Boy Erased (2018)

Boy Erased (2018)

[8] Joel Edgerton (The Gift) brings Garrard Conley's true story of dangerous, misguided gay conversion therapy to the big screen with the help of Oscar winners Nicole Kidman and Russell Crowe. Oscar nominee Lucas Hedges (Manchester by the Sea) plays…
The Reader (2008)

The Reader (2008)

[8] A young German man (an award-worthy David Kross) has an affair with an older woman (Kate Winslet), only to discover many years after the affair ends that she was a guard at the Auschwitz concentration camp. After she is…
Love, Simon (2018)

Love, Simon (2018)

[8] Nick Robinson (Jurassic World, Kings of Summer) stars as a closeted high school student who carries on an anonymous email relationship with another closeted student, all while trying to gather the courage to 'come out' to his family and…
Lady Bird (2017)

Lady Bird (2017)

[7] Saoirse Ronan stars as the title character, an anxiety-ridden, pretentious, troubled -- well, normal, I guess -- teenager who does lots of teenagery things, like having sex for the first time and trying to get into college. Watching Lady…
The 400 Blows (1959)

The 400 Blows (1959)

[8] François Truffaut made his feature directorial debut with this semi-autobiographical tale of a disenfranchised twelve-year-old Parisian boy who takes his first steps into a life of petty crime. Truffaut went into The 400 Blows with an admirable mission statement --…
Riding in Cars with Boys (2001)

Riding in Cars with Boys (2001)

[7] Drew Barrymore stars as a teen in the '60s whose dreams of going to college and getting published are squashed by unexpected motherhood. Riding in Cars with Boys is a comedy/drama based on a true story that spans a few…
Slums of Beverly Hills (1998)

Slums of Beverly Hills (1998)

[6] Natasha Lyonne (American Pie, But I'm a Cheerleader) leads an esteemed ensemble cast in writer/director Tamara Jenkins' story of a 1970s teenager coming of age on the outskirts of Beverly Hills. The family is struggling to make ends meet,…
Beach Rats (2017)

Beach Rats (2017)

[6] Writer/director Eliza Hittman takes us inside the secretive life of a teen boy trying to figure out if he's straight or gay. He's clearly attracted to men and hooks up with several older ones he meets online. But he's…
Footloose (1984)

Footloose (1984)

[8] At first sight, you might mistake Footloose for just another teen rebellion movie, but Herbert Ross' (Steel Magnolias) sensitive direction and committed performances from John Lithgow and Dianne Wiest help the film transcend its genre. The story about a town…
A Christmas Story (1983)

A Christmas Story (1983)

[8] A boy growing up in 1940's middle-America tries to convince his parents to get him a Red Ryder B.B. gun for Christmas. It's hard to judge a movie that has become a holiday tradition. Growing up, I don't think…