12 most interesting teen films

Review of the best according to the editorial board. On the selection criteria. This material is subjective, does not constitute advertising and does not serve as a purchase guide. Before buying, you need to consult with a specialist.

At first glance, not much interesting happens in the lives of adolescents. School, friends, attempts to give up soup for dinner and computer games. But this is only an appearance. Remember yourself in adolescence – how many passions did you experience then that you can't even tell your diary about, let alone your parents?

And in fact, there is much more interesting in the life of adolescents than just assignments in algebra. First falling in love and jealousy, betrayal and passion, friendship and quarrels … Cinematography is not shy about showing all these feelings and events. And for those who want to relive their teenage years again, as well as for girls and guys who are looking for support and understanding, we have compiled a rating of the 12 most interesting films about teenagers.

To compile the rating, we used user reviews on the movie evaluation service KinoPoisk. The list includes both foreign and Russian paintings.

Rating of the most interesting films about teenagers

Nomination	a place	Film	rating
Rating of the most interesting films about teenagers	12	'Everyone will die, but I will stay'	5.7 / 10
	11	'Disco Pigs' (2001)	6.7 / 10
	10	'Aquarium' (Fish Tank, 2009)	6.7 / 10
	9	'Correction class'	6.8 / 10
	8	'Tender age'	6.9 / 10
	7	'American Pie' (1999)	7.2 / 10
	6	'The geographer drank the globe' (2012)	7.3 / 10
	5	'Slacker' (1990)	7.3 / 10
	4	'Submarine' (2010)	7.4 / 10
	3	'It's good to be quiet' (The Perks of Being a Wallflower, 2012)	7.5 / 10
	2	'Class' (Klass, 2007)	7.8 / 10
	1	'American Beauty' (1999)	7.9 / 10

12th place: 'Everyone will die, but I will stay' (2008)

Rating: 5.7 / 10

In modern cinema, there are very few figures who are able to show the life of adolescents from sleeping areas or provinces. Usually, films about teenagers show completely 'sleek' young people who, although they are going through different life dramas, but to be rude to the teacher, get drunk on some incomprehensible burda on the action from Pyaterochka or smoke at school – no, no.

Valeria Gai Germanika is one of the directors who are not shy about showing the unpleasant side of growing up. When you rebel, but your desire to change the world ends with buying a cheap beer. When you dislike your parents, but you can only steal money from your mother's purse. When every trip to school is practically torture, because there you need to stay on the hierarchical ladder of classmates. In general, the sight is unpleasant, but upsettingly vital.

In the film 'Everyone will die, but I will stay' Valeria Gai Germanicus does not get off his beloved skate. There are teenagers drinking, teenagers discussing sex, teenagers dancing in discos, teenagers belching after alcohol, teenagers fighting, teenagers swearing … and all – with a special prize from the Festival de Cannes. 'Everyone will die, but I will stay' may seem too dark and unrealistic, but just drop by the school in Yuzhny Butovo after school.

11th place: 'Disco Pigs' (2001)

Rating: 6.7 / 10

If Valeria Gai Germanicus did not strive to show the whole truth of marginal life, but aspired to art a little, she would have got 'Disco Pigs'. This Irish drama is just as cruel and shrill, it looks heavier, leaves a lot of questions and an unpleasant aftertaste, but at the same time does not make you want to check whether you are looking at the TV or out the window.

'Disco Pigs' is about two neighbors, a boy and a girl. They were born on the same day, have been friends since a very tender age and even fall asleep holding hands – for this they made a hole in the wall. It's just that it doesn't smell like romance. The main characters are cruel and disgusting people. They will steal alcohol from the wine and vodka department and at the same time mock the seller. A girl seduces young people at discos, and a guy beats them hard. And all this cruelty is happening with a touching smile on their faces.

But maybe it's not just a desire to inflict pain? What if there is more behind this desire? 'Disco Pigs' is a story about 'troubled teenagers' who have their own worldview and value system. This is a film that answers the question of why parents sometimes do not understand children. And he definitely won't like it.

10th place: 'Aquarium' (Fish Tank, 2009)

Rating: 6.7 / 10

A girl named Mia is 15 years old, and her life is infinitely far from being considered normal. Someone might call her a 'difficult teenager', but this is not entirely correct. Miya didn’t choose the path of disobedience, it’s just the circumstances around her.

Miya lives in a poor family in a poor area. Her mother is a loner and an alcoholic who doesn't care deeply about her daughters. Mia could be a good dancer, but the parent is indifferent to these hobbies – and the daughter in general. Having not received enough love, the girl breaks down on the outside world, which is why she flies out of school and quarrels with her friend. Well, this life is cruel.

But one day, Mia's mother brings a man home. He is completely different from everyone around him. He is calm, balanced, gets along with children and, it seems, even understands something in upbringing. But he is unlikely to become the father, whom Mia missed so much.

'Aquarium' is a cold British drama, filmed in the best traditions of the arthouse. This is not a movie theater movie in which in the end all the good will be rewarded and all the bad will be punished. Because there is no black and white, there is an atmosphere of hopelessness and betrayal here, and even the closest people can become strangers. 'Aquarium' is a story about those who have locked themselves in their little worlds, live their little life, and it will turn out to be short-lived and joyless. But he is not riddled with depression … more precisely, who is to blame that our surrounding reality is depressive?

9th place: 'Class of correction' (2014)

Rating: 6.8 / 10

Lena Chekhova was born with a serious illness, due to which she cannot walk, and spent her whole life in a wheelchair. She practically did not know anything about the world outside the window – well, more precisely, she, of course, saw it, and even went there several times, but exclusively accompanied by loving parents. And she even studied at home.

But at some point, her parents transfer her to a regular comprehensive school. Not in the general group, but in the so-called correction class, which brought together the most difficult teenagers. The innocent and naive Lena Chekhova was hardly ready to find herself in such a society, but fate itself turned like that.

And the problem is not only in difficult teenagers, although, of course, they are also quite capable of ruining the life of a poor girl. Teachers are not very friendly to the students of the correction class, they row one size fits all. And a girl at the most tender age is faced with incredible cruelty from the people around her. So she will have to somehow get out.

'Correction Class' is often compared to 'Everybody Dies, I Stay' – as well as other films featuring teenage violence. But it's not really about marginalized youth. The film is more about what kind of people are evil – no matter how old they are.

8th place: 'Tender Age' (1983)

Rating: 6.9 / 10

After films about teenage cruelty, we finally turn to those that show generally accepted moral guidelines.

Cyrus and Lyosha are childhood friends who, at the time of the film's action, had just finished school. Outside the window – 1944, so the guys, without hesitation, enter the artillery school and are ready to go to the front, to defend the Motherland. But in the few hours of 'tender age' that they have left before the visit, they have to do a lot – say goodbye to friends, classmates, and relatives. Cyrus is looking for his girlfriend, just to find out that everything is fine with her, and hoping that she can survive the war.

'Tender Age' is an amazingly kind and light film, even though it shows the realities of wartime. He demonstrates awareness and understanding. The main characters from the earliest years begin to defend their country – first by work, then at the front. But at the same time they try not to forget about their relatives. 'Tender Age' does not focus on the difficulties in the life of adolescents. Yes, of course, they are – but at the same time, the heroes also have a goal that is more important than dull reflection, which results in a manifestation of cruelty.

7th place: 'American Pie' (American Pie, 1999)

Rating: 7.2 / 10

There are three ways to talk about puberty. The first is to demonstrate as unsightly as possible all the features of an incipient sexual desire, as films from 12th to 9th place in our rating did. The second is to strenuously pretend that there are no pubertal periods, all this is a fake, fabricated in Poland, go teach your lessons. And the third is to take them lightly, like American Pie does.

'American Pie' is a well-known youth comedy with humor just below the belt. The main characters are four school graduates who suffer greatly from the fact that they are still virgins by the age of 16-17. And they firmly decide to sleep with girls before the end of the school year. True, they are not yet very skilled in seduction skills, they do not communicate very well with representatives of the opposite sex, and they practically do not distinguish falling in love from attraction. In general, the usual average teenagers.

American Pie looks like a very nostalgic picture right now. It preserves the atmosphere of the times when that very magazine or videotape was the greatest value and taught adult life almost better than the stories of parents. He does not concentrate on vulgarity, on the contrary, all jokes about sex become the background for other characteristics and problems of growing up – will it be possible to maintain friendship after entering college? And the fun? Will you be able to have fun when you finally find a job?

American Pie can also be seen for the atmosphere. This is a typical summer movie. He is light, carefree and joyful.

6th place: 'Geographer drank the globe' (2012)

Rating: 7.3 / 10

The Geographer Drank His Globe Away is not really a film about teenagers. Yes, schoolchildren are present in it, but they are far from being in the first roles. And in the center of the plot attention is the simple life of an extra person.

'Extra people' have not been the heroes of stories for a long time. They do not fit into the realities of our world, they seem to be knocked out of time. And such is Viktor Sluzhkin, played by Konstantin Khabensky. He would like to be a scientist, but there is no money, and therefore he has to get a job as a teacher. Teaching will be in a Perm school with students who are not very interested in learning. And Victor himself is not very interested in teaching. He is oppressed by the same Russian spleen, which is characteristic of all 'superfluous people', and melancholy manifests itself in alcoholism and constant conflicts with everyone – with his wife, daughter, with students, with the school leadership.

The story told by 'The Geographer drank the globe on drink' is supplemented by one more piquant detail – a tenth-grader falls in love with Viktor Sluzhkin. And the teacher, in turn, is also not an example of family fidelity. And he has to do everything so as not to break the fate of the student, struggling with his habits and addictions.

'The geographer drank the globe away' shows growing up from the position of an already experienced person, a mentor. And that makes him interesting.

5th place: 'Slacker' (Slacker, 1990)

Rating: 7.3 / 10

An American film about informals, in which there is neither a plot nor a story – just a freak show of people who, for one reason or another, do not fit into the system. And, of course, most of them are teenagers. Because it’s easy not to fit into the system when you’re only 15 years old and don’t have to make monthly mortgage payments yet.

The film is the manifesto of a generation, and its heroes are people who are still following a dream that has not yet been crushed by routine. Each of them tells his story, but three minutes pass – and the camera moves to the next character, with his own goals and aspirations. Heroes change quickly, no one has time to get bored, but there is no one to empathize with, all that remains is to sit back and watch how colorful personalities piece by piece make up the image of a whole generation – a generation of idlers who are not yet ready for a cruel reality and therefore are able to keep a dream.

4th place: 'Submarine' (Submarine, 2010)

Rating: 7.4 / 10

A leisurely British movie that tells the story of an English teenager with a very interesting character.

British youth are either anti-system and everything else 'almost punks', or hipsters, or prim and arrogant guys who keep the traditions of the Kingdom with a capital 'K'. The main character of 'Submarine' balances between all these gradations. He is quite romantic and dreamy, but at the same time he is developed beyond his years, and also has a completely adult approach to resolving various issues. True, now he pursues two goals – to preserve the marriage of his parents and sleep with his girlfriend. And he will solve them too … unusual.

Submarine could have been a comedy if it had more jokes. And he could have slipped into drama if he had more emotions. Instead, he's aloof, like a fifteen-year-old's story of himself – self-centered, slightly defiant and heavily embellished. It even shows up visually. The camera constantly keeps the main character exactly in the center of the frame – and if you pause the film at any moment, then the 'picture' can be sent either to Instagram or to the passport office.

And in many ways this is the merit of the director, Richard Ayoadi. He was a talented British actor until he became an equally talented British director, but retained a visionary approach. And in the end, 'Submarine' is a film about a teenager that a teenager himself could have made, telling directly about his life.

3rd place: 'It's good to be quiet' (The Perks of Being a Wallflower, 2012)

Rating: 7.5 / 10

In 1999, Stephen Chbosky wrote the novel It's Good to Be Quiet, and he became perhaps the most scandalous book of the end of the last century. It was quickly banned from schools, removed from most libraries and put the strictest age limit. The novel simply contains everything that could corrupt young people – drugs, alcohol, sex, violence, sex again, and more … In general, the book absolutely does not live up to its title.

And 13 years later, the same Stephen Chbosky filmed his novel. The picture turned out a little less' toothy ', so she was given the age qualification '13 +'. And Stephen Chbosky managed to pull Emma Watson into the cast of 'Hermione Granger of All Hollywood'.

The plot revolves around a typical 'nerd' – a boy, well-read and educated for his years, but not at all popular among his classmates. He also suffers from mental trauma, which further reduces his position in the social hierarchy of the school. And he does not live very calmly for himself, until he makes friends who help him cope with all the problems.

'It's good to be quiet' could be a story about the importance of friendship. But in fact, this is just a snapshot of the life of an ordinary guy, not very popular, but who found great friends. And that's all. Yes, of course, there are all these elements from the book, for which she is so disliked, but they do not appear for long.

2nd place: 'Class' (Klass, 2007)

Rating: 7.8 / 10

And again, a film about teenage cruelty. But if he limited himself to simply demonstrating how some students of the school mock others, then he would hardly have climbed into second place in the rating, right?

In the center of the plot is a boy named Josep, who is forced to endure violence everywhere in general. They beat him at home, at school and on the street. And he physically cannot do anything, because he is weak – and also morally. And he would have endured further bullying and outrage if not for Kaspar.

Kasper also once mocked Josep, but the bully suddenly sided with the 'squishy'. His conscience just woke up. But she shouldn't have done it, and Kaspar also finds himself among the humiliated and depressed. But at some point, both guys have a cup of patience.

'Klass' is often compared to the works of Valeria Gai Germanicus, but in practice this Estonian film is many times harsher. These are no longer stories about the life of marginalized adolescents. This is a manifesto, after which it becomes disgusting, nauseating and painful. And I want to ask for forgiveness from everyone who was offended at school, by accident or purposefully.

1st place: 'American Beauty' (American Beauty, 1999)

Rating: 7.9 / 10

American Beauty is again not exactly a teenage movie. In the center of the story is a man who is quite an adult, settled down and has found his place in life. He has everything that is described by the ideas of the American dream – and his own house (with an indispensable lawn, because how can it be without it), and a beautiful wife, and a clever daughter, and a good job, and in general, live and be happy. But something does not like a man, does not bring him happiness being.

But then a man meets his daughter's flirtatious classmate – and falls in love with her. The plot of the film is just beginning to flirt with Nabokov's 'Lolita', when it immediately turns over and changes radically. No, a man does not suffer from love for a young girl.

He suffers because he never lived. This whole American dream that makes up his being is not his. This is his wife's dollhouse, she wanted to cut roses and build a career, dreamed of a daughter and a lawn. What did he want? But it is not clear. And now falling in love with a 17-year-old nymphet causes an acute midlife crisis in a man, he quits his job, buys an ancient car, begins to swing and smoke marijuana. And then he dies, literally in a week. In fact, he only lived his life for seven days.

'American Beauty' skillfully deconstructs the same American dream, destroying it at the most primitive levels. And now roses from the garden of his wife fall petals on the body of a young girl, and once sincere love drowns in a web of lies and intrigue. There seems to be nothing real in the plot except death as a symbol of purification. American Beauty is filled with symbols, metaphors and allusions, and each shot means more than it shows, and every character has too many skeletons in the closet.

And even if the teenagers themselves are few here. But the question is much more important – is it worth it to be hypocritical for the sake of ephemeral happiness?

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Attention! This rating is subjective and does not constitute an advertisement and does not serve as a purchase guide. Before buying, you need to consult with a specialist.