77 articles
The Innocence
The Innocence (La inocencia / La innocència) is Lucía Alemany's 2019 Spanish debut feature, a Catalan-language coming-of-age drama starring Carmen Arrufat as pregnant teen Lis, Goya-nominated and autobiographical.
The Kid with a Bike
The Kid with a Bike (Le gamin au vélo), 2011 Dardenne brothers drama about abandoned boy Cyril and hairdresser Samantha; won the 2011 Cannes Grand Prix ex aequo, 87 minutes, starring Thomas Doret and Cécile de France.
The Kings of Summer
The Kings of Summer is a 2013 American coming-of-age comedy-drama, the feature debut of director Jordan Vogt-Roberts and writer Chris Galletta, starring Nick Robinson, Gabriel Basso, and Moisés Arias as teens who build a house in the woods; Sundance premiere, CBS Films release, $1.3 million US gross.
The Kirishima Thing (桐島、部活やめるってよ)
The Kirishima Thing (桐島、部活やめるってよ) is a 2012 Japanese ensemble drama by Daihachi Yoshida, adapted from Ryo Asai's Subaru Prize debut novel, in which a popular volleyball captain's unexplained club resignation, and his total absence from screen, unsettle a high school's social hierarchy; it won the 36th Japan Academy Prize for Best Picture.
The Left Ear
The Left Ear (左耳) is a 2015 Chinese coming-of-age drama, Alec Su's directorial debut, adapted from Rao Xueman's novel, starring Chen Duling, Ou Hao, Yang Yang, and Ma Sichun; it earned 500 million yuan and Golden Horse nominations.
The Myth of the American Sleepover
The Myth of the American Sleepover is David Robert Mitchell's 2010 debut feature, a coming-of-age drama about four teenagers on the last night of summer in suburban Detroit, starring Claire Sloma, Marlon Morton, and Amanda Bauer; SXSW Jury Prize winner distributed by Sundance Selects.
The Quiet Girl
The Quiet Girl (An Cailín Ciúin) is Colm Bairéad's 2022 Irish-language drama adapted from Claire Keegan's Foster, about nine-year-old Cáit in 1981 rural Ireland; first Irish-language Oscar nominee and highest-grossing Irish-language film.
The Spectacular Now
The Spectacular Now is a 2013 American coming-of-age comedy drama directed by James Ponsoldt, adapted from Tim Tharp's 2008 YA novel by Scott Neustadter and Michael H. Weber, starring Miles Teller and Shailene Woodley; released by A24, it earned a Metacritic score of 82.
The Way, Way Back
The Way, Way Back is a 2013 American coming-of-age comedy-drama, the directorial debut of Nat Faxon and Jim Rash, starring Liam James, Steve Carell, Toni Collette, and Sam Rockwell; filmed at Water Wizz in Wareham, Massachusetts, it premiered at Sundance 2013 and grossed $21.4 million.
Tomboy (2011 film)
Tomboy (2011) is a French drama by Céline Sciamma, her second feature, in which ten-year-old Laure (Zoé Héran) passes as a boy named Michaël after a family move; it won the Berlin Teddy Jury Award and was re-edited by Sciamma in 2026.
Twenty (스물) (film)
Twenty (스물, Seumool) is a 2015 South Korean coming-of-age comedy-drama by Lee Byeong-heon starring Kim Woo-bin, Lee Jun-ho, and Kang Ha-neul as three 20-year-old friends; it opened No. 1 in Korea with over 3 million admissions.
Wadjda (وجدة)
Wadjda (وجدة), 2012 comedy-drama by Haifaa Al Mansour; first feature shot entirely in Saudi Arabia and first by a Saudi woman director; a Riyadh girl enters a Quran recitation contest to buy a green bicycle; Venice premiere, BAFTA-nominated.
We Are Little Zombies (WE ARE LITTLE ZOMBIES)
We Are Little Zombies (WE ARE LITTLE ZOMBIES) is Makoto Nagahisa's 2019 Japanese feature debut: four 13-year-old orphans who cannot cry form a band at a crematorium. It won Sundance 2019's World Cinema Dramatic Special Jury Award for Originality and a Berlinale Generation special mention.
Wildflower (2022 film)
Wildflower (2022) is Matt Smukler's feature-directorial-debut coming-of-age comedy-drama, starring Kiernan Shipka as Bea Johnson, a teen raised by intellectually disabled parents; based on his niece's story and his 2020 documentary, released March 2023.
Winter's Bone
Winter's Bone is a 2010 Debra Granik film adapted from Daniel Woodrell's 2006 Ozarks novel, starring Jennifer Lawrence as Ree Dolly, who searches for her missing father to save the family home; it won Sundance's Grand Jury Prize and earned two Oscar nominations.
Yes, God, Yes
Yes, God, Yes: 2020 American coming-of-age comedy, Karen Maine's directorial debut, expanded from her 2017 short. Natalia Dyer plays Alice, a Catholic teen in early-2000s Iowa; SXSW 2019 premiere, 92% on Rotten Tomatoes.
You Are the Apple of My Eye (那些年，我们一起追的女孩)
You Are the Apple of My Eye (那些年，我們一起追的女孩) is a 2011 Taiwanese youth romance film, Giddens Ko's directorial debut adapted from his semi-autobiographical novel, starring Ko Chen-tung and Michelle Chen, grossing NT$425 million in Taiwan and remade in Japan, Thailand, and Korea.