent
Feat. Alicia Vikander, Kit Harrington, Taron Egerton…; Vera Brittain's acclaimed coming–of–age memoir is given the cinematic treatment in this fine adaptation, with Alicia Vikander (EX…
Crow's Egg, The (Kaakkaa Muttai) (2014): Dir. M. Manikandan
Feat. Ramesh , J. Vignesh, Iyshwarya Rajesh; Affecting Tamil comedy set in a Chennai slum follows two mischievous and resourceful brothers as they witness the opening of a local pizza shop, and…
Dark Horse, The (2014): Dir. James Napier Robertson
Feat. Cliff Curtis, James Rolleston, Kirk Torrance…; Cliff Curtis turns in a magnificent performance in this accomplished and powerful story of speed chess champion Genesis Potini, his battles with…
Endless Love (2014): Dir. Shana Feste
Feat. Alex Pettyfer, Gabriella Wilde, Bruce Greenwood…; Petty–ful remake of the Brooke Shields weepie about young love suppressed by disapproving parents.
Falling, The (2014): Dir. Carol Morley
Feat. Maxine Peake, Maisie Williams, Florence Pugh…; Spellbinding British drama set in a girl's boarding school overcome by a mysterious fainting epidemic amongst the pupils. Ambitious and intriguing…
Fault in Our Stars, The (2014): Dir. Josh Boone
Feat. Shailene Woodley, Ansel Elgort, Nat Wolff…; A pair of offbeat teengers – one terminally ill – embrace the journey of life in this sweeping teen romance based on John Green's popular…
Honeytrap (2014): Dir. Rebecca Johnson
Feat. Jessica Sula, Lucien Laviscount, Ntonga Mwanza; Based on a true story, this London set drama tells the tale of a teenage girl who lures a lovestruck admirer in a brutal trap set by gang members.
If I Stay (2014): Dir. R.J. Cutler
Feat. Chloe Grace Moretz, Mireille Enos, Jamie Blackley…; Soapy teen drama with Chloe Moretz as a young woman in a coma who must decide whether to wake up, and live a life far different than she had…
Love at First Fight (Les Combattants) (2014): Dir. Thomas Cailley
Feat. Adele Haenel, Kevin Azais, Antoine Laurent…; An intensely physical take on the romantic comedy, with an awkward summer romance taking place at a French survivalist camp between a…
Men, Women and Children (2014): Dir. Jason Reitman
Feat. Adam Sandler, Rosemarie DeWitt, Jennifer Garner…; Topical drama concerning a group of high school teenagers and their parents as they attempt to navigate the many ways the internet has changed their…
Ping Pong Summer (2014): Dir. Michael Tully
Feat. Marcello Conte, John Hannah, Lea Thompson…; A sweet 80's nostalgia film that follows a shy 13–year–old whose obsessions with ping pong and hip hop bring him out of his shell while…
Riot Club, The (2014): Dir. Lone Scherfig
Feat. Sam Claflin, Max Irons, Douglas Booth…; Two first–year students at Oxford University join the infamous Riot Club, where reputations can be made or destroyed over the course of a…
Trash (2014): Dir. Stephen Daldry
Feat. Rooney Mara, Martin Sheen, Wagner Moura…; From the unlikely pen of Brit rom–com supremo Richard Curtis comes this crime comedy set in Rio de Janeiro in which three kids who make a…
White Bird in a Blizzard (2014): Dir. Gregg Araki
Feat. Shailene Woodley, Eva Green, Christopher Meloni…; Icy youth drama set follows a teenage girl's life as its thrown into chaos after the disappearance of her mother.
X + Y (X and Y, aka A Brilliant Young Mind ) (2014): Dir. Morgan Matthews
Feat. Asa Butterfield, Sally Hawkins, Eddie Marsan…; Asa Butterfield (HUGO) plays a socially awkward teenage math prodigy who finds new confidence and new friendships when he lands a spot on the British…
52 Tuesdays (2013): Dir. Sophie Hyde
Feat. Tilda Cobham-Hervey, Del Herbert-Jane; A teenage girl explores her own sexuality as her mother undergoes gender transition in this moving Australian drama, shot over a year of Tuesdays.
A Birder's Guide to Everything (2013): Dir. Rob Meyer
Feat. Kodi Smit-McPhee, James Le Gros, Katie Chang…; A lovely, heartfelt teen movie about a nerdy 15–year–old birding fanatic (Smit–McPhee) who retreats with his friends on a bird…
Around the Block (2013): Dir. Sarah Spillane
Feat. Christina Ricci, Daniel Henshall, Jack Thompson…; Christina Ricci plays a tough but compassionate teacher working in Sydney's Redfern suburb who is drawn to a troubled aboriginal student with a…
Bling Ring, The (2013): Dir. Sofia Coppola
Feat. Emma Watson, Katie Chang, Israel Broussard…; Sophia Coppola directs this self–aware drama based on the true story of a group of fame–obsessed teenagers who use the internet to track…
Geography Club (2013): Dir. Gary Entin
Feat. Cameron Deane Stewart, Meaghan Martin, Justin Deeley; A sweet–centred dramedy of queer coming–of–age, focused on a teenager whose struggle with sexuality is comforted after he joins an…
How I Live Now (2013): Dir. Kevin MacDonald
Feat. Saoirse Ronan, Tom Holland, George MacKay…; This edgy young–adult fantasy finds teenager Saoirse Ronan, sent to the English countryside to stay with relatives, coping with the outbreak of…
Inevitable Defeat of Mister & Pete, The (2013): Dir. George Tillman Jr.
Feat. Skylan Brooks, Ethan Dizon, Jennifer Hudson…; Two Brooklyn adolescents must fend for themselves when their hard–living mother is taken into police custody in this moving tragidrama.
Kings of Summer, The (Toy's House) (2013): Dir. Jordan Vogt-Roberts
Feat. Nick Robinson, Gabriel Basso, Moises Arias…; A lyrical and sharp–witted coming–of–age drama about three teenage friends, who in the ultimate act of independence, decide to…
Originals, The (TV Series) (2013): Feat. Joseph Morgan, Daniel Gillies, Claire Holt…; Spin–off of THE VAMPIRE DIARIES branches out the family tree of vamps and werewolves from small town Virginia to New Orleans. Season One: 22…
Palo Alto (2013): Dir. Gia Coppola
Feat. Emma Roberts, Jack Kilmer, James Franco…; A languid look at the lives and illicit loves of a group of Californian teens approaching the end of their time at high school.
Paradise: Hope (Paradise Hope) (2013): Dir. Ulrich Seidl
Feat. Melanie Lenz, Joseph Lorenz; Austrian provocateur Ulrich Seidl dispatches a typically unvarnished portrait of institutional ritual with this concluding chapter to his PARADISE…
Selfish Giant, The (2013): Dir. Clio Barnard
Feat. Conner Chapman, Shaun Thomas; A pair of 13–year–olds become involved in the dealings of a scrap yard owner in this vivid working class drama.
Short Term 12 (2013): Dir. Destin Cretton
Feat. Brie Larson, John Gallagher Jr., Stephanie Beatriz…; A counselor at a foster–care facility for at–risk teenagers struggles with her own troubled past as a youngster in this tough but tender…
Spectacular Now, The (2013): Dir. James Ponsoldt
Feat. Miles Teller, Shailene Woodley, Brie Larson…; This wistful teen romance, scripted and performed with a bracing naturalism, centres on a glibly charming high school senior whose casual dating of a…
We Are the Best (Vi är bäst!) (2013): Dir. Lukas Moodysson
Feat. Mira Grosin, Mira Barkhammar, Liv LeMoyne; Endearing portrait of teenage experimentation set in early '80s Stockholm where two decidedly unmusical 13–year–old girls decide to form…
Weight of Elephants, The (2013): Dir. Daniel Borgman
Feat. Demos Murphy, Angelina Cottrell, Matthew Sunderland; Operating on a deep level, Daniel Borgman’s [debut] film prioritises what goes on under the surface almost to the complete exclusion of plot.…
After May (Something in the Air) (2012): Dir. Olivier Assayas
Feat. Lola Créton, Clément Métayer; Hatched from dir. Olivier Assayas' personal experiences, this bittersweet evocation of the leftist fervour that caught hold of young Europeans in the…
Foxfire (2012): Dir. Laurent Cantet
Feat. Raven Adamson, Katie Coseni; From a Joyce Carol Oates story, Laurent Cantet (THE CLASS) directs this plucky period drama of a girl gang who rally against male oppression in 1950s…
Ginger & Rosa (Ginger and Rosa) (2012): Dir. Sally Potter
Feat. Elle Fanning, Alice Englert, Christina Hendricks…; Two London teenagers explore rebellion, activism, and the limits of their friendship in this evocative coming–of–age drama from dir.…
Girl In Progress (2012): Dir. Patricia Riggen
Feat. Eva Mendes, Matthew Modine, Cierra Ramirez; Comedy following a Hispanic single mother (Eva Mendes) raising a precocious teenager who wants to grow up fast, and decides to tick off all the…
LOL (2012): Dir. Lisa Azuelos
Feat. Miley Cyrus, Demi Moore, Jean-Luc Bilodeau…; Perfunctory remake of the hit French teen comedy casts Demi Moore and Miley Cyrus as lovelorn mother and daughter in the social media age.
Perks of Being a Wallflower, The (2012): Dir. Stephen Chbosky
Feat. Logan Lerman, Emma Watson, Ezra Miller…; An introverted teen with a troubled past is embraced by an eccentric clique of friends in this deeply–felt coming–of–age drama,…
Puberty Blues (TV Series) (2012): Feat. Claudia Karvan, Ashleigh Cummings, Jeremy Lindsay Taylor; Two inseparable teenage girls growing up on the beaches of Cronulla come of age in this acclaimed TV adaptation of the seminal late 70s Australian…
Spring Breakers (2012): Dir. Harmony Korine
Feat. Selena Gomez, Vanessa Anne Hudgens, Ashley Benson…; "Disney Gone Wild" is the catchall for this fleshy coed drama from enfant terrible Harmony Korine, about four spring–breaking girls who become…
Step Up 4: Miami Heat (Step Up Revolution) (2012): Dir. Scott Speer
Feat. Ryan Guzman, Cleopatra Coleman; The latest step down sees a young couple, who lead a dance crew in elaborate flash mobs "turn their performance art into protest art" when a wealthy…
Tiger Eyes (2012): Dir. Lawrence Blume
Feat. Willa Holland, Cynthia Stevenson, Tatanka Means…; This sensitively observed teen drama – the first ever screen adaptation of a Judy Blume novel – centres on a 17–year–old girl…
Wadjda (2012): Dir. Haifaa Al-Mansour
Feat. Waad Mohammed, Reem Abdullah; This humanist triumph is the first ever feature to be shot in Saudi Arabia, centering on a plucky young girl who attempts to raise money for a…
We and the I, The (2012): Dir. Michel Gondry
Feat. Michael Brodie, Teresa Lynn, Raymond Delgado; Michel Gondry masters the docu–drama narrative with surprising ease, here directing an affecting and unsentimental look at a bus full of Bronx…
What Richard Did (2012): Dir. Lenny Abrahamson
Feat. Jack Reynor, Róisín Murphy, Sam Keeley…; Understated but highly compelling moral drama in which an exemplary teenager experiences a fall from grace after an impulsive incident at a college…
Art of Getting By, The (2011): Dir. Gavin Wiesen
Feat. Freddie Highmore, Emma Roberts, Michael Angarano…; A sensitive and even–handed coming–of–age tale about a teenage fatalist and his blooming friendship with the popular…
Awkward (TV Series) (2011): Feat. Ashley Rickards, Beau Mirchoff, Nikki Deloach; An unpopular 15 year old gains immediate, yet unwanted, popularity at her high school when the student body mistakes an accident she has for a…
Back to Stay (2011): Dir. Milagros Mumenthaler
Feat. María Canale, Martina Juncadella , Ailín Salas…; A spare, melancholic film that languidly reveals its narrative secrets as three bickering sisters clash in their neglected Buenos Aires family…
Bombay Beach (2011): Dir. Alma Har’el; Hypnotic and highly innovative documentary about a ghost town on the Salton Sea in Southern California, which is home to a failed 1950's development…
Giants, The (2011): Dir. Bouli Lanners
Feat. Zacharie Chasseriaud, Martin Nissen, Paul Bartel; The misadventures of two teenage brothers and a local misfit are engagingly recounted in this balmy Belgium picaresque.
I Wish (2011): Dir. Kore-eda Hirokazu
Feat. Koki Maeda, Ohshiro Maeda, Yui Natsukawa…; Two brothers living in different cities because of their parents' separation conspire to reunite them through a mythical 'wish' in this delicate,…
Jess + Moss (Jess and Moss) (2011): Dir. Clay Jeter
Feat. Sarah Hagan, Austin Vickers, Haley Parker; Impressionistic portrait of two young teens spending one last summer wandering through the fields of Kentucky. Unconventional approach to narrative…
Like Crazy (2011): Dir. Drake Doremus
Feat. Anton Yelchin, Felicity Jones, Jennifer Lawrence; Not to be mistaken for another Nicholas Sparks spin–off, this poignant, intelligently crafted indie romance intimately examines the young love…
Play (2011): Dir. Ruben Östlund; Ruban Östlund (THE SQUARE) directs this acute observation of bullying based on true events, in which a group of adolescent boys robbed other…
Restless (2011): Dir. Gus Van Sant
Feat. Mia Wasikowska, Henry Hopper, Ryo Kase…; Languid tween romance from dir. Gus Van Sant, about a terminally ill girl (Wasikowska) who falls in love with an eccentric boy with a compulsion for…
Skins (TV Series, US) (2011): Feat. James Newman, Sofia Black-D'Elia; Produced by MTV, this gritty stateside remake of the hit Brit series translates the angst and attitude of the modern teen experience for US audiences…
Super 8 (2011): Dir. J.J. Abrams
Feat. Kyle Chandler, Elle Fanning, Riley Griffiths…; A young group of film–loving friends witness a train crash and suspect it was not an accident and their suspicions are fueled by a series of…
This is England '88 (TV Mini-Series) (2011): Dir. Shane Meadows
Feat. Thomas Turgoose, Stephen Graham, Jo Hartley…; A further set of adventures for Shane Meadows's unforgettable cast of lapsed skinheads, here still struggling to find a foothold as young adults…
Turn Me On, Goddamit! (2011): Dir. Jannicke Systad Jacobsen
Feat. Helene Bergsholm, Beate Stofring, Malin Bjorhovde; Deadpan sex comedy in a sleepy Norwegian hamlet with a hormone ravaged teen determined to lose her virginity.
Twilight: Breaking Dawn Part 1 (2011): Dir. Bill Condon
Feat. Kristen Stewart, Robert Pattinson, Taylor Lautner…; Penultimate installment of the Gothic fantasy phenomenon teases out the conclusion to the romantic saga in lucrative and popular fashion with Bella…
Wunderkinder (2011): Dir. Markus Rosenmüller
Feat. Gedeon Burkhard, Natalia Avelon; A history of Germany in broad strokes, this heartrending coming–of–age tale charts the upheaval of WWII through the eyes of three child…
Boy (2010): Dir. Taika Waititi
Feat. Taika Waititi, James Rolleston, Te Aho Aho Eketone-Whitu…; Taika Waititi continues his dream run as director with this fictionalised coming–of–age tale that draws on his own experience growing up…
Daydream Nation (2010): Dir. Michael Goldbach
Feat. Kat Dennings, Reece Thompson, Andie MacDowell…; A daydreaming 17–year–old (Dennings) seduces a high school teacher for kicks, only to attract the attention of a lovesick stoner…
Dog Pound (2010): Dir. Kim Chapiron
Feat. Adam Butcher, Shane Kippel, Mateo Morales…; Depressing drama set in a youth correctional facility follows three troubled teens as they struggle to adapt to life behind bars. Owing a large…
Expecting Mary (2010): Dir. Dan Gordon
Feat. Olesya Rulin, Elliott Gould, Linda Gray…; Good–natured road movie tale with a pregnant teenager heading to California in search of her father, but who she encounters along the way will…
Heartbeats (2010): Dir. Xavier Dolan
Feat. Xavier Dolan, Niels Schneider, Monia Chokri; A quick turnaround for precocious French Canadian dir. Xavier Dolan; his sophomore feature an equally painful and amusing bifurcated romance, in…
Lost Kisses (I baci mai dati) (2010): Dir. Roberta Torre
Feat. Carla Marchese, Donatella Finocchiaro; A 13–year–old girl in the deprived outskirts of a sprawling Sicilian city becomes a local celebrity to her needy community when word…
Monga: Gangs of Taipei (Báng-kah) (2010): Dir. Doze Niu
Feat. Ching-Tien Juan, Mark Chao, Ju-Lung Ma; Pungent youth drama set in 1980s Taiwan, after the end of military dictatorship, concerns the intertwined fate of five troubled friends.
Myth of the American Sleepover, The (2010): Dir. David Robert Mitchell
Feat. Claire Soma, Marlon Morton, Amanda Bauer…; A balmy summer night before the start of high school is the backdrop for this languid, moment–to–moment capsule of life as an idle…
Neds (2010): Dir. Peter Mullan
Feat. Connor McCarron; Dark coming–of–age story where a promising young student becomes dangerously entwined in Glasgow's violent gangland. Director Peter…
Norman (2010): Dir. Jonathan Segal
Feat. Dan Byrd, Emily VanCamp, Richard Jenkins…; A melancholy high school 'indie' about a teenage loner who claims his father's terminal cancer as his own in order to make tracks with a pretty…
Pretty Little Liars (TV Series) (2010): Feat. Troian Bellisario, Ashley Benson, Shay Mitchell…; An interesting blend of GOSSIP GIRL antics, VERONICA MARS intrigue, and light supernatural themes, this young adult series revolves four teenage…
Remember Me (2010): Dir. Allen Coulter
Feat. Robert Pattinson, Emilie de Ravin, Chris Cooper…; Two tissue weepy with Robert Pattinson giving great brood as a troubled youth who tentatively finds love with a girl with a tragic past. Standard…
Runaways, The (2010): Dir. Floria Sigismondi
Feat. Kristen Stewart, Dakota Fanning, Michael Shannon…; A high–strung, hell–for–leather rock movie based on the short–lived exploits of pioneering girl band The Runaways and their…
SoulBoy (2010): Dir. Shimmy Marcus
Feat. Martin Compston, Felicity Jones, Alfie Allen…; Hip–shaking youth drama set amongst the Northern Soul scene of the 1970's in which a frustrated teenager experiences a musical awakening while…
Step Up 3 (Step Up 3-D) (2010): Dir. Jon Chu
Feat. Rick Malambri, Adam G. Sevani, Sharni Vinson…; Hormonal third entry in the back–popping dance series has a tight–knit group of street dancers pitted against the world's best…
Streetdance (2010): Dir. Max Giwa
Feat. Charlotte Rampling; The worlds of street dance and ballet collide in this sassy British take on the dance movie genre. While training for the UK Championships, a…
This is England '86 (TV Mini-Series) (2010): Dir. Tom Harper, Shane Meadows
Feat. Thomas Turgoose, Stephen Graham, Jo Hartley…; The core cast of THIS IS ENGLAND return for this vivid small screen epilogue set three years later, where a maturing Shaun (Turgoose) must negotiate…
Trust (2010): Dir. David Schwimmer
Feat. Clive Owen, Catherine Keener, Liana Liberato…; Pungent social drama with Keener and Owen as parents dealing with the aftermath of their teenage daughter's rape at the hands of an online…
Twilight: Eclipse (2010): Dir. David Slade
Feat. Robert Pattinson, Kristen Stewart, Taylor Lautner…; Torrid third installment in the saga has Bella forced to choose between Edward and Jacob as a series of mysterious killings grip Seattle.
Wasted on the Young (2010): Dir. Ben C. Lucas
Feat. Oliver Ackland, Adelaide Clemens, Alex Russell…; Potent teen thriller, stylishly directed by first–timer Lucas, has a party getting out of hand an triggering a wave of revenge acts.
Accidents Happen (2009): Dir. Andrew Lancaster
Feat. Geena Davis, Harrison Gilbertson, Harry Cook…; Earnest dramedy enlivened by a sensationally brash Geena Davis performance. Davis plays the mother of a deeply dysfunctional family who's lives are…
Adventureland (2009): Dir. Greg Mottola
Feat. Jesse Eisenberg, Kristen Stewart, Ryan Reynolds…; Low–key indie comedy set in 1987 where a virginal high–school grad gets a summer job at a local amusement park and finds unlikely…
An Education (2009): Dir. Lone Scherfig
Feat. Carey Mulligan, Peter Sarsgaard, Alfred Molina…; An assured and alluring coming–of–age drama set in swinging sixties London (1961 in fact), with teenage ingenue Carey Mulligan falling in…
Cherrybomb (2009): Dir. Lisa Barros D'Sa, Glenn Leyburn
Feat. Rupert Grint, Robert Sheehan, James Nesbitt…; Rupert Grint plays against type in this edgy youth drama in which three teenagers go on a wild weekend of drink, drugs, shop–lifting and…
Dare (2009): Dir. Adam Salky
Feat. Emmy Rossum, Zach Gilford, Alan Cumming…; A drama centered around three high school seniors – an aspiring actress, her misfit best friend, and a loner – who become engaged in an…
Fish Tank (2009): Dir. Andrea Arnold
Feat. Katie Jarvis, Michael Fassbender, Kierston Wareing…; Full of colourful profanity and hefty doses of working–class belligerence, this assured drama centres around a 15–year–old…
Go Girls (TV Series) (2009): Feat. Anna Hutchison, Bronwyn Turei, Alix Bushnell…; A North Shore equivalent of OUTRAGEOUS FORTUNE perhaps, but with considerably less bite, this follows four middle–class 20–somethings as…
Greatest, The (2009): Dir. Shana Feste
Feat. Pierce Brosnan, Susan Sarandon, Carey Mulligan…; Emotive drama of a family trying to cope with the sudden death of their teenage son and the troubled young woman who enters their life.
I Killed My Mother (J'ai tué ma mère) (2009): Dir. Xavier Dolan
Feat. Xavier Dolan, Anne Dorval, Suzanne Clément…; An angst ridden teen grapples with growing up gay and his neurotic, overbearing mother in this feisty first feature from young French Canadian…
Misfits (TV Series) (2009): Feat. Robert Sheehan, Antonia Thomas, Lauren Socha…; "SKINS meets HEROES" is the catch–cry for this Bafta Award winning, streetwise drama about five teenagers stuck in community service, where…
My Suicide (2009): Dir. David Lee Miller
Feat. Gabriel Sunday, David Carradine, Mariel Hemingway…; A disaffected teenager announces that he intends to document his impending suicide on camera in this heavy handed, if potent youth indie. Built on…
Precious (Based on the Novel 'Push' by Sapphire) (2009): Dir. Lee Daniels
Feat. Gabourey Sidibe, Mo'Nique , Paula Patton…; Heated ghetto drama puts a hopeful spin on the despair suffered by an illiterate, overweight teenager who prepares to give birth to her second child…
Twilight: New Moon (2009): Dir. Chris Weitz
Feat. Kristen Stewart, Taylor Lautner, Robert Pattinson…; Succulent second helping of the Stephanie Meyer vampire saga finds pasty Edward no longer able to protect his beloved Bella, fleeing the country and…
Vampire Diaries, The (TV Series) (2009): Feat. Nina Dobrev, Paul Wesley, Ian Somerhalder; The TWILIGHT zeitgeist is vamped up as a 90210–style serial in this melodramatic teen soap, about a troubled girl torn between her brooding…
5 Centimetres Per Second (Five Centimetres Per Second) (2008): Dir. Makoto Shinkai; Sublimely romantic animated feature divided into three separate episodes tracing the emotional journey of a teenage boy through to manhood, and the…
90210 (TV Series) (2008): Feat. Rob Estes, Shenae Grimes, AnnaLynne McCord…; This updating of the popular '90's show brings the bling as more photogenic rich kids contend with regular problems.
Adulthood (2008): Dir. Noel Clarke
Feat. Noel Clarke; Unimaginatively titled, so–so sequel to KIDULTHOOD taking place six years on from the first film with our main protagonist Sam Peel released…
Afterschool (2008): Dir. Antonio Campos
Feat. Ezra Miller, Rosemarie DeWitt, Jeremy Allen White…; Ezra Miller (WE NEED TO TALK ABOUT KEVIN) plays a closed–off teenager whose difficult high school experience is complicated when he captures…
Class, The (Entre les murs) (2008): Dir. Laurent Cantet
Feat. François Bégaudeau, Agame Malembo-Emene, Angélica Sancio; This stimulating Palm d’Or winner engages with the toil and trouble of a multi–ethnic, inner–city French classroom, and the headstrong…
Dakota Skye (2008): Dir. John Humber
Feat. Eileen April Boylan, Ian Nelson, J. B. Ghuman Jr…; Novel teen drama has a unique twist on the jaded teen archetype with the film's titular heroine cursed with the ability to see through lies. Pic's…
Dustbin Baby (2008): Dir. Juliet May
Feat. Dakota Blue Richards, Juliet Stevenson, David Haig…; BBC drama based on Jacqueline Wilson's 2001 novel of the same name about the troubled life of a young girl (Dakota Blue Richards, THE GOLDEN COMPASS)…
Honey (Bal) (2008): Dir. Semih Kaplanoglu
Feat. Bora Altas, Erdal Besikçioglu, Tülin Özen; A gorgeous, contemplative coming–of–age tale, centred on a young boy and his father, a rural beekeeper, in an idyllic mountainous region…
Inbetweeners, The (TV Series) (2008): Feat. Simon Bird, James Buckley, Blake Harrison…; Acerbic comedy follows four gawky teenage boys growing up in suburbia experiencing the deep humiliations and relentless disappointments of late…
Keith (2008): Dir. Todd Kessler
Feat. Jesse McCartney, Elisabeth Harnois, Margo Harshman…; Efficient teen weepie with pop star McCartney as a rebel with a tragic secret and Harnois as the prim preppy who falls for his broody charms.
Kisses (2008): Dir. Lance Daly
Feat. Kelly O'Neill, Shane Curry; Two 12–year–old Irish runaways escape their bleak suburban existence and head to Dublin in this grim yet soulful adventure. Along the…
Newcastle (2008): Dir. Dan Castle
Feat. Xavier Samuel, Anthony Hayes, Shane Jacobson…; Sydney’s sun–baked north coast provides the backdrop for this visually dazzling surf movie, based around the male one–upmanship of…
Nick And Nora's Infinite Playlist (2008): Dir. Peter Sollett
Feat. Michael Cera, Kat Dennings, Aaron Yoo; "Geeky Dreamboat" Michael Cera is typecast again in this pleasing but trifle indie flick centred around two high school seniors who bond over music…
Only (2008): Dir. Ingrid Veninger
Feat. Jacob Switzer, Elena Hudgins Lyle; Delicate Canadian coming–of–age drama focused around the relationship between two 12–year–olds who get to know one another…
Pictures of You (2008): Dir. Ben Woollen
Feat. Brendan Kavanagh, Jonn Wilson, Bernard Moody…; Youth drama concerning a promising rugby player whose dreams lie far away from the sporting field.
Sisterhood of the Travelling Pants 2, The (2008): Dir. Sanaa Hamri
Feat. America Ferrera, Alexis Bledel, Amber Tamblyn…; Solid follow–up drama revisits the lives of the four childhood gal pals from SISTERHOOD OF THE TRAVELLING PANTS three years later as they adapt…
Somers Town (2008): Dir. Shane Meadows
Feat. Piotr Jagiello, Ireneusz Czop, Perry Benson…; A gentle, winsome offering from dir. Shane Meadows, centred on an unlikely friendship between a shy Polish teen, and a knockabout runaway from the…
Step Up 2: The Streets (2008): Dir. Jon Chu
Feat. Briana Evigan, Robert Hoffman, Adam G. Sevani…; Sequel to the hip–hop dance hit flick following a group of young street dancers battling for supremacy. Well–orchestrated…
Twilight (2008): Dir. Catherine Hardwicke
Feat. Robert Pattinson, Kristen Stewart, Billy Burke…; The first installment of the uber–popular book franchise (by Stephanie Meyer) sees lonely teenage girl Bella fall in love with Edward, a…
Acting Out (2007): Dir. Danny Merton
Feat. Lara Cox; Girl–centric Australian 'indie' in which a high–schooler grapples with various issues of intimacy and relationships. Suspended from…
Ben X (2007): Dir. Nic Balthazar
Feat. Greg Timmermans, Marijke Pinoy, Laura Verlinden; A provocative Dutch drama of 21st century teen angst, centred on an Asperger’s Syndrome–afflicted gamer whose addiction to online…
Boy A (2007): Dir. John Crowley
Feat. Andrew Garfield, Peter Mullan, Siobhan Finneran; Celebrated British drama following a young man's struggle to adjust to everyday life in Manchester after spending most of his teenagehood in…
Chaotic Ana (Caótica Ana) (2007): Dir. Julio Medem
Feat. Charlotte Rampling, Gerrit Graham, Manuela Vellés; Spanish auteur Julio Medem (SEX AND LUCIA) returns with this abstractly ambitious, idiosyncratic undertaking, meshing the self–exploration of a…
City of Men (Cidade dos Homens) (2007): Dir. Paulo Morelli
Feat. Douglas Silva, Darlan Cunha; Salty Rio back–blocks melodrama from the producers of CITY OF GOD revolving around two orphaned street kids on the brink of adulthood faced…
December Boys (2007): Dir. Rod Hardy
Feat. Daniel Radcliffe, Jack Thompson, Kris McQuade…; Sunbaked, nostalgic Aussie coming–of–age drama centred on four teenage orphans whose tight friendships are tested when a family looks…
Education of Charlie Banks, The (2007): Dir. Fred Durst
Feat. Jesse Eisenberg, Jason Ritter, Eva Amurri; Modest drama set in the seventies concerning the tentative friendship between bookish Eisenberg and thug for hire Ritter. Surprisingly solid…
Freedom Writers (2007): Dir. Richard LaGravenese
Feat. Hilary Swank, Patrick Dempsey, Imelda Staunton; Hilary Swank guides a classroom of problem students through the quagmire of racial and political divide in this uplifting paean to…
Gossip Girl (TV Series) (2007): Feat. Blake Lively, Taylor Momsen, Leighton Meester; Flashy teen series centred on a group of well–heeled New York prep school kids whose main focus in life is a blog written by 'Gossip Girl'…
How She Move (2007): Dir. Ian Iqbal Rashid
Feat. Rutina Wesley, DeRay Davis; Energised yet predictable street drama of a young woman who uses her mean dance moves to rise above a bleak existence and achieve her dreams. A…
Into the Wild (2007): Dir. Sean Penn
Feat. Emile Hirsch, Marcia Gay Harden, William Hurt…; With his trademark earnestness, Sean Penn adapts Jon Krakauer's nonfiction book about a 22–year–old who dropped out of society in the…
Paranoid Park (2007): Dir. Gus Van Sant
Feat. Taylor Momsen; Gus Van Sant shoots Blake Nelson’s coming–of–age novella, about a young skateboarder’s complicity in the death of a security guard,…
Rocket Science (2007): Dir. Jeffrey Blitz
Feat. Reece Thompson, Anna Kendrick, Denis O'Hare…; Pointy–headed comedy from the dir. of the documentary SPELLBOUND that switches the subject to high–school debating, and the travails of…
September (2007): Dir. Peter Carstairs
Feat. Kelton Pell, Xavier Samuel, Clarence John Ryan…; Quiet coming–of–age drama about the changing mateship between two boys – one black, one white – set in rural Australia in…
Skins (TV Series) (2007): Feat. Nicholas Hoult, Kaya Scodelario; A worthy, mildly refreshing addition to the youth angst genre, concerning a clique of present–day Bristol teens negotiating the pitfalls of…
Towelhead (Nothing Is Private) (2007): Dir. Alan Ball
Feat. Summer Bishil, Aaron Eckhart, Toni Collette…; The writer of AMERICAN BEAUTY and SIX FEET UNDER brings an acclaimed novel to the screen in this dark and uncomfortable suburban drama focused on a…
Weapons (2007): Dir. Adam Bhala Lough
Feat. Nick Cannon, Paul Dano, Mark Webber…; Nihilistic thriller revolves around the intersecting lives of gun–toting teenagers and the circumstances surrounding a murder filled…
XXY (2007): Dir. Lucía Puenzo
Feat. Ricardo Darín, Ines Efron, Martin Piroyanski; Articulate portrayal of the life of an intersex teenager searching for identity and exploring the complexities of coming–of–age in a…
2:37 (2006): Dir. Murali K. Thalluri; Topical and wrenching youth drama links six Australian teenagers to an unspeakable tragedy, unraveling with assured and precocious confidence their…
Candy (2006): Dir. Neil Armfield
Feat. Heath Ledger, Abbie Cornish, Geoffrey Rush…; Injecting free–spirited performances and downbeat songs into a predictable heroin dramaturgy , this roving drama concerns two young bohemians…
Half Nelson (2006): Dir. Ryan Fleck
Feat. Ryan Gosling, Anthony Mackie, Omar Epps; Ryan Gosling proves serious acting chops in this subtle yet prickly drama about a teacher with a crack habit and the student – his dealer's…
Kidulthood (2006): Dir. Menhaj Huda; Authentic and bleak slice of West London street life in which a group of jive–talking teenagers plot their moves in the 48 hours after a…
Loving Annabelle (2006): Dir. Katherine Brooks
Feat. Diana Gaidry, Erin Kelly; Lesbian drama of forbidden love between a naughty, punkish Catholic schoolgirl and her Sapphic poetry teacher. Softly sincere and visually very…
Marie Antoinette (2006): Dir. Sofia Coppola
Feat. Kirsten Dunst, Jason Schwartzman, Judy Davis…; Girl wonder Sofia Coppola lets a fetching Kirsten Dunst eat cake (and then some) as a reluctant Queen in late–18th century Versailles, stifled…
Melissa P. (2006): Dir. Luca Guadagnino
Feat. Marcello Mazzarella, Maria Valverde; Saucy, if ultimately restrained memoir of sexual adolescence, concerning a promiscuous teenage girl who seeks solace from her troubled life by…
Save The Last Dance 2 (2006): Dir. David Petrarca
Feat. Izabella Miko, Jacqueline Bisset; Not the last dance, but a sequel reprising the aspirations of Sarah (now played by Izabella Miko), here on the verge of attending prestigious…
State's Evidence (2006): Dir. Benjamin Louis
Feat. Alexa Vega, Douglas Smith, Majandra Delfino…; Six high school students make a suicide pact which goes nastily awry, in this prurient youth drama clearly influenced by cinema provocateurs Larry…
Step Up (2006): Dir. Anne Fletcher
Feat. Channing Tatum, Rachel Griffiths; Rigidly adhering to the dance movie formula, two prodigious dancers from the wrong sides of the track become unlikely partners, dancing up a storm at…
Suburban Mayhem (2006): Dir. Paul Goldman
Feat. Emily Barclay, Michael Dorman, Anthony Hayes…; NZ's Emily Barclay crashes this trailer–trash satire of murderous alpha–males and vindictive females set in the god–awful 'burbs of…
This is England (2006): Dir. Shane Meadows
Feat. Thomas Turgoose, Stephen Graham, Jo Hartley…; Utterly authentic, hard–hitting memoir from the dir. of A ROOM FOR ROMEO BRASS, about a boy’s coming–of–age as a skinhead during…
Times and Winds (Bes Vakit) (2006): Dir. Reha Erdem
Feat. Ozkan Ozen, Ali Bey Kayali, Elit Iscan; Set in a remote Turkish village three friends on the cusp of adolescence struggle with both with their changing emotions and growing resentment of…
50 Ways of Saying Fabulous (2005): Dir. Stewart Main
Feat. Rima Te Wiata; Rural New Zealand forms a stylised background to this unusual rites–of–passage drama which combines whimsy, pathos and cruelty for a…
Actress, The (2005): Dir. Zak Hilditch
Feat. Matt Hardie, Catlin Higgins, Steve Mccall…; An observational black comedy centering on a Perth household of three sex–starved 20–somethings who invite a seductive actress to be…
Chumscrubber, The (2005): Dir. Arie Posin
Feat. Jamie Bell, Camilla Belle, Glenn Close…; A sadsack teenager (Bell) living in a sterile new suburb in Southern California discovers his best friend has committed suicide, an event which seems…
Hard Candy (2005): Dir. David Slade
Feat. Elliot Page, Patrick Wilson, Sandra Oh; Unflinchingly dark and slickly impressive thriller proceeds from the chatroom flirtations between a precocious teenager (Page) and a…
Havoc (2005): Dir. Barbara Kopple
Feat. Anne Hathaway, Bijou Phillips, Freddy Rodríguez…; Two pretty teenage girls in Los Angeles (Hathaway, Phillips) become impatient with the wannabe–gangsta antics of their high–school…
Ice Princess (2005): Dir. Tim Fywell
Feat. Michelle Trachtenberg, Joan Cusack, Kim Cattrall; A gawky high schooler (Trachtenberg) who excels at physics but dreams of being an ice skater, gets a slim chance to slide her way into the National…
Italian, The (Italianetz) (2005): Dir. Andrei Kravchuk
Feat. Kolya Spiridonov, Nikolai Reutov, Maria Kuznetsova…; Despite the title there is little Tuscan sunshine to be found here, but instead a frosty though warm–hearted tale from a Russian orphanage,…
Mutual Appreciation (2005): Dir. Andrew Bujalski
Feat. Justin Rice, Andrew Bujalski, Kate Dollenmayer…; An authentically amusing, perfectly observed capsule of post–graduate blues from the idiosyncratic dir. of FUNNY HA HA, praised almost…
Regular Lovers (Les Amants réguliers) (2005): Dir. Philippe Garrel
Feat. Louis Garrel, Clotilde Hesme; A richly photographed, Nouvelle Vague–styled homage to the revolutionary spirit of protesters in 1968 Paris, dir. Garrel offers a lucid, at…
Rent (2005): Dir. Chris Columbus
Feat. Rosario Dawson, Taye Diggs, Anthony Rapp; An ambitious and mostly comfortable adaptation of the 1990s Broadway update of Puccini's LA BOHEME, in which a multi–racial mixture of New York…
Sisterhood of the Travelling Pants, The (2005): Dir. Ken Kwapis
Feat. America Ferrera, Alexis Bledel, Amber Tamblyn…; A snappy adolescent drama concerning four teenage girlfriends spending their first summer apart, and sending a pair of magically–fitting jeans…
Standing Still (2005): Dir. Matthew Cole Weiss
Feat. Adam Garcia, Amy Adams, Melissa Sagemiller…; Stacked American indie gathers an attractive ensemble of twenty–somethings around a wedding doubling as a long–overdue reunion of college…
Tsotsi (2005): Dir. Gavin Hood
Feat. Presley Chweneyagae; Deserved winner of the 2006 Foreign Language Oscar, this gripping tale of a young homicidal street–thug ('tsotsi') in post–apartheid…
Twelve and Holding (12 and Holding) (2005): Dir. Michael Cuesta
Feat. Jeremy Renner, Zoe Weizenbaum, Conor Donovan…; A dark yet heart–rending coming–of–age indie drama concerning a group of pre–teens coping with life in the aftermath of a…
Wassup Rockers (2005): Dir. Larry Clark
Feat. Jonathan Velasquez, Francisco Pedrasa, Milton Velasquez; Teen–centric misanthropist Larry Clark offers a shockingly enthusiastic view of contemporary youth in this story of Latino…
Bullet Boy (2004): Dir. Saul Dibb
Feat. Ashley Walters; Tough expose of London's violent East End tracks the spiralling events and dire consequences which follow the release of a young black man (Walters)…
C.R.A.Z.Y. (Crazy) (2004): Dir. Jean-Marc Vallée
Feat. Marc-André Grondin, Danielle Proulx, Michel Côté; Rockin' and colourful rites–of–passage drama evolves out an adolescent boy's (Grondin) experiences as part of an unusual family during…
Edukators, The (The Educators) (2004): Dir. Hans Weingartner
Feat. Daniel Bruhl, Julia Jentsch, Stipe Erceg; A compulsive slice of German youth angst about rebels struggling with their cause, this arthouse smash–hit concerns a trio of youthful…
Garden State (2004): Dir. Zach Braff
Feat. Zach Braff, Natalie Portman, Ian Holm…; Sitcom actor Zach Braff compliments his career in "Scrubs" as the ambitious writer, director and star of this personal, melancholy comedy that became…
Great Journey, The (Grand Voyage, Le) (2004): Dir. Ismaël Ferroukhi
Feat. Nicolas Cazalé; A few weeks before his college entrance exams, a young man finds himself obligated to drive his stubborn father to Mecca. From France through Italy,…
Honey (2004): Dir. Billie Woodruff
Feat. Jessica Alba, Mekhi Phifer; Glossy fable of a community dance choreographer (Alba) who gets the chance to turn hip–hop creativeness into music–video moolah, and help…
Innocence (2004): Dir. Lucile Hadzihalilovic
Feat. Zoé Auclair, Lea Bridarolli, Bérangère Haubruge…; A strange and sinister – but also uttering beguiling – fantasy combining phantasmagorical imagery and a dewy atmosphere to metaphorically…
Machuca (2004): Dir. Andres Wood
Feat. Ariel Mateluna, Matias Quer; Observing the onset of Augusto Pinochet's bloody coup d'etat in Chile in 1973, through the eyes of two boys who become friends across the…
Poster Boy (2004): Dir. Zak Tucker
Feat. Karen Allen, Michael Lerner, Jack Noseworthy…; A campaigning right–wing senator conscripts his closeted gay son to play happy families for the public, but the stakes are raised when the son…
Pure (2004): Dir. Jim Donovan
Feat. Giancarlo Caltabiano, Robert Crooks, Laura Jordan; Boasting one of the hottest music scenes in recent years, Montreal takes centre stage in this character–driven piece involving a girl torn…
Somersault (2004): Dir. Cate Shortland
Feat. Abbie Cornish, Sam Worthington, Lynette Curran…; Visually impressive though underwritten account of a fragile Australian teenager who flees her home for the wider world after being caught in bed…
Stray Dogs (Sag-haye velgard) (2004): Dir. Marziyeh Meshkini
Feat. Gol-Ghotai , Zahed , Agheleh Rezaie; A wrenching, emotionally gripping tale of two children, orphaned after their parents are imprisoned, who must fend for themselves in…
Turtles Can Fly (Lakposhtha hâm parvaz mikonand) (2004): Dir. Bahman Ghobadi
Feat. Soran Ebrahim, Avaz Latif; The first widely–released film to emerge from post–Hussein Iraq, this wrenching tale concerns a raucous gang of children who scratch out…
Veronica Mars (TV Series) (2004): Feat. Kristen Bell, Jason Dohring, Enrico Colantoni…; Addictive, dark–hued mystery noir masquerading as a high school drama, centred on the socially ostracised teen daughter of a private eye whose…
Way of Life, A (2004): Dir. Amma Asante
Feat. Stephanie James, Brenda Blethyn; Emotionally brutal yet skillful 'kitchen sink' drama from first–time dir. Asante, about a single teenage mum giving and taking the hard knocks…
You Got Served (2004): Dir. Christopher B. Stokes
Feat. Marques Houston, Omari Granberry; Hiphop melodrama in which rival 'crews' battle it out for supremacy in the arena of break–dancing. Renowned for the exceptional dance…
15 (2003): Dir. Royston Tan
Feat. Melvin Chen, Erick Chun; Doing for the tiny island nation of Singapore what LA HAINE did for France, this box–office hit follows the misfiring antics of three teenagers…
Battle of Shaker Heights, The (2003): Dir. Efram Potelle, Kyle Rankin
Feat. Shia LaBeouf, Elden Henson, Amy Smart…; This product of the "Project Greenlight" film–making reality–TV is a a light but engaging story of a young war–reenactment…
Best of Youth, The (La Meglio gioventù) (2003): Dir. Marco Tullio Giordana; Sprawling and heady Italian saga tracks the lives of two brothers through the idealistic dreams of the 1960s and the long messy aftermath of…
Bright Young Things (2003): Dir. Stephen Fry
Feat. Emily Mortimer, Stephen Campbell Moore, Dan Aykroyd…; Set among the aspirant youth of 1930s Britain, this fresh satirical comedy marks a promising debut for dir. Fry, even if the drama is sliced a little…
Cafe Lumiere (Kôhî jikô) (2003): Dir. Hou Hsiao-Hsien
Feat. Tadanobu Asano, Yo Hitoto; Luminous tribute to Japanese dir. Yasujiro Ozu from a Taiwanese admirer, which honours Ozu's aesthetic in a minimalist study of personal…
Dreamers, The (2003): Dir. Bernardo Bertolucci
Feat. Michael Pitt, Eva Green, Louis Garrel; Decadent youth drama set in politically turbulent Paris of 1968, in which a young American film–buff is drawn into an intense, peculiar…
Hou Hsiao-Hsien's Classics: From 1983 to 1986 (The Boys From Fengkuei; A Summer at Grandpa's; A Time to Live, A Time to Die; Dust in the Wind) (2003): Dir. Hou Hsiao-Hsien; A collection of four of the early films from director Hou Hsiao–Hsien, who is a leading figure in the Taiwanese New Wave. The Boys From…
Love Me If You Dare (Jeux d'enfants) (2003): Dir. Yann Samuell
Feat. Marion Cotillard, Guillaume Canet; Two French kids develop an intense relationship through escalating games of "dare" that bond and haunt them through a turbulent teenage and…
Mean Creek (2003): Dir. Jacob Aaron Estes
Feat. Rory Culkin, Ryan Kelly; Skillful 'delinquent thriller' about a group of highschool kids who plot to humiliate the overweight school bully on a boating daytrip. Though the…
Mona Lisa Smile (2003): Dir. Mike Newell
Feat. Julia Roberts, Kirsten Dunst, Julia Stiles…; Julia Roberts is restrained and fairly effective in this Ivy–League drama, set at the renowned Wellesley College in the 1950s, where she…
Noi Albinoi (Noi the Albino) (2003): Dir. Dagur Kari
Feat. Tomas Lemarquis, Pröstur Leó Gunnarsson; Distinctive drama about a 'gifted' 17–year–old who rebels against the limits of life in a remote Icelandic town. Brimming with…
OC, The (TV Series) - Season 1 (2003-2004): Feat. Peter Gallagher, Mischa Barton, Kelly Rowan…; A stylish and instantly popular TV Series set in Orange County, California, in which a juvenile delinquent (McKenzie) is introduced to the…
One Tree Hill (TV Series) (2003): Feat. Chad Michael Murray, James Lafferty, Hilarie Burton…; Smallscreen teenage melodrama set in the small town of Tree Hill, North Carolina, and around the simmering relationship between two…
Rage in Placid Lake, The (2003): Dir. Tony McNamara
Feat. Ben Lee, Rose Byrne, Miranda Richardson…; Tale of an eccentric bullied teenager, this mordant comedy executes its satire of abnormality without mercy. The titular Lake (Ben Lee)…
Rules of Attraction, The (2003): Dir. Roger Avary
Feat. James Van Der Beek, Shannyn Sossamon, Kate Bosworth…; James Van Der Beek tries mightily to shake off his clean–idol image in this unruly and unattractive black comedy about an over–privileged…
Shark Net, The (TV Mini-series) (2003): Feat. William McInnes, Angie Milliken, Tim Draxl; Based on the memoir by Robert Drewe, this Australian mini–series focuses on Drewe's move to Perth as a young, excitable boy and his gradual…
Shattered Glass (2003): Dir. Billy Ray
Feat. Hayden Christensen, Peter Sarsgaard, Chloe Sevigny…; Compelling character–driven drama, based around the true story of 'New Republic' journalist Stephen Glass (Christensen), who was brought into…
Thirteen (2003): Dir. Catherine Hardwicke
Feat. Holly Hunter, Evan Rachel Wood, Nikki Reed; Startling depiction of a young teenager who spins out of control as she falls in with the wrong crowd and beyond the reach of her struggling…
Travelling Light (2003): Dir. Kathyrn Millard
Feat. Pia Miranda, Sacha Horler, Marshall Napier; A lightly enjoyable coming–of–age drama set in 1970s Adelaide, with Miranda playing an artistically precocious young woman seeking to…
United States of Leland, The (2003): Dir. Matthew Ryan Hoge
Feat. Don Cheadle, Ryan Gosling, Chris Klein…; Solid indie drama that plumbs the soul of a youthful murderer (Gosling) and his web of life–connections after he stabs a retarded boy to…
Zero Day (2003): Dir. Ben Coccio
Feat. Andre Keuck, Calvin Robertson; A confronting, fictionalized insight into the nihilistic mind–set of two alienated students who plotted and carried out a violent massacre at…
Antwone Fisher (2002): Dir. Denzel Washington
Feat. Denzel Washington, Derek Luke; From a uniquely autobiographical screenplay by the real Antwone Fisher, Denzel Washington takes the helm and stars as a US Navy psychiatrist who…
Blue Car (2002): Dir. Karen Moncrieff
Feat. Agnes Bruckner, David Strathairn; A rites–of–passage drama of distinction, this is realistic and affecting in its account of a high–school student whose flair for…
Bomb the System (2002): Dir. Adam Bhala Lough
Feat. Mark Webber; A tale of alienated youth in New York City, set around a teenager's (Webber) nocturnal activities spraying graffiti around the city streets with a…
Confessions of an American Girl (American Girl) (2002): Dir. Jordan Brady
Feat. Jena Malone, Brad Renfro, Alicia Witt…; Black comedy set around a trailer family's visit to their imprisoned father on the annual 'prison picnic' day. Over the course of this his teenage…
Dangerous Lives of Altar Boys, The (2002): Dir. Peter Care
Feat. Emile Hirsch, Kieran Culkin, Vincent D'Onofrio…; A quietly sobering, yet refreshingly humorous memoir of hormonal and delinquent adolescence under the arches of a strict Catholic high school, with…
Drumline (2002): Dir. Charles Stone III
Feat. Nick Cannon, Zoe Saldana, Orlando Jones; Depicting the journey of a talented street drummer from Harlem into the world of big–time stadium marching bands, this is short on story moves,…
Emperor's Club, The (2002): Dir. Michael Hoffman
Feat. Kevin Kline, Emile Hirsch, Embeth Davidtz…; Kevin Kline gives a rich portrait of a dedicated professor of Classics at a private boys school who finds his greatest challenge in a bad egg…
Garage Days (2002): Dir. Alex Proyas
Feat. Pia Miranda, Maya Stange, Kick Curry…; A young garage band in Sydney look for their big break, while coping with love, drugs and everyday life, in a frisky though oddly–toned…
Igby Goes Down (2002): Dir. Burr Steers
Feat. Kieran Culkin, Claire Danes, Jeff Goldblum…; More than meets the eye in this indie New York satire about an over–educated ‘slacker’ experiencing growing pains amid upper…
Lilya 4-Ever (2002): Dir. Lukas Moodysson
Feat. Oksana Akinshina, Artyom Bogucharsky, Pavel Ponomaryov; Lauded Swedish film–maker Lukas Moodyson turns his talents to the plight of a Russian teenage girl whose hopes for a brighter future (and…
Morvern Callar (2002): Dir. Lynne Ramsay
Feat. Samantha Morton, Kathleen McDermott; Enigmatic drama from the dir. of RATCATCHER that unreels a woman's journey into the unknown after her boyfriend commits suicide and she purloins his…
On the Edge (2002): Dir. John Carney
Feat. Cillian Murphy, Stephen Rea; Fairly risky and consistently bleak drama set around three teenage mental patients and their doctor. Thin treatment of the subject matter is redeemed…
Ping Pong (2002): Dir. Fumisiko Sori
Feat. Yôsuke Kubozuka, Arata; A madcap, yet gently humourous Japanese sports tale, set around two table tennis hotshots (Kubozuka and Arata) preparing for a ferocious battle at a…
Raising Victor Vargas (2002): Dir. Peter Sollett
Feat. Victor Rasuk, Judy Marte; A sensitive, appealing urban coming of age story set in a Hispanic New York subculture that rewardingly favours low–key incident over…
Slaughter Rule, The (2002): Dir. Alex Smith, Andrew J Smith
Feat. David Morse, Ryan Gosling, Clea Duvall…; Mounted on the icy prairies of Montana, this feted ‘indie’ drama sensitively portrays the balance of friendship between a troubled teenager and…
Spun (2002): Dir. Jonas Akerlund
Feat. Jason Schwartzman, Brittany Murphy, John Leguizamo…; A cinematically exhilarating depiction of existence among a group of methamphetamine (P) addicts in Los Angeles, that is sure to divide audiences as…
Sweet Sixteen (2002): Dir. Ken Loach
Feat. Martin Compston; A bleak, yet curiously uplifting portrait of teenage high–spirits run awry in working class Scotland. Anchored by a youthfully charismatic…
Walk to Remember, A (2002): Dir. Adam Shankman
Feat. Mandy Moore, Peter Coyote, Daryl Hannah…; Based on the Nicholas Sparks novel (who also wrote THE NOTEBOOK) this romantic drama tells the classic story of two teens from different worlds who…
All About Lily Chou-Chou (2001): Dir. Shunji Iwai
Feat. Hayato Ichihara, Yu Aoi, Ayumi Ito…; Vogue Japanese dir. Shunji Iwai renders the contemporary teen malaise with poignancy and despair in this haunting commentary on the perils of…
Bully (2001): Dir. Larry Clark
Feat. Brad Renfro, Leo Fitzpatrick, Nick Stahl…; A true–life story of Florida murder, teenager style, which dir. Clark uses to produce an X–rated, yet quite recognisable portrait of…
Crazy Beautiful (2001): Dir. John Stockwell
Feat. Kirsten Dunst, Jay Hernandez, Bruce Davison; Lively teenage fare, with a troubled–rich–girl (Kirsten Dunst) meets poor–boy (Jay Hernandez) tale raised (though by no means…
Donnie Darko (2001): Dir. Richard Kelly
Feat. Jake Gyllenhaal, Jena Malone, Drew Barrymore…; Admired by critics and an ardent fanbase for its originality and eclecticism, this quirky teen fantasy is arguably a slick patchwork of other movie…
Eureka (2001): Dir. Shinji Aoyama
Feat. Aoi Miyazaki, Koji Yakusho; Unforgettably beguiling Japanese road trip movie shot in sepia–toned cinema scope, following the existential odyssey of a group of emotionally…
Ghost World (2001): Dir. Terry Zwigoff
Feat. Thora Birch, Scarlett Johansson, Steve Buscemi…; Nothing to do with the paranormal, but everything to do with the anti–normal, this independent gem is a surprisingly endearing tale of two…
Glitter (2001): Dir. Vondie Curtis Hall
Feat. Mariah Carey, Max Beesley; Set in the early 1980's, pop idol Mariah Carey plays a teenage(!) girl who, unsurprisingly, is eager to become a famous pop–singer. Of course…
Goddess of 1967 (2001): Dir. Clara Law
Feat. Rose Byrne; An award–winning lead performance from Rose Byrne elevates this character drama set in a 1967 Citroen car, where a journey into the outback…
Late Night Shopping (2001): Dir. Saul Metzstein
Feat. James Lance; Amiable comedy set in the oddball world of late night shift–workers, stacking shelves in contemporary England. Set around a group of four…
Millennium Mambo (2001): Dir. Hou Hsiao-Hsien
Feat. Shu Qi; The first in dir. Hou’s ‘contemporary youth’ trilogy is a light–infused strobe of aimless young adults living in the accelerated urban…
Purely Belter (2001): Dir. Mark Herman
Feat. Chris Beattie, Greg McLane; A pair of spotty Newcastle lads make a pact to stay out of trouble and devise legit money–making schemes to score themselves football season…
Secret Life of Us, The (TV Series) (2001): Feat. Claudia Karvan, Deborah Mailman; Surprisingly consistent dramedy set in funky, downtown Melbourne amongst a group of romantically ambitious young people. Maintains a quirky lightness…
Tart (2001): Dir. Christina Wayne
Feat. Dominique Swain, Brad Renfro, Lacey Chabert…; Dominique Swain (LOLITA) comes a cropper in New York’s prestigious prep–school, Hewitt College, becoming involved with cocaine,…
Y Tu Mama Tambien (And Your Mother Too!) (2001): Dir. Alfonso Cuaron
Feat. Maribel Verdu, Gael Garcia Bernal, Diego Luna; Acclaimed universally (and here in NZ beset with censorship wrangles), this Mexican joyride, taken by two teenage boys and an older woman, is indeed…
Borstal Boy (2000): Dir. Peter Sheridan
Feat. Shawn Hatosy, Danny Dyer, Michael York; Well–mannered adaptation of playwright Brendan Behan's classic memoir of being sent to a youth prison in WW2 England after being caught with…
Centre Stage (2000): Dir. Nicholas Hytner
Feat. Amanda Schull, Zoe Saldana, Susan May Pratt…; Fable of balletic ambition in which three young woman (Amanda Schull, Zoe Saldana, Susan May Pratt) strive to enter the elite classes at New York's…
Cheaters (2000): Dir. John Stockwell
Feat. Jeff Daniels, Jena Malone, Paul Sorvino; Solid cable–movie based on the alarming true story of a state schoolteacher (Jeff Daniels) who encouraged his team of underachievers to cheat…
Disco Pigs (2000): Dir. Kirsten Sheridan
Feat. Elaine Cassidy, Cillian Murphy; Bleak, edgy rites–of–passage portrait of an intense friendship between two 17 year–olds who share a twisted appetite for…
Edge of Seventeen (2000): Dir. David Morton
Feat. Thomas Arklie; With its drab mid–1980s Ohio setting, complete with pastel clothing, Boy George–inspired haircuts and Bronksi Beat music, this puts a…
Finding Forrester (2000): Dir. Gus Van Sant
Feat. Sean Connery, Rob Brown, Anna Paquin…; Dir. Van Sant reprises the outlines of his own GOOD WILL HUNTING, with Sean Connery nurturing the wayward talent of basketballing teenager Rob Brown.
George Washington (2000): Dir. David Gordon Green
Feat. Candace Evanofski, Donald Holden, Damian Jewan Lee; With impressionistic widescreen photography, this low–key coming–of–age film frames its North Carolinan setting as the key player…
Girlfight (2000): Dir. Karyn Kusama
Feat. Michelle Rodriguez; A teenage girl breaks out of her working–class rut by training as a boxer, an arena that presents sexual prejudice as her chief opponent.…
Gossip (2000): Dir. Davis Guggenheim
Feat. Lena Headey, Kate Hudson, Norman Reedus…; Three media students decide to create a story out of pure, unfounded gossip, targeting a affluent and prudish classmate. The story of her sexual…
Groove (2000): Dir. Greg Harrison
Feat. Mackenzie Firgens, Lola Glaudini, Denny Kirkwood; A night out at a San Francisco rave, evoking with dope–fuelled delirium the chaos as various party–goers either groove, burnout, get lost…
He Died with a Felafel in His Hand (2000): Dir. Richard Lowenstein
Feat. Noah Taylor, Sophie Lee, Ian Hughes; Ramshackle Aussie comedy based on the cult novel, that follows the fortunes of blocked wannabe writer Noah Taylor in a series of flatting…
Liam (2000): Dir. Stephen Frears
Feat. Anthony Borrows, Ian Hart, Claire Hackett; Exploring an Irish childhood made grim by Roman Catholicism, this is like a more intimate ANGELA’S ASHES, governed as it is by the point of view of…
O (Othello) (2000): Dir. Tim Blake Nelson
Feat. Josh Hartnett, Mekhi Phifer, Julia Stiles; Continuing recent trends, this ‘updating’ of Shakespeare’s ”Othello” transfers the dialogue and setting into the US schoolyard, where Josh…
Platform (Zhantai) (2000): Dir. Jia Zhang-ke
Feat. Zhao Tao; Taking its title from a Chinese hit rock song of the 80s, this fetchingly spare epic meditates on the changes of that turbulent decade and the…
Save the Last Dance (2000): Dir. Thomas Carter
Feat. Julia Stiles, Sean Patrick Thomas; Unhappy with her move from mid–west to a black area of Chicago, Julia Stiles seeks dance–stage salvation. Her saviour arrives in the form…
There's Only One Jimmy Grimble (2000): Dir. John Hay
Feat. Lewis McKenzie, Robert Carlyle, Gina McKee…; Feelgood hit about one boy's quest for football fame in the estates of Manchester, where he emerges from the school–of–hard–knocks…
Yolngu Boy (2000): Dir. Stephen Johnson
Feat. Jack Thompson; Three contrasting aboriginal boys from Arnhem Land, North Australia undertake a harsh journey out of loyalty when the petrol–sniffing habits of…
Beach, The (1999): Dir. Danny Boyle
Feat. Leonardo DiCaprio, Tilda Swinton; Tapping the moods of young travellers of today and their restless wanderlust, this adaptation of Alex Garland's Gen–X novel is both…
Black and White (1999): Dir. James Toback
Feat. Robert Downey Jnr., Brooke Shields, Wu Tang Clan…; Risk–taking ensemble drama from the maverick dir. of TWO GUYS AND A GIRL and FINGERS, set in a Manhattan where rich white kids clash with the…
Boys Don't Cry (1999): Dir. Kimberly Peirce
Feat. Hilary Swank, Chloe Sevigny, Brendon Sexton III; Widely touted dramatisation of the true–life 'Brandon Teena' tragedy set in the grim badlands of America's Midwest, where a teenage girl…
Bumblebee Flies Anyway, The (1999): Dir. Martin Duffy
Feat. Elijah Wood, Janeane Garofalo, Rachael Leigh Cook; Romantic coming–of–age drama of a teen suffering from amnesia attempting to piece his life back together with the help of his fellow…
Butterfly's Tongue (La lengua de las mariposas) (1999): Dir. Jose Luis Cuerda
Feat. Fernando Fernan Gomez, Manuel Lozano; Heartwarming Spanish coming–of–age drama set in Galicia in 1936. Against the backdrop of the encroaching Spanish Civil War, a shy…
Cruel Intentions (1999): Dir. Roger Kumble
Feat. Sarah Michelle Geller, Ryan Phillippe, Reese Witherspoon; Spoiled and randy step–siblings Sarah Michelle Geller and Ryan Phillipe raise the amorality stakes by betting that he can deflower the prim…
Go (1999): Dir. Doug Liman
Feat. Sarah Polley, Katie Holmes, Jay Mohr…; The director of SWINGERS switches focus to the reckless chic of LA's twentysomething rave scene, brandishing a slew of racy taboos, an impossibly…
Ratcatcher (1999): Dir. Lynne Ramsay
Feat. William Eadie; Set during the 1970s garbage strike in Glasgow, this intensely stylish though sombre Scottish childhood tragedy features an unusual mix of the…
Room for Romeo Brass, A (1999): Dir. Shane Meadows
Feat. Paddy Considine; This extraordinary coming–of–age story places two twelve–year–old boys in the company of a well–meaning but…
Strange Fits of Passion (1999): Dir. Elise McCredie
Feat. Michela Noonan; On a quest to lose her virginity, break out of the rut and gain some life–experience, Michela Noonan goes after a reclusive…
Summer of Sam (1999): Dir. Spike Lee
Feat. John Leguizamo, Adrien Brody, Mira Sorvino…; Getting some distance from his usual street–scene, Spike Lee lets off a real firecracker of a film, set during the heatwave summer of 1977,…
Varsity Blues (1999): Dir. Brian Robbins
Feat. James Van Der Beek, Jon Voight; Reluctant star quarterback James Van Der Beek (from TV's Dawson's Creek) takes a stand against team coach Jon Voight's voracious pursuit of sporting…
54 (1998): Dir. Mark Christopher
Feat. Mike Myers, Ryan Phillippe, Salma Hayek…; Glittering, puffed–up retro–piece centres around the quintessential New York disco spot, Studio 54, and appropriately cruises on an empty…
Acid House, The (1998): Dir. Paul McGuigan
Feat. Stephen McCole, Maurice Roeves, Garry Sweeney; Those with a taste for undiluted Irvine Welsh (author of TRAINSPOTTING) will find warts–and–all satisfaction in this portmanteau of three…
American History X (1998): Dir. Tony Kaye
Feat. Edward Norton, Edward Furlong, Stacy Keach…; Potent dissertation on generational anger among the skinhead community of Los Angeles' Venice Beach, that though flawed by brushes with cliche, is a…
Butcher Boy, The (1998): Dir. Neil Jordan
Feat. Eamonn Owens, Stephen Rea, Fiona Shaw; Despairing yet distinctive black comedy depicts the insanity implicit in a boy's view of his small town in Ireland, circa 1962. Adopts a lurid…
Dawson's Creek (TV Series) (1998-2002): Dir. Rodman Flender, Arvin Brown
Feat. Katie Holmes, James Van Der Beek, Michelle Williams…; The popular post–modern teen melodrama created by the writer of SCREAM, Kevin Williamson. On tape – two favourite episodes: ‘The…
Felicity (TV Series) (1998): Dir. Matt Reeves
Feat. Keri Russell; Mousy high–school graduate Russell follows her heart (i.e. the boy she has a crush on) to college in New York City, in this sweetly engaging…
Great Expectations (1998): Dir. Alfonso Cuaron
Feat. Ethan Hawke, Gwyneth Paltrow, Anne Bancroft…; Bold revamp of the Charles Dickens classic traces the inter–twining fortunes of Ethan Hawke and Gwyneth Paltrow, orphans linked via a murky…
He Got Game (1998): Dir. Spike Lee
Feat. Denzel Washington; Those persistent bugbears about race and personal responsibility hold centre–court again for writer–director Spike Lee in this…
Stella Does Tricks (1998): Dir. Coky Giedroyc
Feat. Kelly MacDonald; Worldly teenage prostitute Stella escapes the paternal clutches of her pimp to reclaim herself and find companionship in a sympathetic young junkie.…
Whatever (1998): Dir. Susan Skoog
Feat. Lisa Weil; Beset by apathy, uncertainty and her indulgent best friend, a teenage girl falls victim to her own adolescence while trying to complete her final…
Xiu Xiu: The Sent Down Girl (Tian yu) (1998): Dir. Joan Chen
Feat. Li Xiaolu; Coming–of–age story set in the 70's about a teenage girl who is sent to the countryside during the "Down to the Countryside" Movement in…
Young Person's Guide to Becoming a Rock Star, The (1998): Dir. Sheree Folkson, Kieron Walsh
Feat. Ciaran McMenamin, Simone Lahbib, Nicole Stapleton…; Young persons are the target of the whimsical Scottish TV series following the fortunes of an eclectic rock group who go from garage nobodies to gain…
All Over Me (1997): Dir. Alex Sichel
Feat. Alison Folland, Tara Subkoff, Cole Hauser…; A lesbian festival hit that has 'crossover' hit written all over it, as it persuasively pinpoints some of the universal, intense emotions of…
Blackrock (1997): Dir. Steve Vidler
Feat. Nichole Avramidis, George Basha, Gina Bortolin; Pitching headlong into the Newcastle surfie/petrol–head scene, this forthright Aussie drama (taken from a stageplay) scrutinises the community…
Going to School with Dad on My Back (Bei qi baba shangxue) (1997): Dir. Youchou Zhou; Straightforwardly touching tale of a young boy, who with the help of his selfless family, graduates from his impoverished Malian River village to the…
Hurricane Streets (1997): Dir. Morgan J. Freeman
Feat. Brendon Sexton III, Antoine McLean; The excellent Brendan Sexton III (WELCOME TO THE DOLLHOUSE) does a sympathetic about–turn for this unflashy take on teenage delinquency. It…
La Vie de Jesus (Life of Jesus) (1997): Dir. Bruno Dumont; Virtuoso bleakness from the dir. of TWENTYNINE PALMS, in his debut study of alienated existence for a group of unruly skinheads in rural Flanders who…
Last of the High Kings (1997): Dir. David Keating
Feat. Jared Leto, Christina Ricci, Gabriel Byrne…; An irreverent flashback to late 70s Dublin, where Jared Leto ducks the familiar teenage troubles: girls, school and eccentric relations. Strong cast,…
Slab Boys, The (1997): Dir. John Byrne
Feat. Russell Barr, Bill Gardiner, Robin Laing…; A quiff–headed rites–of–passage in dead–end 1950s Scotland, follows three apprentice dripheads at a carpet factory and their…
Suburbia (1997): Dir. Richard Linklater
Feat. Giovanni Ribisi, Parker Posey, Steve Zahn…; Dir. Linklater returns to his favourite milieu – the teen angst movie – only this time working from someone else's material, a play by…
Sugar Factory, The (1997): Dir. Robert Carter
Feat. Matt Day; The director adapts his novel about a disturbed Aussie teenager (Matt Day) searching for love and meaning in his life after a string of traumatic…
True Love and Chaos (1997): Dir. Stavros Andonis Efthymiou
Feat. Ben Mendelsohn, Noah Taylor, Miranda Otto; A half–baked script straight out of the same Melbourne film school that produced LOVE & OTHER CATASTROPHES leaves an Aussie brat–pack…
Twin Town (1997): Dir. Kevin Allen
Feat. Llyr Ifans, Rhys Ifans, Dorien Thomas…; The creators of TRAINSPOTTING lend their executive stamp to this anarchic tale of village dysfunction, set in a quiet Welsh community. Crooked…
Unknown Pleasures / Xiao Wu (1997-2002): Dir. Jia Zhang-ke
Feat. Zhao Tao; Two astonishing features from gifted 'sixth generation' Chinese filmmaker Jia Zhang–ke (PLATFORM, THE WORLD); his terrain the onset of popular…
William Shakespeare's Romeo and Juliet (Romeo + Juliet) (1997): Dir. Baz Luhrmann
Feat. Leonardo DiCaprio, Claire Danes, Pete Postlethwaite…; Visionary director Baz Luhrmann takes his STRICTLY BALLROOM crew to the Americas and conjures a cinematic universe of striking originality and…
Boys (1996): Dir. Stacy Cochran
Feat. Lukas Haas, Winona Ryder; Downbeat, murky tale of adolescent intrigues has high scholar Lukas Haas becoming entangled in the mysterious past of accident victim Winona Ryder.
Loaded (1996): Dir. Anna Campion
Feat. Oliver Milburn, Dearbhla Molloy, Danny Cunningham…; Fans of Trainspotting will connect with this compelling snapshot of the E–generation – an acid–inflected psychodrama that unfolds…
Small Faces (1996): Dir. Gillies MacKinnon
Feat. Iain Robertson, Joseph McFadden; An anti–nostalgic hark back to the mean streets of late '60s Glasgow into which a wee spotty lad becomes unwittingly drawn. Eschewing the…
This Life (TV Series) (1996-1997): Feat. Jack Davenport, Ramon Tikaram; Subdued but truthful drama set around the 1990s conflicts, problems, successes and romances of a crowd of young London urbanites – mainly…
To Sir With Love 2 (1996): Dir. Peter Bogdanovich
Feat. Sidney Poitier, Lulu , Judy Geeson; Sequel to the 1967 classic, with Sidney Poitier returning as the teacher dealing with unruly and disadvantaged students, this time in a…
Welcome to the Dollhouse (1996): Dir. Todd Solondz
Feat. Heather Matarazzo, Victoria Davis; Winner of the grand prize at Sundance '96, this is a blackly comic portrait of a dreaded kind of coming–of–age. Teenage persecution and…
Basketball Diaries, The (1995): Dir. Scott Calvert
Feat. Leonardo DiCaprio, Mark Wahlberg, Juliette Lewis…; Leonardo DiCaprio excels as a young Jim Carroll, an infamous New York poet/musician/junkie who maintained a personal journal through a…
Circle of Friends (1995): Dir. Pat O'Connor
Feat. Minnie Driver, Chris O'Donnell; Catholicism and blossoming sexuality come into conflict when ugly–duckling Minnie Driver goes gooey over preppie Chris O'Donnell and chooses to…
Cure, The (1995): Dir. Peter Horton
Feat. Joseph Mazzello, Brad Renfro, Annabella Sciorra…; A touching story about two pre–teen boys, one of whom has AIDS, who venture to New Orleans on a raft to track down a miracle cure they read…
Dangerous Minds (1995): Dir. John N. Smith
Feat. Michelle Pfeiffer; Every generation needs a teacher–transforms–the–juvenile–delinquent chestnut, and consequently this film will appeal to those…
Delinquent (1995): Dir. Peter Hall
Feat. Desmond Devenish, Shawn Batten, Jeff Paul; The dysfunctional initiation into adulthood of a 15–year–old in a rural East Coast backwater. Atmospheric, with a groovy soundtrack by…
Flight of the Albatross (1995): Dir. Werner Meyer
Feat. Julia Brendler, Jack Thompson; Teenager Julia Brendler migrates from Germany to New Zealand to renuite with her mother, a scientist studying the albatross colony on a remote island.
Fresh (1995): Dir. Boaz Yakin
Feat. Samuel L. Jackson; The best, and dare we say it, freshest, of the Black–American street fables to emerge in recent years, a fascinating story evolves from a young…
Kids (1995): Dir. Larry Clark
Feat. Leo Fitzpatrick, Sarah Henderson, Justin Pierce…; Cult photographer Larry Clark's debut, 24hrs of New York streetkid life, attracted immediate controversy. The unblinking depictions of sex, drugs and…
La Haine (Hate) (1995): Dir. Mathieu Kassovitz
Feat. Vincent Cassel, Hubert Kounde, Said Taghmaoui…; A distinctive French urban crime drama in which the idle hands of male youth form fisticuffs on mean urban streets. A whole lot punchier, intelligent…
S.F.W. (1995): Dir. Jefery Levy
Feat. Stephen Dorff, Reese Witherspoon; Based on a significant Gen–X novel, Stephen Dorff plays Cliff Spab, a teenage loser who garners a major cult following as a hostage in a…
Death of a Cheerleader (A Friend to Die For) (1994): Dir. William A. Graham
Feat. Tori Spelling, Valerie Harper, Kellie Martin; Enjoyably trashy true story in which a mousy Catholic girl transfers to a public school and desperately attempts to befriend the most popular girl in…
Fun (1994): Dir. Rafal Zielinski
Feat. Renee Humphrey, Alicia Witt; Two teenage girls just want to have fun, but their obsessive pursuit of it leads them to murder an old lady for no other reason. This remarkable…
Imaginary Crimes (1994): Dir. Anthony Drazan
Feat. Harvey Keitel, Kelly Lynch, Fairuza Balk…; Con–man Harvey Keitel attempts to raise two daughters after their mother dies, and struggles to reconcile the demands of parenthood with his…
Metal Skin (1994): Dir. Geoffrey Wright
Feat. Aiden Young, Tara Morice, Ben Mendelsohn; A petrol–soaked, despairing love story from the director of ROMPER STOMPER, who takes another look at Australian youth counter–culture…
My So-Called Life (TV Series) (1994-1995): Dir. Scott Winant
Feat. Claire Danes, Jared Leto, Bess Armstrong…; Hard–hitting drama series starring a young Claire Danes in her breakout role as a 15 year–old dealing with angst–ridden teen…
Only the Brave (1994): Dir. Ana Kokkinos
Feat. Elena Mandalis, Dora Kaskanis, Maud Davey; Gritty portrait of a bleak rite–of–passage for two Greek girls in the wasteland of suburban Melbourne. Succinct feature possesses a…
Amy Fisher Story, The (1993): Dir. Andy Tennant
Feat. Drew Barrymore; Telemovie depiction of the notorious Long Island high–school student whose activities as a violent criminal and teenage prostitute climaxed…
King of the Hill (1993): Dir. Steven Soderbergh
Feat. Jesse Bradford, Jeroen Krabbe, Lisa Eichhorn…; A bleak yet exquisitely crafted tale of a Jewish boy living in depression–era St. Louis, left to fend for himself in a run–down hotel. It…
Searching for Bobby Fischer (Innocent Moves) (1993): Dir. Steven Zaillian
Feat. Joe Mantegna, Ben Kingsley; Sensitive film about a nine–year–old boy with a special gift for chess. Some poignant moments about parental expectations and the price…
Secrets (1993): Dir. Michael Pattinson
Feat. Noah Taylor, Willa O'Neill; During the Beatles' Melbourne tourdate of 1964, four Beatle–maniacs and an Elvis fan find themselves trapped together in a hotel basement,…
Swing Kids (1993): Dir. Thomas Carter
Feat. Robert Sean Leonard, Christian Bale, Frank Whaley; Affecting drama about the young sub–culture of pre–war Germany, who traded Nazi–ism for American jazz culture. A rare insight into…
This Boy's Life (1993): Dir. Michael Caton-Jones
Feat. Robert De Niro, Ellen Barkin, Leonardo DiCaprio; An exemplary bittersweet nostalgia piece based on the autobiography of Tobias Wolfe. Sheer craft elevates the sombre material, with Robert De Niro,…
What's Eating Gilbert Grape? (1993): Dir. Lasse Hallstrom
Feat. Johnny Depp, Juliette Lewis, Leonardo DiCaprio…; An off–beat delight that's quirky take on tin–pot America is never at the expense of its truthfulness or poignancy. The ballad of the…
Crush (1992): Dir. Alison Maclean
Feat. Marcia Gay Harden; A downbeat analysis of female personal politics, with Marcia Gay Harden, an American vixen in Rotorua who neglects her dear friend recently paralysed…
Long Day Closes, The (1992): Dir. Terence Davies
Feat. Marjorie Yates, Leigh McCormack, Anthony Watson; The director follows up DISTANT VOICES, STILL LIVES with a more optimistic but just as dream–like portrait of working–class life in '50s…
Midnight Clear, A (1992): Dir. Keith Gordon
Feat. Peter Berg, Kevin Dillon, Arye Gross…; A provocative, suspenseful anti–war parable about a fresh–faced American platoon assigned to an abandoned chateau near the German border…
Mima (1992): Dir. Philomene Esposito
Feat. Nino Manfredi, Margarita Lozano, Virginie Ledoyen; The first–time director captures the nuance and feeling of her own experience as a young girl who witnesses the mysterious disappearance of her…
Nostradamus Kid, The (1992): Dir. Bob Ellis
Feat. Noah Taylor; Noah Taylor, the charismatic geek from THE YEAR MY VOICE BROKE and FLIRTING comes of age yet again, this time at the height of atomic–age…
School Ties (1992): Dir. Robert Mandel
Feat. Brendan Fraser, Matt Damon, Chris O'Donnell…; A working–class teen hides that he is Jewish when he is awarded a scholarship to an exclusive prep school.
Untamed Heart (1992): Dir. Tony Bill
Feat. Christian Slater, Marisa Tomei; A fairy–tale romance kindles between a perky waitress and a kitchen–hand with a special condition. Does wonders for Christian Slater's…
Waterland (1992): Dir. Stephen Gyllenhaal
Feat. Jeremy Irons, Sinead Cusack, Lena Headey…; Jeremy Irons plays a history teacher in America who recounts his own suppressed coming of age to his cynical students. Adapted from Graham Swift's…
Boyz N the Hood (1991): Dir. John Singleton
Feat. Laurence Fishburne, Cuba Jr. Gooding, Ice-Cube; Sincere and authentic street gang fable focuses on a group of friends living in a black, working–class neighbourhood in South Central L.A. A…
Brighter Summer Day, A (1991): Dir. Edward Yang
Feat. Chen Chang; Sublime ode to adolescence set in early 1960's Taiwan, Edward Yang's sprawling, novelistic narrative reflects the personal and political turmoil of…
Commitments, The (1991): Dir. Alan Parker
Feat. Colm Meaney; Surprise hit simply chronicles the rise and fall of a Dublin soul band, formed by a group of teens with naught better to do. Unashamedly light fare,…
London Kills Me (1991): Dir. Hanif Kureishi
Feat. Justin Chadwick, Stephen Mackintosh, Emer McCourt; MY BEAUTIFUL LAUNDRETTE writer Kureishi directs a young ensemble for his glossy depiction of drug–dealing squatters in London's Notting Hill.…
On My Own (1991): Dir. Antonio Tibaldi
Feat. Judy Davis; Coming–of–age tale draws a devastating performance from Judy Davis as the imbalanced mother of a fifteen–year–old boarding…
Beverly Hills 90210 (TV Series) (1990-2000): Dir. Tim Hunter
Feat. Shannen Doherty, Jason Priestley, Tori Spelling…; In its day, compulsory viewing for teenagers, as the Beverly Hills High gang of new–faces (Shannen Doherty, Jason Priestley), rich–kids…
C'est La Vie (1990): Dir. Diane Kurys
Feat. Nathalie Baye, Richard Berry; Another twee autobiographical snapshot, set at a French holiday resort in a late–'50s summer. A teenager's coming of age is marked by the…
Lord of the Flies (1990): Dir. Harry Hook
Feat. Balthazar Getty, Chris Furrh, James Badge Dale; Updated film version of William Golding's novel about stranded military school cadets whose instinct for survival reverts to barbarism.
Pump Up the Volume (1990): Dir. Allan Moyle
Feat. Christian Slater, Samantha Mathis, Annie Ross…; Christian Slater is Hard Harry, maverick pirate radio DJ by night, anonymous and shy student by day. His anarchic commentaries earn a loyal band of…
Roselyne and the Lions (1990): Dir. Jean-Jacques Beineix
Feat. Isabelle Pasco, Gerard Sandoz, Gabriel Monnet; Another visual triumph from the director of DIVA, this is an absorbing account of a teen couple's yearning to tame and perform with lions. The…
Dead Poet's Society (1989): Dir. Peter Weir
Feat. Robin Williams, Robert Sean Leonard, Ethan Hawke…; Robin Williams is perfect as an a maverick English teacher at a private high–school for boys, where his passion for poetry profoundly…
Delinquents, The (1989): Dir. Chris Thomson
Feat. Kylie Minogue, Charlie Schlatter, Bruno Lawrence…; Minogue graduated from her TV soap–opera days with this attempt at a serious period drama, with her and Schlatter playing lovestruck teen…
Hush-A-Bye-Baby (1989): Dir. Margo Harkin
Feat. Seamus Ball, Rosina Brown, Sean Carlin…; Excellent portrayal, using 'workshop' methods, of the tribulations of four teenage girls in Northern Ireland, as they negotiate the local facts of…
Matter of Degrees, A (1989): Dir. W.T. Morgan
Feat. Arye Gross, Sarah Bork; Student life on a Long Island university campus, centering around the imminent commercialisation of their beloved radio station. Well–made…
Metropolitan (1989): Dir. Whit Stillman
Feat. Carolyn Farina, Edward Clements, Chris Eigeman; Sundance–winning arthouse hit focuses on the disappearing Manhattan debutante scene. An unknown ensemble play upper–class adolescents who…
Press Gang (TV Series) (1989-1993): Feat. Julia Sawalha, Dexter Fletcher; Much–loved British TV series follows the fortunes of a newspaper, the 'Junior Gazette', run by a troublesome crowd of teenage students in North…
1969 (1988): Dir. Ernest Thompson
Feat. Kiefer Sutherland, Winona Ryder, Robert Downey Jnr.…; Keifer Sutherland and Winona Ryder lead a brat–pack of sensitive anti–war youths in the summer of '69.
Celia (1988): Dir. Ann Turner
Feat. Rebecca Smart, Nicholas Eadie; Fans of Jane Campion should enjoy this eerie antipodean tale of a 9–year–old girl who surrenders to her nightmarish fantasies when her…
Fresh Horses (1988): Dir. David Anspaugh
Feat. Andrew McCarthy, Molly Ringwald; Blue–blood collegian Andrew McCarthy falls for the wrong–side–of–the–tracks and underage Molly Ringwald. Earnest love…
Permanent Record (1988): Dir. Marisa Silver
Feat. Keanu Reeves; Keanu Reeves stars in this slight but interesting teen drama about the effects of a suicide on a group of college friends.
Stand and Deliver (1988): Dir. Ramon Menendez
Feat. Edward James Olmos, Lou Diamond Phillips, Andy Garcia; Rousing true story about a no–nonsense Math teacher in a tough L.A. school and his struggles to motivate his dispirited and troubled students.
Stealing Home (1988): Dir. Steven Kampmann
Feat. Mark Harmon, Blair Brown, Jonathan Silverman…; Coming–of–age romantic drama about a washed up baseball player (Mark Harmon) who finds out his childhood love (Jodie Foster) has…
Degrassi Junior High (TV Series) (1987-1991): An unusually entertaining 1980s Canadian high school drama gathered a certain cult following around its charismatic young cast and well–judged…
In Between (TV Series) (1987): Feat. Sheryl Munks, Vichea Ten, Jim Petrovski…; Acclaimed Australian TV series about troubled teenagers attempting to find their way through life in the inner city, dealing with issues like drugs,…
Less Than Zero (1987): Dir. Marek Kanievska
Feat. Andrew McCarthy, Robert Downey Jnr., Jami Gertz…; A slick, rather thin adaptation of Bret Easton Ellis’ cult–novel set among the bored, coke–snorting youth of 1980s upper–crust…
Year My Voice Broke, The (1987): Dir. John Duigan
Feat. Noah Taylor, Ben Mendelsohn; Scrawny yet sensitive adolescent Noah Taylor can only watch as brazen older mate Ben Mendelsohn courts his dream–girl in '60s rural Australia.…
Crossroads (1986): Dir. Walter Hill
Feat. Ralph Macchio, Jami Gertz, Joe Seneca…; Great Ry Cooder music peps this light drama in which Ralph Macchio seeks lost blues tunes in the Deep South.
Space Camp (1986): Dir. Harry Winer
Feat. Kate Capshaw, Kelly Preston, Larry B. Scott…; Good natured 80's adolescent romp in which a group of young attendees of a space camp find themselves in space for real when their shuttle is…
Windrider (1986): Dir. Vincent Monton
Feat. Nicole Kidman, Tom Burlinson; A fresh–faced Nicole Kidman ditches her BMX Bandits for a buff windsurfer in this breezy teen romance.
Youngblood (1986): Dir. Peter Markle
Feat. Rob Lowe, Cynthia Gibb, Ed Lauter…; Brat–packer Rob Lowe stars as a pro–hockey hopeful toughing it out during a stay in a Canadian minor hockey town, while engaging in a…
Boys Next Door, The (1985): Dir. Penelope Spheeris
Feat. Charlie Sheen, Maxwell Caulfield; Early feature film by celebrated underground film maker Penelope Spheeris (DECLINE OF WESTERN CIVILISATION), with Charlie Sheen Maxwell Caulfield…
Legend of Billie Jean, The (1985): Dir. Matthew Robbins
Feat. Helen Slater, Christian Slater, Keith Gordon…; Under–rated 80's youth drama about a young woman and her pals who become media–hyped "legends" after an incident involving a gun and…
That Was Then, This Is Now (1985): Dir. Christopher Cain
Feat. Emilio Estevez, Craig Sheffer; Emilio Estevez plays juvenile delinquent, in this version of the S E Hinton book.
Tuff Turf (1985): Dir. Fritz Kiersch
Feat. James Spader, Robert Downey Jnr., Claudette Nevins; High school turf wars commence in this posturing 80s melodrama, about a pretty boy (Spader) who takes on a gang of hoodlums in order to win the girl…
Vagabond (1985): Dir. Agnes Varda
Feat. Sandrine Bonnaire; Award–winning drama that artfully presents poetic moments from young vagabond Sandrine Bonnaire’s last month alive, listlessly drifting…
Beat Street (1984): Dir. Stan Lathan
Feat. Rae Dawn Chong, Guy Davis; Key film in the history of hip–hop culture, this urban musical may show its age and derivation (SATURDAY NIGHT FEVER), but still comprises an…
Breakdance - The Movie (Breakin’) (1984): Dir. Joel Silberg
Feat. Lucinda Dickey, Adolfo Quinones, Michael Chambers; The excellent, highly athletic breakdance performances will be the prime value to hiphop enthusiasts in this FLASHDANCE–clone, which now has a…
Breakdance 2 - Electric Boogaloo (Breakin' 2) (1984): Dir. Sam Firstenberg
Feat. Lucinda Dickey, Adolfo Quinones, Michael Chambers; Less–hokey sequel to BREAKDANCE, with a storyline centred on a group of teens and dancers who try to save a community rec–centre from a…
Fast Talking (1984): Dir. Ken Cameron
Feat. Rod Zuanic, Steve Bisley; A teenage drug dealer meets an ex–convict junkyard owner who helps him rebuild an old motorbike. Dir. Ken Cameron takes inspiration from…
Racing with the Moon (1984): Dir. Richard Benjamin
Feat. Sean Penn, Elizabeth McGovern, Nicolas Cage…; A well–observed and resonant drama, about the last few days of boyhood for a couple of inductees into the US Marines in 1942. The cast all…
À Nos Amours (To Our Loves) (1983): Dir. Maurice Pialat
Feat. Sandrine Bonnaire, Maurice Pialat, Cyril Collard; One of dir. Pialat's most satisfying dramas, this concerns a journey of a teenage girl (Bonnaire, in a stunning debut) when her family life turns…
Meantime (1983): Dir. Mike Leigh
Feat. Tim Roth, Gary Oldman, Pam Ferris…; Mike Leigh's skewed sense of humour takes on the doledrums of Thatcher's London. Tim Roth and Gary Oldman are unrecognisably awkward in a…
Outsiders, The (1983): Dir. Francis Ford Coppola
Feat. Matt Dillon, C. Thomas Howell, Ralph Macchio…; Based on the gritty novel by S. E. Hinton (THAT WAS THEN THIS IS NOW), this ‘realistic’ depiction of teenage outsiders in 50s America is…
Rumble Fish (1983): Dir. Francis Ford Coppola
Feat. Matt Dillon, Mickey Rourke, Dennis Hopper…; Coppola's cult fave is a highly stylised treatment of a teen delinquency drama may not be entirely appropriate, but it sure looks impressive. Equally…
Diner (1982): Dir. Barry Levinson
Feat. Mickey Rourke, Ellen Barkin, Kevin Bacon…; Endearing, and enduring, tale of college friends growing up in the 1950s Baltimore was a box–office flop but soon found an enthusiastic…
Smithereens (1982): Dir. Susan Seidelman
Feat. Richard Hell; Hanging out on the lower rung of the gritty New York music scene in the early 80s, a flaky adolescent girl struggles to make her mark or find…
Tex (1982): Dir. Tim Hunter
Feat. Matt Dillon, Jim Metzler, Meg Tilly…; Arguably the best adaptation of S.E. Hinton’s teen fictions (THE OUTSIDERS etc.), with Matt Dillon giving an early, heartbreaking performance as a…
Endless Love (1981): Dir. Franco Zeffirelli
Feat. Brooke Shields; Brooke Shields is the saving grace of this fiasco made of Scott Spencer's acclaimed novel about an obsessive teenage romance.
Gregory's Girl (1981): Dir. Bill Forsyth
Feat. John Gordon Sinclair, Dee Hepburn; An affectionate and entertaining Scottish comedy about a shy and awkward school footballer's infatuation with a female team–member.
Puberty Blues (1981): Dir. Bruce Beresford
Feat. Nell Schofield, Jad Capelja; Affecting teenage odyssey with Nell Schofield and Jad Capelja as surfing–groupies, learning to fit into a sex’n’drugs beach–scene.
Foxes (1980): Dir. Adrian Lyne
Feat. Jodie Foster, Scott Baio, Sally Kellerman…; Four teenage loose cannons speed towards self–destruction in this frank, impressionistic portrait of L.A. teen culture. A young Jodie Foster…
Rude Boy (1980): Dir. Hazan, Mingay
Feat. Jimmy Pursey, Johnny Green; Semi–doco in which a teenage punk is forced to choose political allegiances while scamming a roadie job with the Clash. Features nine Clash…
Times Square (1980): Dir. Allan Moyle
Feat. Robin Johnson, Trini Alvarado, Tim Curry; An NYC youth drama inspired by the "new wave" music and fashions of the time that follows the mildly anarchic wanderings of a pair of runaway…
Little Romance, A (1979): Dir. George Roy Hill
Feat. Laurence Olivier, Anna Massey, Arthur Hill…; Sweet minor comedy in which aged charmer Olivier persuades two teenage lovers – American boy, French girl – to run off together.…
Over the Edge (1979): Dir. Jonathan Kaplan
Feat. Matt Dillon, Harry Northrup; One of the best portraits of delinquency yet committed to the screen, Matt Dillon, in his acting debut, is just one of the aimless youths who erupt…
Passe ton Bac d'abord (Graduate First) (1979): Dir. Maurice Pialat
Feat. Sabine Haudepin, Philippe Marlaud, Bernard Tronczak…; Dir. Pialat’s matter–of–fact realism and blasé cast of young actors conveys all the aimlessness and uncertainty of youth in this…
Quadrophenia (1979): Dir. Franc Roddam
Feat. Phil Daniels, Michael Elphick, Ray Winstone…; Brilliant portrait of alienated youth, inspired by The Who's concept album, focuses on a young Mod's personal crises and his gang's violent agenda…
FJ Holden, The (1977): Dir. Michael Thornhill
Feat. Paul Couzens, Carl Stever, Sigrid Thornton; Low–budget youth drama that follows the travails of two smalltime Holden–driving hoons in the West Sydney suburb of Bankstown. Both…
The Devil, Probably (Le diable probablement) (1977): Dir. Robert Bresson
Feat. Antoine Monnier, Tina Irissari, Henri de Maublanc…; Distinctive late–period inclusion into the incredible canon of films from director Robert Bresson (DIARY OF A COUNTRY PRIEST), following a…
Conrack (1974): Dir. Martin Ritt
Feat. Jon Voight, Paul Winfield, Hume Cronyn; Based on the true experiences of a teacher in a sunlit backwater of South Carolina, Jon Voight gives one of his best performances, trying to rouse…
Lacombe Lucien (1974): Dir. Louis Malle
Feat. Pierre Blaise, Aurore Clement; A subtle, probing study of the psychology of collaboration set in WW2 rural France, sees young peasant lad Pierre Blaise drawn into the local…
Lords of Flatbush, The (1974): Dir. Martin Davidson, Stephen Verona
Feat. Perry King, Sylvester Stallone, Henry Winkler…; Boasting early appearances for various stars–in–waiting, this is an affectionate view of the rites–of–passage for members of…
American Graffiti (1973): Dir. George Lucas
Feat. Ron Howard, Richard Dreyfuss; Seminal coming–of–age comedy set in '62 spawned a hit TV show (Happy Days), a mega–selling soundtrack and boosted many careers.
Girl Most Likely To, The (1973): Dir. Lee Philips
Feat. Stockard Channing, Edward Asner, Jim Backus; An 'ugly duckling' high–school student is transformed by plastic surgery and decides to wreak homicidal vengeance on former boyfriends and…
That'll Be the Day (1973): Dir. Claude Whatham
Feat. David Essex, Ringo Starr, James Booth…; Popstar David Essex plays a British working–class youth who rejects the staid conformity of 50's Britain and eventually drifts into the…
Carnal Knowledge (1971): Dir. Mike Nichols
Feat. Jack Nicholson, Art Garfunkel, Ann-Margret…; Classic from the early 70s 'zeitgeist', this funny yet sobering film chronicles the sex lives of two disparate men from high–school to…
Friends (1971): Dir. Lewis Gilbert
Feat. Sean Bury, Anicee Alvina; Sentimental, page–turning romance blossoms an enternal love between two idealistic French teens head over heels. Hit soundtrack by Elton John…
Le Souffle Au Coeur (Murmur of the Heart) (1971): Dir. Louis Malle
Feat. Benoit Ferreux; A much praised coming–of–age tale concerns a sickly, but promiscuous teenage boy growing up in a stilted bourgeois family in 1950s Dijon…
A Swedish Love Story (1970): Dir. Roy Andersson
Feat. Ann-Sofie Kylin, Rolf Sohlman; The debut feature film from director Roy Andersson (YOU, THE LIVING) is an unforgettably beautiful coming–of–age tale inspired by the…
All the Right Noises (1969): Dir. Gerry O'Hara
Feat. Olivia Hussey, Tom Bell, John Standing…; The story of a young married man who has an affair with a teenage girl, this forms part of a peculiarly 1960s British wave of films exploring such…
Bronco Bullfrog (1969): Dir. Barney Platts-Mills
Feat. Del Walker, Anne Gooding, Sam Shepherd; Del and his friends agree to take part in a robbery with a boy fresh from the borstal. When Del falls in love with Irene they decide to run away from…
Me, Natalie (1969): Dir. Fred Coe
Feat. Patty Duke, James Farentino, Salome Jens…; Thoughtful, though occasionally mawkish coming–of–age tale with Patty Duke as a young woman struggling with low self esteem and fighting…
If.... (1968): Dir. Lindsay Anderson
Feat. Malcolm McDowell, Richard Warwick, Mona Washbourne…; An angry yet sublimely poetic counter–cultural work in which events both real and imagined culminate in a violent revolt at a repressive public…
L'Enfance-Nue (Naked Childhood) (1968): Dir. Maurice Pialat
Feat. Michel Terrazon; Astonishingly sober coming–of–age tale represents Pialat at his most profoundly unsentimental. The director brilliantly blends naturalism…
Mouchette (1967): Dir. Robert Bresson
Feat. Nadine Nortier, Jean-Claude Guilbert, Maria Cardinal; An impoverished young girl in rural France bears the brunt of hard times in this perfectly formed study, taken from the novel by George Bernanos.…
To Sir with Love (1966): Dir. James Clavell
Feat. Sidney Poitier, Lulu; Sidney Poitier instructs a class of cheeky, wayward teenagers in this feel–good classic of British cinema.
Rapture (1965): Dir. John Guillermin
Feat. Melvyn Douglas, Patricia Gozzi, Dean Stockwell…; Drama based on the 1954 novel "Rapture in My Rags" about a lonely teenage girl living with her widower father, who develops an attraction to an…
My Way Home (Igy jottem) (1964): Dir. Miklos Jancso
Feat. Andras Kozak, Sergei Nikonyenko, Janos Gorbe; In the final days of World War II, a young Hungarian is making his way home, through countryside full of the debris of war, when he is captured and…
Live it Up! (Sing and Swing) (1963): Dir. Lance Comfort
Feat. David Hemmings; Low–budget, but historically fascinating musical wraps some great mid–60s pop music around its slender plot. Hemmings plays a…
That Kind of Girl (1963): Dir. Gerry O'Hara
Feat. Margaret Rose Keil, David Weston, Linda Marlowe; Another gem rescued from obscurity by the BFI's Flipside label, this one deals with the hush–hush topic of venereal disease against a backdrop…
Splendour in the Grass (1961): Dir. Elia Kazan
Feat. Natalie Wood, Warren Beatty, Pat Hingle…; Smitten teens work up considerable sexual frenzy when their respective families won't let them be together. Appropriately, it's the lurid scenes…
Platinum High School (1960): Dir. Charles Haas
Feat. Mickey Rooney, Terry Moore, Dan Duryea…; Mickey Rooney overheats in investigating his son's death at a military academy. Casting quirks includes singer Conway Twitty.
400 Blows, The (1959): Dir. Francois Truffaut
Feat. Jean-Pierre Leaud, Claire Maurier, Albert Remy…; Truffaut's first film rocketed him to fame as some kind of New Wave radical, but at a second glance this story of a teenage delinquent thrown in and…
Delinquents, The (1957): Dir. Robert Altman
Feat. Tom Laughlin, Peter Miller, Dick Bakalyan; Future luminary Robert Altman's debut feature, an "expose" of juvenile delinquency in the rock'n'roll era. Filmed in Kansas City in a…
Crazed Fruit (1956): Dir. Ko Nakahira
Feat. Yujiro Ishihara, Masahiko Tsugawa, Mie Kitahara; Two hedonistic brothers chase the skirt of a voracious young temptress in this scorching, jazz–infused statement on reckless youth. A seminal…
Blackboard Jungle, The (1955): Dir. Richard Brooks
Feat. Glenn Ford, Sidney Poitier, Vic Morrow; Famously controversial on release and first of the 'Rock–n–roll' films, this lifted the lid on the heated youth tensions in 50s America.…
Rebel Without a Cause (1955): Dir. Nicholas Ray
Feat. James Dean, Natalie Wood, Sal Mineo; James Dean's intense portayal of an alienated youth from a wealthy family opened the eyes of a generation and catapulted him to stardom. One of the…
Final Test, The (1953): Dir. Anthony Asquith
Feat. Jack Warner, Robert Morley, George Relph…; Gentle comedy of values has a famed cricketer making his way to the middle for one last innings. Meanwhile is son is torn between seeing dad bat one…
Los Olvidados (The Young and the Damned, aka The Forgotten Ones) (1950): Dir. Luis Bunuel; Ground–breaking masterwork from dir. Luis Bunuel's Meixcan period, set among slum children in Mexico City, whose harsh circumstances and…
Boys in Brown, The (1949): Dir. Montgomery Tully
Feat. Jack Warner, Richard Attenborough, Dirk Bogarde…; Soft youth rebellion drama with Jack Warner as warden of a borstal struggling to keep his tempestuous young charges in line. Mostly of note for its…
Les Enfants Terribles (The Strange Ones) (1948): Dir. Jean-Pierre Melville
Feat. Edouard Dermithe, Nicole Stephane; A poetic drama–fantasy from the pen of Jean Cocteau (who also directed several scenes), that centres round the narcissistic,…
Tom Brown's School Days (1940): Dir. Robert Stevenson
Feat. Freddie Bartholomew, Sir Cedric Hardwicke, Jimmy Lydon; Thomas Hughes' classic novel of life at the Victorian Boys public school of Rugby is given a generous, populist treatment. New boy Lydon finds…

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