# Top 30 Coming-of-Age Films of All Time

> Summer jobs, first kisses, bad haircuts and one last day of school. Some are tender, some are loud, and all of them feel uncomfortably familiar.

*By YPB Team · Published October 24, 2026 · https://youpick.best/ranking/top-30-coming-of-age-films-of-all-time*

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## Current results (no votes yet)

1. **Stand by Me** — score 1000/1000
   Four boys walk the rails to find a body in this 1986 Rob Reiner adaptation of Stephen King.
2. **The 400 Blows** — score 886/1000
   Truffaut's 1959 portrait of a neglected Parisian boy, the template for the New Wave.
3. **Mean Girls** — score 812/1000
   The 2004 comedy where a homeschooled teen navigates the cliques of North Shore High.
4. **The Breakfast Club** — score 812/1000
   Five high schoolers in Saturday detention trade secrets in John Hughes' 1985 classic.
5. **Y Tu Mamá También** — score 785/1000
   Alfonso Cuarón's 2001 road movie about two Mexican friends and an older woman.
6. **Napoleon Dynamite** — score 768/1000
   Awkward Idaho teen Napoleon befriends a new kid in the 2004 cult comedy.
7. **The Perks of Being a Wallflower** — score 700/1000
   A shy freshman finds friends in the 2012 adaptation of Stephen Chbosky's novel.
8. **Spirited Away** — score 700/1000
   Miyazaki's 2001 animated fantasy of a girl working in a bathhouse for spirits.
9. **Ferris Bueller's Day Off** — score 650/1000
   A Chicago teen skips school for one very big day in John Hughes' 1986 comedy.
10. **Eighth Grade** — score 650/1000
   Bo Burnham's 2018 cringe-and-heart portrait of a Gen Z middle schooler.
11. **Clueless** — score 594/1000
   Amy Heckerling's 1995 Beverly Hills riff on Jane Austen's Emma.
12. **Lady Bird** — score 532/1000
   Greta Gerwig's 2017 comedy about a Sacramento teenager and her mother.
13. **Cinema Paradiso** — score 532/1000
   A Sicilian boy and the projectionist who becomes his mentor, in Tornatore's 1988 film.
14. **Juno** — score 461/1000
   Jason Reitman's 2007 comedy about a quick-witted teenager facing an unplanned pregnancy.
15. **Superbad** — score 461/1000
   Two best friends try to score booze before graduation in the 2007 comedy.
16. **Aftersun** — score 461/1000
   Charlotte Wells' 2022 drama of a young woman remembering a holiday with her father.
17. **Almost Famous** — score 380/1000
   Cameron Crowe's 2000 semi-autobiographical tale of a teen rock journalist.
18. **Say Anything...** — score 380/1000
   Cameron Crowe's 1989 romance of a kickboxing dreamer and the class valedictorian.
19. **The Graduate** — score 380/1000
   Mike Nichols' 1967 comedy of a lost college grad and Mrs. Robinson.
20. **Fast Times at Ridgemont High** — score 380/1000
   Amy Heckerling's 1982 ensemble comedy about sex, jobs and summer in Southern California.
21. **Rebel Without a Cause** — score 286/1000
   James Dean defines teenage alienation in Nicholas Ray's 1955 drama.
22. **Mid90s** — score 286/1000
   Jonah Hill's 2018 skate-culture drama about a boy finding a crew.
23. **Dead Poets Society** — score 286/1000
   A charismatic teacher inspires boys at a strict 1950s prep school in this 1989 drama.
24. **American Graffiti** — score 286/1000
   George Lucas' 1973 night of cruising and nostalgia in 1962 California.
25. **Dazed and Confused** — score 286/1000
   Richard Linklater's 1993 last-day-of-school ensemble set in 1976 Texas.
26. **Sing Street** — score 286/1000
   A Dublin teen forms a band to impress a girl in John Carney's 1985-set 2016 musical.
27. **Boyhood** — score 177/1000
   Linklater's 2014 drama filmed over twelve years with the same cast.
28. **Moonlight** — score 0/1000
   Barry Jenkins' 2016 Best Picture winner following one man across three chapters of his life.
29. **Call Me by Your Name** — score 0/1000
   A summer romance in 1980s Italy, adapted in 2017 by Luca Guadagnino.
30. **Booksmart** — score 0/1000
   Olivia Wilde's 2019 comedy about two overachievers cramming a high-school party into one night.

Tags: movies, tv shows, coming-of-age, classics, teen