A list for hopeless romantics, teenage angst and the longing for youth.
Youth: a phase in which we endure our adolescent years through experiences of love, hate and friendship, while encountering the perils of becoming an adult, the struggles with self-identity, and relationships with other people in our lives. Through the burdens of trauma, fluctuating levels of emotional maturity and the loath of reality hindering our mindsets for the future- we can find some level of relatability to the ‘Coming-Of-Age Genre’ whether it’s with the characters or the narrative.
For any hopeless romantics, film geeks and binge-watchers: here are some must-watch recommendations that’ll leave you melancholy.
5. Perks of Being a Wallflower
“We accept the love we think we deserve.”
A highly relatable and iconic film following an socially inept, introverted teenage boy, Charlie, navigating life on the sidelines and fully embodying the title of being a wallflower. With the help of two charismatic students, he discovers the joys of love, friendship and music while his past trauma lingers on the forefront of his mind.
4. Twenty-Five-Twenty-One
“Nothing lasts forever. Everything is momentary. They all flow away.”
Twenty-Five-Twenty-One is considered to be one of the highest rated dramas in Korean cable television history. With loveable characters and an emotional narrative between two star-crossed lovers, it covers a journey of maturity and growth of a teenage fencer with big ambitions and a hardworking young man seeking a way to rebuild his life. They work hard to find their dreams while experiencing realistic problems and responsibilities as they become adults, conveying the message that while nothing lasts forever, the journey in maturing is what makes life worthwhile.
3. Lady Bird
“While she loves her daughter with all her heart, she doesn’t understand her and does not particularly want to.”
A Coming-Of-Age ‘mumblecore’ classic by Greta Gerwig, a film expressing a turbulent relationship between a mother and her teenage daughter, Lady Bird. She undergoes the universal struggle of adolescence and finding one’s place in the world, navigating the complexities of life with an emphasis on dealing with the complicated familial relationships.
2. Blue Spring
“You’re young, you have dreams, right?”
“Well… vague dreams.”
Originally based on a manga, Blue Spring is a Japanese film released in 2001, laced with a more melancholic and haunting narrative depicting the despair and hopelessness one can feel within their period of youth. Blue Spring follows a group of high school students residing in Tokyo who face disparities in their friendships, embody a longing for purpose and involve themselves in rebellion all while living in a violent environment where their feelings of pent-up rage and angst overtakes them.
1. 500 Days of Summer
“I just… woke up one day and I knew.”
“Knew what?”
“What I was never sure of with you.”
A film where a hopeless romantic reflects on the 500 days he spent falling in and out of love with Summer, who he believed was his soulmate. He discovers the reality of love and relationships, and how it isn’t just fantasy and fairytale but a coalesce of mess and complications. Tom learns that this is simply the journey of life, and that sometimes not everything is meant to be, some people aren’t compatible with each other and upon his personal realisations– he rediscovers his true passions in life.
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