Being in your late teens/early 20s is a strange time in your life. It feels like everybody the same age as you is at different points in their lives, and it can often seem like you’re falling behind. This is especially true when you graduate from university, which can often feel like you’re joining the real world for the first time. Watching a film may not solve all your problems. But it can be comforting to see characters going through similar experiences as you. Here are some of the best coming of age films to watch before you graduate.
Shiva Baby (2020)
Shiva Baby follows Dani (Rachel Sennott), a recent graduate working as a sugar baby while she tries to figure out what to do with the rest of her life, as she attends shiva with her family. Dani runs in to pretty much everyone she wants to avoid, including her sugar daddy, and her ex-girlfriend, as well as loads of relatives and family friends asking what she wants to do with her life. Shiva Baby perfectly captures the anxiety of feeling like everyone around you expects more than you can give.
Good Will Hunting (1997)
This ’90s film is a classic for a reason. Good Will Hunting follows Will (Matt Damon), a janitor who works at MIT and discovers he is a mathematical genius. The film explores how class can cause people to be excluded from universities, and how this can create a crisis of identity. Good Will Hunting also features one of the late, great Robin Williams’ best performances as Will’s therapist.
Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse (2018)
Before (spoiler alert) No Way Home was bringing Spider-Men from across the multi-verse together, there was Into the Spider-Verse. Rather than Peter Parker, this film’s main Spider-Man is Miles Morales (Shameik Moore), a teenager struggling to adjust to a new school while balancing his duties as Spider-Man. If a new perspective on the classic Spider-Man story is not enough, the gorgeous animation should be. There is a reason it won an Oscar.
Rafiki (2018)
Rakiki was banned in its native Kenya for showing a positive love story between two young women, but has become popular abroad. The film follows Kena (Samantha Mugatsia) and Ziki (Sheila Munyiva) who fall in love, desite their fathers being political rivals. Rafiki does show the struggles queer people face in Kenya. But the love story between Kena and Ziki is the heart of this film.
Booksmart (2019)
Just before they graduate high school, Molly (Beanie Feldstein) and Amy (Kaitlyn Denver) realise that, by focusing too much on their grades, they have missed out on their high school experience. In an attempt to make up for lost time, they have one night of wild fun. Booksmart captures the feeling so many of us experience, where we realise too late that we should have been living in the moment. While this film is about high school, a lot of the themes also apply to upcoming uni graduates.