10 Best Coming-Of-Age Movies Of The Decade

For anyone who is or has been a teenager, it's impossible not to relate to coming-of-age stories. Sure, the genre has developed plenty of clichés over the years, but there’s no denying such films have a universal appeal.

The 2010s have continued to offer some truly outstanding coming-of-age movies that have pushed boundaries whilst also maintaining the core of what made audiences love about the genre in the first place.

In contrast to the American Pie craze of the late 1990s and the early 2000s, there has been a shift away from gross-out humour and physical comedy to tighter dialogue and more nuanced characters. Though humour is still a staple of the genre, there have been a number of recent coming-of-age movies with a very serious tone.

As such, the last decade has seen an increased level of respect amongst critics and audiences alike. Indeed, the 2010s is full of coming-of-age movies that are destined to become classics in the future…

The Diary of a Teenage Girl is a strange film. With its murky aesthetic and unconventional setting, it immediately stands out.

The story takes place in San Francisco in the mid-1970s and follows fifteen-year-old Minnie Goetze, an aspiring cartoonist who enters into her first sexual relationship with her mother’s boyfriend.

In addition to this unusual premise, the movie also features a soundtrack that is a mixture of rock and ambiance that gives the story an additional layer of oddness.

Thankfully, the frequent use of humour helps to ground the story in reality, and much of this is down to Bel Powley’s central performance. Despite being in her early twenties at the time of filming, you totally believe she is a teenage girl going through a turbulent time.

It’s a shame, therefore, that The Diary of a Teenage Girl was a box-office bomb. Though it’s a very unusual film, it’s certainly one worth seeing.