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Coming of Age
Filmmakers love it, audiences live it. The rites-of-passage film enables us the chance to relive the past with wisdom, but not angst.
These films tracks multiple journeys, fruitful, painful and joyful; global stories with which to find your tribe, and remember.

Girls Will Be GirlsGirls Will Be Girls
Romance2024119 minsDirector: Shuchi Talati
Teenage romance simmers in a strict Himalayan boarding school in this sublime coming-of-age tale. Winner of a 2024 Sundance audience award

War PonyWar Pony
Drama2022115 minsDirector: Gina Gammell and Riley Keough
The lives of two Oglala Lakota boys interlock in this coming-of-age drama set against the backdrop of South Dakota’s Pine Ridge Reservation.

Let the Right One InLet the Right One In
Horror2008115 minsDirector: Tomas Alfredson
A twelve-year-old boy befriends a mysterious girl with a dark secret, in Tomas Alfredson’s grownup tale of childhood vampirism.

Silver HazeSilver Haze
Drama2023103 minsDirector: Sacha Polak
Dirty God director Sacha Polak and star Vicky Knight reunite for this daring drama about love, family and forgiveness, loosely inspired by Knight’s life.

The Queen of My DreamsThe Queen of My Dreams
Comedy202399 minsDirector: Fawzia Mirza
Soulful story of the love and war between a queer woman and her mother, spanning across decades and continents.

The FallingThe Falling
Drama2015102 minsDirector: Carol Morley
Florence Pugh's first film teams her with Maisie Williams as teenage friends at a school cursed by mystery sickness.

Ghost WorldGhost World
Comedy2001107 minsDirector: Terry Zwigoff
Scarlett Johansson and Thora Birch star as a pair of social outcasts struggling to make sense of the world around them, in this sublime love story based on the work of underground artist Daniel Clowes.

Fish TankFish Tank
Drama2009118 minsDirector: Andrea Arnold
Andrea Arnold's BAFTA winner and coming-of-age story starring newcomer Katie Jarvis as disaffected teen Mia and Michael Fassbender in one of his earliest film roles.

Casablanca BeatsCasablanca Beats
Drama2021102 minsDirector: Nabil Ayouch
Palme d'Or nominated film about a former rapper who takes a teaching job at a cultural centre in a working-class neighbourhood in Casablanca.

Beach RatsBeach Rats
Drama201798 minsDirector: Eliza Hittman
Gripping account of repressed sexual desire in a hyper-masculine environment, with British newcomer Harris Dickinson as a virulently macho Brooklyn teen.

The WoundThe Wound
Drama201788 minsDirector: John Trengove
A traditional rite of passage ritual forms the backdrop for this tough and complex tale of closeted sexuality in South Africa.

The SouvenirThe Souvenir
Drama2018120 minsDirector: Joanna Hogg
Sight and Sound's 2019 film of the year is the compelling, semi-autobiographical drama from acclaimed writer-director Joanna Hogg.

PressurePressure
Drama1978121 minsDirector: Horace Ové
Hailed as Britain's first black feature film, Pressure is a hard-hitting, honest document of the plight of disenchanted black youths in 1970s London; now available in its new restoration.

Pauline at the BeachPauline at the Beach
Comedy198295 minsDirector: Eric Rohmer
Eric Rohmer's final collaboration with the great cinematographer Néstor Almendros follows a holidaying teenager as she begins to navigate the adult world.

Girls LostGirls Lost
Fantasy2015106 minsDirector: Alexandra-Therese Keining
Teenage friends get the chance to be boys for a while in this supernatural, gender fluid fantasy from the director of Kiss Me.

My Brother the DevilMy Brother the Devil
Drama2012107 minsDirector: Sally El Hosaini
Sally El Hosaini's feature debut tells of the love and disenchantment of two British-Egyptian brothers as gangs, drugs and sexuality come between them.

Postcards from LondonPostcards from London
Drama201889 minsDirector: Steve McLean
A stylish, sensuous film about a young man’s journey into an unusual form of escort work.

Summer with MonikaSummer with Monika
Drama195397 minsDirector: Ingmar Bergman
Ingmar Bergman’s scandalous tale of two lovers enjoying the freedom of youth.

Appropriate BehaviourAppropriate Behaviour
Comedy201586 minsDirector: Desiree Akhavan
Desiree Akhavan directs and stars in this witty, razor-sharp and fearless comedy following the sexual misadventures of a bisexual Brooklynite.

Les Enfants TerriblesLes Enfants Terribles
Drama1949106 minsDirector: Jean-Pierre Melville
Jean-Pierre Melville’s film of Jean Cocteau's controversial novel about a teenage brother and sister and their intense, closeted relationship.

EvolutionEvolution
Drama201582 minsDirector: Lucile Hadzihalilovic
The long-awaited second feature from Lucile Hadžihalilović (Innocence) is a gorgeously surreal coming-of-age tale laced with bizarre body-horror.

Beautiful ThingBeautiful Thing
Comedy199691 minsDirector: Hettie Macdonald
Hettie MacDonald’s 1996 comedy tells the story of two classmates and neighbours (Glen Berry, Scott Neal) who fall in love over one summer in South East London.

BridgendBridgend
Drama2016104 minsDirector: Jeppe Ronde
Hannah Murray (Game of Thrones) and Josh O'Connor (God's Own Country), star in this haunting mystery drama inspired by true events.

Me without YouMe without You
Drama2001103 minsDirector: Sandra Goldbacher
Anna Friel and Michelle Williams star as two troubled girls whose tumultuous friendship takes many twists and turns.

Young Soul RebelsYoung Soul Rebels
Drama1991105 minsDirector: Isaac Julien
The Queen's Silver Jubilee beats to the sounds of Funkadelic, Sylvester and the O'Jays in Isaac Julien’s feature debut.

The Last Picture ShowThe Last Picture Show
Drama1971128 minsDirector: Peter Bogdanovich
Jeff Bridges, Cybill Shepherd and director Peter Bogdanovich all made their names with this funny, touching and psychologically astute coming-of-age tale.

ChildrenChildren
Drama197646 minsDirector: Terence Davies
The first part of Terence Davies' formidable Trilogy explores the effects of violence on a Liverpool schoolboy, told in a series of flashbacks.

Gregory's GirlGregory's Girl
Comedy198192 minsDirector: Bill Forsyth
The ultimate depiction of coming-of-age awkwardness, Bill Forsyth’s comedy about a teen who falls for the new female footballer on the school team.
The 400 BlowsThe 400 Blows
Drama1959100 minsDirector: François Truffaut
François Truffaut’s French New Wave landmark is one of the greatest movies about adolescence.