Best coming-of-age films

First loves, last summers and figuring out who you are. These films follow young people at the point where everything changes. Every pick has a TMDB rating of 7.0 or more from at least 1,000 votes, and new releases wait until their ratings settle. The order follows the Boxlist quality score, and we checked the list by hand to remove obvious misfits.

1
Call Me by Your Name (2017)
Film8.3
In 1980s Italy, a relationship begins between seventeen-year-old teenage Elio and the older adult man hired as his father's research assistant.
US Paramount+, Amazon Prime (rent), UK Amazon Prime (rent), Google Play (rent)
2
Moonlight (2016)
Film7.4
The tender, heartbreaking story of a young man’s struggle to find himself, told across three defining chapters in his life as he experiences the...
US Tubi TV, Amazon Prime (rent), UK Amazon Prime (rent), iTunes (rent)
3
Little Women (2019)
Film7.9
Four sisters come of age in America in the aftermath of the Civil War.
US FX, Amazon Prime (rent), UK Amazon Prime, iTunes (rent)
4
Boyhood (2014)
Film7.5
The film tells a story of a divorced couple trying to raise their young son.
US AMC, Hulu, UK Amazon Prime (rent), Chili (rent)
5
Cinema Paradiso (1988)
Film8.5
A filmmaker recalls his childhood, when he fell in love with the movies at his village's theater and formed a deep friendship with the theater's...
US Kanopy, Amazon Prime (rent), UK Amazon Prime (rent), Curzon (rent)
6
American Graffiti (1973)
Film7.1
A couple of high school graduates spend one final night cruising the strip with their buddies before they go off to college.
US AMC, Netflix, UK Amazon Prime (rent), Chili (rent)
7
Almost Famous (2000)
Film7.5
In 1973, 15-year-old William Miller's unabashed love of music and aspiration to become a rock journalist lands him an assignment from Rolling...
US Kanopy, Paramount+, UK Amazon Prime (rent), Google Play (rent)
8
Moonrise Kingdom (2012)
Film7.7
Set on an island off the coast of New England in the summer of 1965, Moonrise Kingdom tells the story of two twelve-year-olds who fall in love...
US Amazon Prime (rent), Google Play (rent), UK Amazon Prime (rent), Chili (rent)
9
The Fabelmans (2022)
Film7.7
Growing up in post-World War II era Arizona, young Sammy Fabelman aspires to become a filmmaker as he reaches adolescence, but soon discovers a...
US Amazon Prime (rent), iTunes (rent), UK Amazon Prime (rent), iTunes (rent)
10
Dead Poets Society (1989)
Film8.3
At an elite, old-fashioned boarding school in New England, a passionate English teacher inspires his students to rebel against convention and...
US Amazon Prime (rent), iTunes (rent), UK Disney, Netflix
11
Dazed and Confused (1993)
Film7.4
The adventures of a group of Texas teens on their last day of school in 1976, centering on student Randall Floyd, who moves easily among stoners...
US Netflix, Amazon Prime (rent), UK NowTV, Amazon Prime (rent)
12
Lady Bird (2017)
Film7.3
Lady Bird McPherson, a strong willed, deeply opinionated, artistic 17 year old comes of age in Sacramento.
US Cinemax, Amazon Prime (rent), UK Amazon Prime, NowTV
13
Hunt for the Wilderpeople (2016)
Film7.7
Ricky is a defiant young city kid who finds himself on the run with his cantankerous foster uncle in the wild New Zealand bush.
US Kanopy, Sony Crackle, UK Amazon Prime, Bfi Player (rent)
14
Rushmore (1998)
Film7.4
When a beautiful first-grade teacher arrives at a prep school, she soon attracts the attention of an ambitious teenager named Max, who quickly...
US Hulu, Amazon Prime (rent), UK Disney, Amazon Prime (rent)
15
Booksmart (2019)
Film7.1
Two academic teenage superstars realize, on the eve of their high school graduation, that they should have worked less and played more.
US Amazon Prime (rent), Google Play (rent), UK Amazon Prime (rent), iTunes (rent)
16
Superbad (2007)
Film7.2
Two co-dependent high school seniors are forced to deal with separation anxiety after their plan to stage a booze-soaked party goes awry.
US IFC, Amazon Prime (rent), UK Netflix, NowTV
17
The Edge of Seventeen (2016)
Film7.2
Two high school girls are best friends until one dates the other's older brother, who is totally his sister's nemesis.
US Paramount+, Amazon Prime (rent), UK BBC, NowTV
18
Y Tu Mamá También (2001)
Film7.5
In Mexico, two teenage boys and an attractive older woman embark on a road trip and learn a thing or two about life, friendship, sex, and each other.
US AMC, Hulu, UK Netflix
19
The 400 Blows (1959)
Film8.1
For young Parisian boy Antoine Doinel, life is one difficult situation after another.
US HBO, Kanopy, UK Bfi Player, Amazon Prime (rent)
20
The Breakfast Club (1985)
Film7.8
Five high school students from different walks of life endure a Saturday detention under a power-hungry principal.
US STARZ, Amazon Prime (rent), UK NowTV, Amazon Prime (rent)