The 3 Best Angsty Teen Films Ever

As if your own angst isn't enough.

1. Palo Alto (2014)

James Franco/V Magazine / Via dailymail.co.uk

Based off of a series of short stories written by James Franco, Palo Alto is a tale of privileged white teens who live in the suburbs and aren't strangers to self-destructive behavior. Somehow, this weaves itself into a love story. In this film, we not only are exposed to a wonderful cast (I can’t NOT mention how BEAUTIFUL Jack Kilmer [luh u bae] is) but we see Gia Coppola put her photography background to use in her very first film. The color scheme throughout the entire movie makes my heart palpitate like nothing else. The icing on the cake is most definitely the soundtrack, which includes tracks by Mac DeMarco and Dev Hynes.

2. Submarine (2010)

Warp Films / Via phireside.tumblr.com

In the beginning of the film, we meet Oliver Tate, a cynical *~angsty~* teen whose main objective is to lose his virginity before turning 16 (which I don't condone) while also dealing with the realization that his parents’ marriage may becoming to an end. We later meet Jordana, another cynical *~angsty~*teen, who Oliver is irrevocably infatuated with.

Boy falls for girl, girl falls for boy, boy does something stupid and girl moves on, boy regrets his decision, someone dies, and then the happy ending falls out of the sky and lands onto a cheese platter. Beyond the somewhat typical love story, the writing in this movie is absolutely genius. Being the main character in a dramedy-romance may be difficult to execute without being perceived as cheesy, but it was done flawlessly and seemingly effortless by Craig Roberts (Oliver Tate.) The scenes shot on the beach with grey skies in the background (Jordana’s bright red jacket makes these scenes what they are) and all of the 8mm footage shot during Oliver and Jordana’s “love escapade” makes me feel things. Not to mention, the ENTIRE soundtrack was written and performed by Alex Turner of Arctic Monkeys.

3. Juno (2007)

Fox Searchlight Pictures / Via svederus.blogg.se

16 year old Juno MacGuff’s life is completely turned around after learning about her pregnancy. One thing many may notice about her upon watching the film is that she doesn’t freak out upon learning that there is a human growing inside of her. Instead, she just accepts it and moves along, like any other emotionally distant *~angsty~* teen would. Michael Cera plays Paulie Bleeker, your average scrawny teenage boy who most likely only participates in an organized sport to please his father. Juno decides to give her child up for adoption and with a few other things happening in between, Paulie and Juno live happily ever after <3. The film may be over 10 years old, but the snarky and relatively dry sense of humor used in the dialogue between characters never gets old.