212 articles
La Boum
La Boum (1980) is a French comedy-drama by Claude Pinoteau starring Sophie Marceau as teenage Vic; France's biggest 1980 hit with 4,378,430 admissions, famous for Cosma's song Reality, followed by La Boum 2 (1982).
La Famille Bélier
La Famille Bélier is a 2014 French comedy-drama directed by Éric Lartigau, about a hearing girl who is her deaf family's voice until music offers her a future.
La Jaula de Oro
La jaula de oro (The Golden Cage), 2013 film by Diego Quemada-Díez, a Mexico-Spain drama about Guatemalan teenage migrants riding La Bestia freight trains to the US; Cannes Un Certain Talent winner, distinct from Ruben Alves' comedy La Cage Dorée.
Lady Bird (film)
Lady Bird is Greta Gerwig's 2017 semi-autobiographical coming-of-age comedy-drama, her solo directorial debut, starring Saoirse Ronan as a Sacramento high school senior; it won two Golden Globes and earned five Oscar nominations including Best Director.
Little Vera (Маленькая Вера)
Little Vera (Маленькая Вера, Malenkaya Vera) is a 1988 Gorky Studio drama by Vasily Pichul and Maria Khmelik, the first Soviet film with erotic scenes, seen by about 56 million viewers and a defining perestroika film.
Lovely Rita
Lovely Rita (2001) is Jessica Hausner's Austrian-German debut feature drama, premiered at Cannes Un Certain Regard, about teenage outcast Rita (Barbara Osika) whose rebellions end in violence; distinct from the 2003 French Clavier comedy.
Machuca
Machuca is a 2004 Chilean historical drama directed by Andrés Wood, set in 1973 Santiago, about the friendship of two boys of different classes during a school integration experiment before the Pinochet coup; Chile's Oscar entry.
Made in Hong Kong (香港制造)
Made in Hong Kong (香港製造) is Fruit Chan's 1997 independent Hong Kong drama about marginalized youth at the handover, shot for HK$500,000 on leftover film stock, winner of Best Film and Best Director at the 17th Hong Kong Film Awards.
Malèna (film)
Malèna (2000) is Giuseppe Tornatore's Italian drama starring Monica Bellucci as a wartime Sicilian widow and Giuseppe Sulfaro as the boy who watches her; from Luciano Vincenzoni's story, with Morricone's score, two Oscar nominations, and divided reviews.
Me and Earl and the Dying Girl (film)
Me and Earl and the Dying Girl is a 2015 American comedy-drama directed by Alfonso Gomez-Rejon, adapted by Jesse Andrews from his 2012 novel, starring Thomas Mann, Olivia Cooke, and RJ Cyler; it won Sundance's Grand Jury Prize and Audience Award.
Mes petites amoureuses
Mes petites amoureuses (My Little Loves) is Jean Eustache's 1974 semi-autobiographical French comedy-drama, his second feature, about 13-year-old Daniel leaving his grandmother for his mother in Narbonne; 123 min, with Martin Loeb, Ingrid Caven, and Néstor Almendros cinematography.
Mi Vida Loca
Mi Vida Loca (My Crazy Life) is Allison Anders's 1993 drama about Latina gang members in Echo Park, Los Angeles, premiered at Cannes, released 1994 by Sony Pictures Classics, and noted as the first mainstream film centered on Chicanas.
Mid90s
Mid90s (stylized mid90s) is Jonah Hill's 2018 A24 directorial debut, a coming-of-age comedy-drama set in 1990s Los Angeles, starring Sunny Suljic as 13-year-old Stevie, shot on Super 16mm in 4:3, Metascore 66.
Moonrise Kingdom
Moonrise Kingdom is Wes Anderson's 2012 comedy-drama, co-written with Roman Coppola, about 12-year-olds Sam and Suzy running away on New Penzance island in 1965; it opened Cannes 2012 and grossed $68.3 million.
Moving On (남매의 여름밤)
Moving On (남매의 여름밤) is Yoon Dan-bi's 2019 South Korean debut family drama about siblings Okju and Dongju spending summer with their grandfather; it won four Busan awards, Rotterdam's Bright Future Award, and 2020 Independent Film of the Year.
Moxie (film)
Moxie (2021) is a Netflix coming-of-age comedy-drama directed by Amy Poehler, based on Jennifer Mathieu's novel, in which shy teen Vivian (Hadley Robinson) starts an anonymous feminist zine; released March 3, 2021, 111 minutes, PG-13. Not the freelancer platform, Twitch streamer, or medspa software of the same name.
Mud (2012 film)
Mud (2012 film), also called Mud, is Jeff Nichols's American Southern coming-of-age adventure drama starring Matthew McConaughey, Tye Sheridan, and Reese Witherspoon; it premiered in Cannes competition in 2012, earned a 97% Rotten Tomatoes score, and won the 2014 Independent Spirit Robert Altman Award.
Murmur of the Heart
Murmur of the Heart (Le Souffle au cœur), 1971 Louis Malle comedy-drama, semi-autobiographical coming-of-age film about 14-year-old Laurent Chevalier in Dijon, starring Lea Massari and Benoît Ferreux, with an accidental mother-son incest, Cannes and Oscar nominations.
My Brilliant Career (1979 film)
My Brilliant Career (1979) is Gillian Armstrong's debut feature, adapted from Miles Franklin's 1901 novel, starring Judy Davis and Sam Neill; a Cannes-competition Australian New Wave feminist classic, BAFTA and Oscar-nominated, restored by the NFSA in 2018.
Mysterious Skin
Mysterious Skin (2004) is Gregg Araki's drama adapted from Scott Heim's 1995 novel, starring Joseph Gordon-Levitt and Brady Corbet as two Kansas men shaped by childhood abuse; acclaimed, restored in 4K in 2025.
Neds
Neds (NEDS, Non-Educated Delinquents) is Peter Mullan's 2010 drama about Glasgow schoolboy John McGill's fall into 1970s gang violence; Golden Shell winner, starring Conor McCarron.
Now and Then (film)
Now and Then is a 1995 American coming-of-age comedy-drama directed by Lesli Linka Glatter, in which four childhood friends reunite as adults and recall the summer of 1970.
Nowhere (1997 film)
Nowhere (1997) is Gregg Araki's black comedy-drama, the final film of his Teen Apocalypse Trilogy, starring James Duval, Rachel True, and Nathan Bexton as LA teens on the day the world ends; restored in 4K in 2023.
Old Fox (オールド・フォックス 11歳の選択)
Old Fox (老狐狸) is a 2023 Taiwanese drama directed by Hsiao Ya-chuan, produced by Hou Hsiao-hsien, set in 1989 Taipei's stock boom; an 11-year-old boy is torn between his honest father and a cunning landlord. It won four Golden Horse Awards including Best Director.
Once Upon a Time in High School (말죽거리 잔혹사)
Once Upon a Time in High School (말죽거리 잔혹사, Spirit of Jeet Kune Do) is Yoo Ha's 2004 Korean coming-of-age film set in 1978 Gangnam, starring Kwon Sang-woo, Lee Jung-jin, and Han Ga-in; 3,115,767 admissions, third best-selling Korean film of 2004.
Pariah
Pariah (2011) is Dee Rees's debut feature drama about Alike, a 17-year-old Black lesbian teenager in Brooklyn, developed from her 2007 short, released by Focus Features, and added to the Criterion Collection.
Pelle the Conqueror
Pelle the Conqueror (Pelle Erobreren), Bille August's 1987 Danish-Swedish drama adapted from Martin Andersen Nexø's novel, stars Max von Sydow and Pelle Hvenegaard as emigrants on Bornholm; it won the 1988 Palme d'Or and the 1989 Oscar for Best Foreign Language Film.
Por la Libre
Por la libre (Dust to Dust), 2000 Mexican coming-of-age road comedy-drama by Juan Carlos de Llaca (Altavista Films); cousins Rodrigo and Rocco take their Spanish grandfather's ashes to Acapulco; Ariel winner, Netflix.
Pump Up the Volume (film)
Pump Up the Volume is a 1990 American coming-of-age drama written and directed by Allan Moyle, starring Christian Slater as a shy Arizona teenager who runs a pirate radio station from his parents' basement.
Rafiki
Rafiki is a 2018 Kenyan drama by Wanuri Kahiu, adapting "Jambula Tree", about Kena and Ziki, two Nairobi women in love. Banned by the KFCB in 2018, screened after a High Court ruling, and unbanned by Kenya's Court of Appeal in January 2026.