"Young people are rarely given the power to tell their own stories, so a coming-of-age film that captures a specific generation, culture, or subculture feels like a rare and special thing for those who are reflected on screen, especially when the film itself finds a viewer during their most formative phase. A good coming-of-age film can become an emblem of sorts, a touchstone that's at once deeply personal in its description of a fleeting, emotional era of life, and universal in its appeal to anyone who's lived through it. The best coming-of-age films mix nostalgic familiarity, impressionistic experiences, and a dollop of brutal honesty that comes with the jarring, often unwelcome understanding of the adult world that accompanies adolescence. Read on for our list of the best coming-of-age stories of all time, then join us in being grateful to have made it out the other side of adolescence." - filmschoolrejects.com
