the best teenage movies i watched this 2018

Hello, fellow bloggers!

We are approaching the end of the year, and bests & worsts lists are already popping up in our feeds. As 2018 was a super slow reading year for me, I wouldn’t have many books to mention here anyway. But I still decided to make my own list, regardless: my favorite teenage movies I watched this year.

Hopefully, you’ll be able to relate with some of these, since most are book to movie adaptations for very popular YA contemporaries.

5. TO ALL THE BOYS I’VE LOVED BEFORE

I don’t even feel the need to explain what this movie is about, since everyone and their mothers have watched this Netflix release this year. I do want to point out though why To All The Boys stood out for me, despise the hype. Firstly, the diversity: to have an entire Asian-American cast in a teenage movie is already impressive, and yet Lara Jean was so incredibly relatable. Her quirks, thoughts and interests were very accurate to teenage girls, and though a little older, I still felt so close to her.

This was such a refreshing love story, even if clichè, because it was able to stay away from all the tropes that make teenage rom-coms typically unbearable: cat-fight, toxic masculinity. As someone who has re-watched this movie way too many times, I can safely say this is one of the best rom-coms ever: and not only because of Peter Kavinsky.

4. LOVE SIMON

Speaking of another book-to-movie adaptation that took the world by storm earlier this year, I have Love Simon. Following such a great cast, Love Simon talks about sexuality in one of the best & most underrated ways I’ve ever seen.

Simon is a normal guy, with a huge ass secret – he’s gay. Except for that, the entire movie feels like your typical romance: best friend drama, football game sequences and a mysterious love interest. However, for many people who grew up without ever being able to relate to a rom-com, Love Simon is groundbreaking.

In addition, it was able to talk about sexuality without talking about sex, which is something I feel like media still struggles with. I don’t think I’m able to name a single queer movie I’ve watched that doesn’t have a sex (or sex-oriented) scene, but Love Simon discusses it while still being PG-13. It makes it so much more comfortable, as it is a movie you can introduce to kids and elders, without having to worry about sounding too obscene. I really hope Love Simon was just the first one to make queerness just a part of your typical rom-com business.

3. EVERY DAY

Yet again, ANOTHER book to movie adaptation. Similarly to Love Simon, though, I’d rather stick with the adaptation. Every Day’s original source was written by David Levithan, famous for his queer books. This one, specifically, came out as pretty offensive to me, as it was quite fat-phobic. The movie, on the other hand, did a much better job on including body diversity as well.

Every Day follows our main character, A, who wakes up on a different body everyday – always the same age, never the same person twice. One day, though, they meet Rhiannon and decide they will do whatever it takes to see her again, no matter which body they’re in. Despise how fantastical this may sound, the core of the movie is so real. As Rhiannon gets to know A, it doesn’t matter what they look like: a boy, a girl, tall, blonde, black, or whatever. She begins to fall in love with their thoughts, their mind, their feelings. In an age of appearance and having the best Instagram selfies, a movie like this feels refreshing and soothing. Most of us struggle with our reflections on the mirror everyday, and stories like that prove that when you find the right person, it doesn’t really matter what you look like.

2. EIGHTH GRADE

Even though I love teenage movies, I don’t think I would’ve glanced twice at Eighth Grade if my sister hadn’t told me about the director for this one. Bo Burnham is an American comedian, but to be honest I only knew him for his vines. As you watch the movie, it becomes pretty noticeable that it was written by a millennial – the jokes, sense of humor and the overall presence of social media in this one makes it very accurate.

Eighth Grade follows our main character Kayla, who’s in her last week of (shocker) 8th grade, and not feeling her best. Kayla is pretty much friendless, as she is incredibly shy. She makes these two-views-and-one-of-them-is-her-father videos about how to make friends and put yourself out there, but she herself never follows any of these advices.

This movie was so deep and so relatable, while still being incredibly light. The talk on social media and having an internet persona that is different from who you really are is very interesting. But the part that got me the most was Kayla’s self-esteem issues. It’s kinda heartbreaking to think that at such a young age, barely 14, she already had such negative thoughts about herself. On the other hand, when I look back at my own pre-teen years, I was thinking the same thing. I feel like girls are pretty much born knowing how to hate themselves; it’s fascinating how he pick up bad things so quickly. If you can relate to bullying or loneliness during your school years, I’d recommend bringing a tissue. My eyes were so swollen the next day I could barely open them – it was just a very emotional ride.

1. THE EDGE OF SEVENTEEN

Out of all the titles mentioned, this one is the only which was not released in 2018 – but I only watched it in 2018, so it counts. (My list, my rules).

Well, how can I even begin to explain how much this movie means to me? The Edge of Seventeen follows Nadine, who has a very complicated relationship with most people in her life: she’s lost her father, the only person in the family who really understood her; and now has her forever best friend dating her much-hated brother. Though the premise sounds almost comical, and the movie really is funny, I also found myself tear-eyed through most of it.

Nadine is clearly depressed and there’s so much in her behaviour that I could relate with. Obviously, she’s much more extra, but you can see just how much she’s struggling on her own skin.

However, the most important part of it is how The Edge of Seventeen finds the perfect middle between teenage movies. I find that teenage movies are either in two sides of the spectrum: teenagers who only drink, party, get laid and are constantly making dumb decisions; or perks-of-being-a-wallflower teenagers, who enjoy poetry and think they’re so much better because they’d never attend a football game. I think both of these are not only unaccurate representations of most teenagers, but also shame people for “being too losers” or “being too assholes”. The Edge of Seventeen just proves that EVERYONE – the jock and the brain – both have problems. And no problem is better than the other. In high school, everyone is facing something that maybe only they can see and there’s something incredibly soothing in realizing that. This movie is eye-opening, hilarious, emotional and so, so important.

 

For some honorable mentions I have: The Hate U Give, The Miseducation of Cameron Post and Candy Jar – not a book to movie adaptation, but still one of the sweetest movies I’ve ever watched.

What are some of your favorite teenage movies you watched this year? Have you watched any of the ones I mentioned? What did you think of them? Let’s discuss! ✨