10 Best Movies Where The Protagonist Learns Nothing

3. Young Adult

Jason Reitman's 2011 dramedy revolves around Mavis Gary (Charlize Theron), a 37-year-old woman-child who starts the film as a divorced, alcoholic, narcissistic sociopath in a clear state of arrested emotional development, and that's exactly how she remains for the entire movie.

Despite being told to grow up and get over herself numerous times throughout the film, and the fair audience expectation that Mavis will at least show baby steps of character growth, she eventually decides that she's fine the way she is and vows never to change.

Hilariously, Mavis has one minor moment of self-reflection where she considers the possibility of becoming a more mature person, but quickly shrugs it off and restores the status quo in the process.

It's clearly a satirical character study at its core, but like most great satire it's also rooted in some deep human truth. Self-improvement is hard.