I’ve been asked about my favourite movie so many times, and I can never give a straight answer. There are so many great movies out there, all of different genres, with different purposes and different messages. How can I decide whether I like a slapstick comedy or an emotional drama more when they’re so unlike each other? But there is one genre I always come back to: coming-of-age. There’s just something about these movies that resonates with me. Maybe it’s the realistic characters, the way they capture the highs and lows of growing up, or maybe their portrayal of friendship. Whatever it is, coming-of-age films are unlike any other—they have a way of making mundane life feel extraordinary, of turning small moments into unforgettable ones. Whether they’re heartfelt, bittersweet, or gut-wrenching, coming-of-age films always leave an impact on me.
1. Stand by Me
via IMDb
Starting off strong, Stand by Me is a 1986 movie that recounts Gordie Lachance’s memories with his old friend group. Despite being about a group of 12-year-olds, death haunts the narrative of this movie. When Gordie finds out that his childhood best friend, Chris Chambers, has been killed, he is taken back to the summer before junior high. It’s 1959 in the small town of Castle Rock, Oregon, when Vern Tessio learns about a boy who has been killed near their hometown. The movie follows Gordie, Chris, Ted, and Vern as they embark on an adventure to find the body, hoping to earn respect and recognition. As they walk through the wilderness, they face near-death experiences, but I think the scariest part for these boys was to open up about their feelings. The true journey in this movie is not the physical one, but the emotional one–Gordie processes his grief over losing his brother, Chris reflects on his troubled home life and Teddy on his abusive father, while Vern tries to overcome his fears. Even though I watched this movie fairly recently, I feel as though somewhere, sometime in my childhood, I watched this movie and have since carried a piece of each of the boys within me.
2. Dìdi
via The New York Times
I’ve never been a 13-year-old Taiwanese American boy living in California in 2008, but somehow, I’ve never resonated with a character as much as I did with Chris Wang. Dìdi follows Chris during the last month of summer before high school as he navigates friendship, his relationship with his family, and his identity as an Asian American. Despite having a runtime of only 93 minutes, I think Dìdi explores these themes brilliantly. The family dynamics were probably my favourite part of the movie. Chris’s relationship with his mother, Chungsing, felt so authentic—she struggles with societal expectations, and ends up projecting her worries onto Chris, wanting the best for him, but not always knowing how to express it. Chungsing and Chris are portrayed in such a way that viewers are able to empathize with both characters; they are nuanced, just like real people. As Chris tries to live up to his mother’s expectations, he also faces the pressure to fit in with his peers. When he feels like an outcast within his own friend group, he turns to a group of older skateboarders. Chris gets to live out his dream of videographing and being cool for a short while when they ask him to take videos of them skateboarding. But that moment is short lived, and soon enough, Chris starts feeling lonely again. He has a huge argument with his mother, but the conversation they have afterwards is a turning point for their relationship, as well as Chris himself. By the end of the movie, Chris is a freshman in highschool. After all that he’s been through, he still hasn’t completely figured out who he is, or who he wants to be—and that’s exactly what makes Dìdi feel so real.
3. Dead Poets Society
via IMDb
Similar to Stand by Me, Dead Poets Society is a 1989 film set in 1959 about a group of boys figuring out who they are. It follows 16-year-old Todd Anderson as he navigates his new school, Welton Academy, a prestigious but stringent all-boys boarding school in Vermont. He is assigned one of Welton’s finest students, Neil Perry, as his roommate. After befriending Neil, Todd also meets his other friends: Knox Overstreet, Charlie Dalton, Richard Cameron, Gerard Pitts, and Steven Meeks. At first, Todd is quiet and struggles to find his voice. However, things begin to change when the boys meet John Keating, their charismatic and unconventional English teacher. Mr. Keating encourages his students to think for themselves, to appreciate the arts, to embrace their passions, to “seize the day”. This inspires Neil to restart the Dead Poets Society, an old unofficial club Mr. Keating used to be a part of. He convinces his friends to join, and all of them start sneaking off campus to a cave, where they read poetry. As the boys bond over poetry and self-expression, and Mr. Keating continues to inspire them, they ultimately discover the courage to start living life on their own terms. Though there is a lot to love about this movie, my favourite would have to be the way it depicts the importance of studying art and literature. Belittling and shaming someone for being passionate about the arts or wanting to pursue higher education in them is so detrimental to not only that individual, but to society as well, and Dead Poets Society showcases it wonderfully.
4. Lady Bird
via IMDb
Greta Gerwig’s directorial debut follows Christine “Lady Bird” McPherson, a high school senior in the early-aughts in Sacramento, California. The film focuses on Lady Bird’s turbulent relationship with her mother, Marion, her friendships and romantic relationships, and her strong desire to leave Sacramento for a city “where the culture is”. Many people dislike Lady Bird because nothing really happens plot-wise, but that’s precisely what I like about it, and I think it’s what the film intended. It’s never explicitly stated why Christine wishes to be called Lady Bird. It’s possible that she doesn’t want to go by her given name because of her relationship with her mother. But also, I think Christine wants to be called Lady Bird because her life is so painfully ordinary, and she thinks that she as a person is uninteresting as well—she wants to be different and unique. She wants to leave Sacramento because according to her, it’s boring, and she wants to hang out with the cool kids because they’re not. I think the film encapsulates the need to forge your own identity in your youth wonderfully. The movie captures how confusing self-discovery can be, the push and pull of wanting to belong while craving individuality at the same time. It also depicts the complexities of mother-daughter relationships in a beautiful way. Lady Bird reminds us that growing up is messy, and as important as knowing who you are is, you can take your time finding out.
5. 3 Idiots
Written by Kartiki Gupta
['Photo' OR 'Artwork'] by Ayra Khan for The Fraser Post
Edited by Saanvi Mohanty
REVIEW
My Favourite Coming-of-Age Films
via IMDb
Last but certainly not least, I wanted to add a film that is very near and dear to my heart. This was probably the first ever movie I watched that you could categorise as “coming-of-age”. 3 Idiots is a 2009 Hindi-language film that follows three engineering students as they navigate through the pressures of academia, societal expectations, and their own dreams. The movie starts with Chatur Ramalingam reminding his college rivals, Farhan Qureshi and Raju Rastogi, of a bet he made with their friend and Chatur’s nemesis, Rancho, ten years ago. Nobody knows of his whereabouts, so the three of them set out to find him. From this point, the movie is told in two timelines: the present day, and their time at Imperial College of Engineering (ICE) in Delhi. As the story unfolds, we get to see how Rancho challenges the rigid education system at ICE, and encourages his friends to think beyond grades and societal expectations. Rancho is largely a static character, but he acts as a catalyst for growth for those around him. Despite him being the protagonist, we do not see much of Rancho’s family life or past. There is, however, a huge focus on Farhan and Raju’s family lives and how they have impacted their decision to pursue a degree in engineering. Raju comes from an impoverished background, with a paralysed father and an unmarried sister, and being the only son, he joins ICE in hopes of getting a well-paying job to support his family. Farhan, on the other hand, is from a middle class family, and is not pursuing an engineering career out of necessity. He wants to be a wildlife photographer, and the only thing stopping him is his father’s expectations. Rancho pushes them to follow their dreams, but their journeys are not easy—Farhan wrestles with the pressure to make his father proud, while Raju struggles with self-doubt and his fear of failure, and the school dean does everything in his power to maintain the status quo. 3 Idiots has everything: drama, comedy, romance, musical numbers, and even adventure, in a way. But beyond just being a good movie and a good time, one of the reasons I like 3 Idiots so much is due to the lasting impact it has had on Indian society. It taught so many people, including me, that no dream of theirs is too big to follow. It truly is a perfect blend of social commentary and the film conventions typically associated with Indian cinema, tied together with an amazing soundtrack.
These are just a few of my favourite coming-of-age films. Some others that I didn’t include are Eighth Grade, Mean Girls, Good Will Hunting, Yeh Jawaani Hai Deewani, The Holdovers, and so many more! If you haven’t seen them, I highly recommend checking them out—you just might find a new favourite.