High School Replayed

Stafer’s take on best coming of age movies

1. LADYBIRD (2017) Greta Gerwig’s solo directorial debut follows Christine ‘Ladybird’ McPherson’s struggles with overzealous expectations of her future versus normal suburban life in Sacramento, California and her often tense family dynamic. Ladybird’s refreshingly realistic, naïve and unique, yet oddly familiar, experiences in her last year of high school encapsulate some of the obstacles, milestones and moments of pure confusion that seniors endure before setting of for their future, whether or not we can predict what it will look like.

2. THE BREAKFAST CLUB (1985) The Breakfast Club initially portrays the main characters all spending a Saturday in detention together as over-the-top stereotypical representations of their ‘cliques’: rebel John Bender, jock Andrew Clark, brain Brian Johnson, outcast Allison Reynolds and popular girl Claire Standish. As the day progresses, they come out of their shells and prove themselves to be more than what they’re labeled. It’s no surprise that this flm has touched generations of teenagers navigating their identities within a perplexing high school setting and cemented itself as a coming-of-age cult classic.

3. THE PERKS OF BEING A WALLFLOWER (2012) Charlie Kelmeckis writes to an unnamed friend in his diary, detailing the events of his freshman year, while he sufers from clinical depression and trauma. His recounting of the year reels in other characters who are going through their own set of problems, simultaneously providing guidance and companiship for Charlie. This flm will particularly resonate with those who have had to balance the demands of high school with familial, mental or social restraints that seem to hold us back from our idealized version of teenagedom and growing up.

4. BOOKSMART (2019) Best friends Molly Davidson and Amy Anstler are the manifestations of worriers about the future as they spend their entire high school careers in pursuit of successful colleges. Yet once they discover their peers have managed to secure similar positions in prestigious schools, their worldview comes tumbling down. The pair’s development throughout the movie that takes place over the course of one day ofers a remedy for the toxic college tunnel vision high schoolers often succumb to at one point or another.

5. MEAN GIRLS (2004) Cady Heron enters her junior year in an American high school for the frst time, which is, as always, full of social groups and norms that must be followed. She fnds herself not only ftting in, but, with the help of friends Janis Ian and Damian Leigh, infltrating the ‘Plastics’: the most popular girls in the school. Cady’s drama-ridden year characterizes the early high school years flled with concerns about popularity, friendship and self-image. The flm ends with a view of the characters starting their senior year and highlights the importance of staying true to yourself, despite how cheesy it sounds. By Bayarmaa Bat-erdene