Youth is wasted on the young! Luckily, cinema preserves the joys and terrors of childhood better than other art forms. The coming of age story was a well-established tradition in literature long before filmmakers began exploring the tribulations of adolescence, but as more attention was paid to the inner lives of children in the 80’s and ’90s, it became its own certified genre — pioneered in the art world by creators like Sophia Coppola and Todd Solondz, or in popular culture by Nickelodeon and Disney.
We’re counting down our favorite coming-of-age movies just in time for Summer. Ranging from excruciatingly painful dark comedies to horror classics to lighthearted comedies — here are the 35 (unranked!) best coming-of-age movies currently available to stream.