34 Coming-Of-Age Movies That Were So Good People Watched Them Dozens Of Times

    "Napoleon Dynamite always makes me laugh and captures all of the awkwardness of high school."

    Crystal Ro
    by Crystal Ro

    BuzzFeed Staff

    We asked the BuzzFeed Community to tell us about a coming-of-age movie they loved so much that they watched it over and over again. Here are the heartwarming AND heartbreaking results...

    1. Stand by Me

    Columbia Pictures

    "It may be an adaptation of a Stephen King novella but the movie is just beautiful. I love how those friendships shaped their lives and helped them realize what they were trying to do was actually just really sad and depressing. It’s definitely something I recommend to everyone."

    —corellaw

    "It is such a perfect depiction of the friendships of preteen and young teen boys. The line that continues to stick with as I get older is, 'It happens sometimes, friends come in and out of our lives like busboys in a restaurant.' Such a beautiful and true line."

    —speshk962

    2. The Edge of Seventeen

    STX Entertainment

    "Watching it when I was 16/17 really helped me because how Nadine felt was exactly what I went through. Being 17 is awkward and you’re unsure of everything and you feel like the world might end. Even though I just graduated high school, I’m still going through the motions but it’s good to feel like you aren’t alone."

    —kristennp

    "It was one of the first movies where I felt like I understood exactly where the main character was coming from. Nadine's monologue at the very end about how she felt like she was 'floating' put my lifelong feelings into words for the first time. I cry every time I watch."

    —kharaw

    3. The Way, Way Back

    Fox Searchlight Pictures

    "The Way, Way Back has it all! A great cast, great soundtrack, and the best coming-of-age story I’ve seen from a film in a long time. The main character, Duncan, is all of us as awkward teenagers and we get to see him come into his own in the most realistic way — AKA without a major character death or similarly scarring event."

    —deem4c0b5484d

    "I can watch this movie on repeat the entire day, the soundtrack is so calming to hear."

    —makaylalashae28

    4. Now and Then

    New Line Cinema

    "I’ve watched Now and Then probably 20 times. It shows that everyone is going to grow up on their own path, but that doesn’t mean you still can’t be friends. It also makes me wish I grew up in a time without cellphones and internet."

    —haileyp4cba22773

    "I watched Now and Then for the first time a few years ago and I've been in love ever since. My dad died a few months prior and I found a piece of myself in each girl, especially Roberta. It holds such an important place in my heart. Plus the soundtrack is 10/10."

    —talladegaknight

    5. Love, Simon

    20th Century Fox

    "It forever holds a special place in my heart and helped me see it was OK to be me."

    —fiifiii

    6. Lady Bird

    A24

    "It makes you laugh, makes you cry, makes you want to call your mom. I’ve never felt more represented by any character than I did by Lady Bird. This movie literally changed my life."

    —ajb925

    "I love the way Lady Bird’s relationship with her mother is played out. It represents my relationship with my mother in a way I’ve never seen another coming-of-age film do so exquisitely."

    —camilleplang

    7. House of D

    Lionsgate

    "I used to watch this movie at LEAST once a week for a long period of my life after first renting it from the video store at age 13. Although it was about a boy coming-of-age in New York during the '70s and I was an emo teen girl in a small town, it just struck a chord with me. There was a melancholy feel from it that comforted my young angsty soul and I was in love with Anton."

    —djoyg08

    8. Akeelah and the Bee

    Lionsgate Films

    "It's about an 11-year-old girl in South LA who dreams of making it the National Spelling Bee despite her mom's objections."

    —dayyabatuabbas

    9. It: Chapter One

    Warner Bros.

    "I know it’s a horror movie, but it’s also a beautiful movie about kids and friendship, and personal growth, and overcoming fears — that’s a horrible sentence but it’s really so good and has such good character growth."

    —briannacabana

    10. Tall Girl

    Netflix

    "I relate because I'm really tall and I feel lonely a lot."

    —lovelyxflowers

    11. The Man in the Moon

    Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer

    "It stars a 14-year-old Reese Witherspoon and it's a beautiful coming-of-age film set in rural Louisiana in the '50s, and the locations used and score are gorgeous. Plus the movie itself is heartbreaking."

    —kimm43fe7a6dc

    12. Dirty Dancing

    Vestron Pictures

    "I wanted to be Baby so bad, I had my mom buy me white Keds and perm my hair. I know every single line from that movie. The resort where the film is set has Dirty Dancing weekends, I think I gotta find my Johnny and go."

    —shmoopsie

    13. Kids

    Shining Excalibur Films

    "It's a super dark and dramatically depressing story about tweens growing up in a New York suburb. The lesson at the end is so powerful it just makes you break down and cry. It’s hard to watch some stuff, but it’s truly what happens in places like that and everywhere for that matter."

    —corellaw

    14. Mermaids

    Orion Pictures

    "Winona Ryder as Charlotte, an awkward teenage girl growing up in the '60s, shares the perfect coming-of-age story. Her inner dialogue is GOLD. Cher plays her glamorous eccentric mother and young Christina Ricci is so cute as her little sister. So classic."

    —soph1123

    15. Napoleon Dynamite

    Fox Searchlight Pictures

    "It always makes me laugh and captures all of the awkwardness of high school."

    —tatertots03

    16. Spirited Away

    Toho

    "Such a beautiful story of becoming independent! Nothing resonates like Chihiro signing her identity away in order to save her parents. The soundtrack and the artistry are astounding. The storytelling and characters always feel so complex and well thought out no matter how many times I watch it. I've rewatched it at least once a year since it came out (in English) in the early 2000s."

    —nchris

    17. My Girl

    Columbia Pictures

    "My mom will tell you when I was a little girl and home sick from school for a few days, I would watch it, rewind it, and watch it all over again! She said I would repeat the words."

    —m4e3c87852

    18. Risky Business

    Warner Bros.

    "Tom Cruise's breakout movie. Joel goes from being a nervous teen afraid any mistake will wreck his future to being a tycoon pimp trading in 'human fulfillment.'"

    —kend4fe281761

    19. 13 Going on 30

    Columbia Pictures

    "I watched 13 Going on 30 almost every night of high school. Later found it on a list of movies that soothe anxiety, so makes a lot of sense."

    —julim4d635ba19

    20. Thirteen

    Fox Searchlight Pictures

    "Most coming-of-age movies don’t get into the reality of youths getting into drugs and alcohol and this movie did an amazing job at portraying this."

    —winnieandhamlet

    21. 10 Things I Hate About You

    Buena Vista Pictures

    "It may seem like just a rom-com, but Kat and Bianca deal with big issues like the pressure in high school to fit in and be cool, the pressure to have sex, and trying to find their independence from their dad. The movie came out when I was 13, and Kat became an inspiration to me for the rest of my teen-hood."

    —l4d615bb5a

    22. Secondhand Lions

    New Line Cinema

    "It’s so underrated. It stars Haley Joel Osmont as a kid named Walter, who is spending the summer with his estranged uncles while his mom goes off to school. His uncles tell him stories about love and adventure, while Walter learns what being a man is really about."

    —emilypsully

    23. Ferris Bueller's Day Off

    Paramount Pictures

    "Ferris Bueller's Day Off is another John Hughes masterpiece that shows that sometimes you just need to have fun, otherwise you could miss the best things in life."

    —fannyfolye

    24. Call Me by Your Name

    Sony Pictures Classics

    "It’s such an honest movie that demonstrates how first loves are so wonderful and intense, but that they don’t always last. It doesn’t sugarcoat it and there’s no happy ending. But that’s just how life is sometimes."

    —lizzies48bb40154

    25. Easy A

    Screen Gems

    "Emma Stone’s performance in it is severely underrated as well as Amanda Bynes’s. It pokes fun at so many high school clichés yet embraces them at the same time. I love Olive’s progression throughout the film and she has so many perfect jokes and one-liners. The whole cast does an impressive job. It’s such clever comedy unlike some high school-themed films that get to be too raunchy."

    —kevind4ac2ce8fe

    26. Mystic Pizza

    The Samuel Goldwyn Company

    "It is my all-time favorite movie. Watching each young woman go through problems that weren’t normally shown in coming-of-age movies was so exciting to me! I remember watching this movie when I was about 10 in complete shock and awe. It was hilarious and touching...I still enjoy the movie as an adult. And anything that Julia Roberts touched in the '80s was gold! So, added bonus."

    —j4c83c520f

    27. Flipped

    Warner Bros. Pictures

    "Honestly it’s such a sweet movie and I love seeing the kids grow and their friendship/views on each other change. It’s also cool to see the story from both points of view."

    —belenl2

    28. The Sandlot

    20th Century Fox

    "Nothing hit like Benny putting on those PF Flyers for Smalls."

    —cierra2162

    "I grew up watching The Sandlot. Now my sons are growing up watching The Sandlot! It’s heartfelt without being sappy. It’s timeless and funny. It’s just always a winner!"

    —kminfl

    29. Crooklyn

    Universal Pictures

    "It follows the Carmichael family in 1970s Brooklyn, where the kids learn some funny and painful lessons about growing up."

    —khloebare

    30. The Princess Diaries

    Buena Vista Pictures

    "It is so charming, and funny, and I totally related to Mia’s clumsy awkwardness. Plus, I think we all need a Queen Clarisse and a Joe to give us some stellar advice about life."

    —strangerthanitseems

    31. The Perks of Being a Wallflower

    Summit Entertainment

    "I have watched The Perks of Being a Wallflower over, and over, and over again. Not only is it a great depiction of teenage mental illness, but it has an amazing cast and a great overall story."

    —isaaclahey

    32. Almost Famous

    DreamWorks Pictures

    "It involves rockstars, moving on from parents, and branching out. AMAZING. My favorite movie ever and it makes me cry."

    —elaineb4296ae71b

    33. Sixteen Candles

    Universal Pictures

    "I know it’s extremely problematic in more ways than one, but Sixteen Candles has always been a favorite. I guess I just felt like Sam was the underdog and I could relate to her. Then she got Jake Ryan. It seemed like that was what is supposed to happen in the world. Ahhh to be a non-cynical teenager again..."

    —karint41079a87f

    34. And The Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants

    Warner Bros. Pictures

    "Each of the girls experienced loss and love in their teens, from family issues, to losing their virginities, to a pregnancy scare, it was a really important series (books and movies) for me growing up! I still rewatch the movies every year and love them just the same."

    —pandabear14