Growing up looks different for everyone. These films explore adolescence, loss, responsibility, identity, and the difficult process of finding your place in the world.
As children, we often told ourselves, “I can’t wait to grow up.”
But as we left childhood behind, we realised that growing up meant much more than we had imagined. It meant discovering who we were, losing and finding things along the way, making sense of the world and learning to hold our ground in the face of its harsh realities.
Film scholar Alistair Fox, in his book ‘Coming-of-Age Cinema in New Zealand: Genre, Gender and Adaptation’, describes coming-of-age stories as revolving around a character’s “journey of self-discovery”, in which experiences lead them towards a more mature sense of self.
While coming-of-age cinema is often associated with adolescence, the idea of growing up can take many forms. It can mean discovering your identity, confronting loss, taking responsibility, entering adulthood, or learning to navigate a world shaped by forces beyond your control.
Here are five films that explore different ways of growing up.
What happens when growing up means losing a friendship?
‘Close’, directed by Lukas Dhont, is a film about friendship and responsibility. It follows two inseparable 13-year-old boys, Leo and Remi, whose closeness begins to change as they enter adolescence. The movie explores the pressures young people can face while growing up, including questions of identity, masculinity and friendship.
‘Close’ is an astoundingly soft film. Cinematographer Frank van den Eeden frequently uses close-ups and shallow depth of field, keeping the focus on the characters and their subtle expressions and allowing viewers to stay closely connected to their emotional world. This intimacy makes the pain of losing someone close feel deeply personal and relatable.
Directed by Nabin Subba, ‘Numafung’ follows the lives of a Limbu family in eastern Nepal, told through the eyes of Lojina, a young girl who observes her older sister, Numa. The film follows Numa through marriage, domestic struggles, and the expectations placed on her as a woman within her community.
At the same time, it examines the patriarchal expectations that shape women’s choices. Numa and the other women, however, are not portrayed merely as passive victims; they speak up and find their own ways to respond to the restrictions around them.
Directed by Neeraj Ghaywan, ‘Masaan’ follows young people in Varanasi whose lives are shaped by love, loss, caste and the expectations of the society around them.
The film brings together stories of characters trying to find their own paths while dealing with circumstances they did not choose.
Through their journeys, ‘Masaan’ presents adulthood as a process of finding dignity and hope amid circumstances that can feel beyond one’s control.
Directed by Bahman Ghobadi, ‘Turtles Can Fly’ is an Iranian-Kurdish film that follows 13-year-old Satellite, a resourceful boy who leads a group of children living in a Kurdish refugee camp near the Turkish border in Iraq in 2003.
Satellite’s world changes when Agrin arrives at the camp with her armless brother Hangao and a blind toddler, Rega. The film presents coming of age in circumstances where childhood is marked by war, displacement, poverty and uncertainty. Moreover, the children are confronted with realities that force them to understand loss and survival far earlier than they should.
‘Turtles Can Fly’ asks what growing up looks like when survival becomes part of childhood.
Imagine finding someone who makes an effort to understand you.
Directed by Kim Bo-ra, ‘House of Hummingbird’ is a classic, tender coming-of-age story that follows 14-year-old Eun-hee, an eighth-grade student living in Seoul in 1994.
Throughout the movie, she navigates her family, friendship, school, and the uncertainties of adolescence. However, her life changes once she meets Young-ji, a supportive tutor who listens to her and understands her.
Beyond the struggles and relationships, the movie presents the coming of age as a process of understanding yourself and finding connections within you and with the world.
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