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Collections / Coming-of-age movies for the second act

Coming-of-age movies for the second act

Nobody warns you there's a second adolescence. These are films about people mid-career, mid-marriage, or mid-collapse, who still have growing up to do, sometimes funny, sometimes brutal, and always about the moment you realize the life you have and the life you meant to have need a conversation.

Can't choose? Answer three questions and get one movie for tonight.

Lost in Translation poster
Lost in Translation
2003 · dir. Sofia Coppola
🍅 95%★ 7.7drama · comedy · romance

Two lost souls visiting Tokyo -- the young, neglected wife of a photographer and a washed-up movie star shooting a TV commercial -- find an odd solace and pensive freedom to be real in each other's company, away from their lives in America.

The Wrestler poster
The Wrestler
2008 · dir. Darren Aronofsky
🍅 99%★ 7.9drama · romance

Aging wrestler Randy "The Ram" Robinson is long past his prime but still ready and rarin' to go on the pro-wrestling circuit. After a particularly brutal beating, however, Randy hangs up his tights, pursues a serious relationship with a long-in-the-tooth stripper, and tries to reconnect with his estranged daughter. But he can't resist the lure of the ring and readies himself for a comeback.

American Beauty poster
American Beauty
1999 · dir. Sam Mendes
🍅 87%★ 8.3drama

Lester Burnham, a depressed suburban father in a mid-life crisis, decides to turn his hectic life around after developing an infatuation with his daughter's attractive friend.

Marriage Story poster
Marriage Story
2019 · dir. Noah Baumbach
🍅 95%★ 7.9dramaNetflix

A stage director and an actress struggle through a grueling, coast-to-coast divorce that pushes them to their personal extremes.

Up in the Air poster
Up in the Air
2009 · dir. Jason Reitman
🍅 90%★ 7.4drama · romanceParamount+

Corporate downsizing expert Ryan Bingham spends his life in planes, airports, and hotels, but just as he’s about to reach a milestone of ten million frequent flyer miles, he meets a woman who causes him to rethink his transient life.

Birdman or (The Unexpected Virtue of Ignorance) poster
Birdman or (The Unexpected Virtue of Ignorance)
2014 · dir. Alejandro G. Iñárritu
🍅 91%★ 7.7drama · comedyMax

A fading actor best known for his portrayal of a popular superhero attempts to mount a comeback by appearing in a Broadway play. As opening night approaches, his attempts to become more altruistic, rebuild his career, and reconnect with friends and family prove more difficult than expected.

Gran Torino poster
Gran Torino
2008 · dir. Clint Eastwood
🍅 81%★ 8.1drama

Disgruntled Korean War veteran Walt Kowalski sets out to reform his neighbor, Thao Lor, a Hmong teenager who tried to steal Kowalski's prized possession: a 1972 Gran Torino.

Jerry Maguire poster
Jerry Maguire
1996 · dir. Cameron Crowe
🍅 86%★ 7.3comedy · drama · romanceHulu

Jerry Maguire used to be a typical sports agent: willing to do just about anything he could to get the biggest possible contracts for his clients, plus a nice commission for himself. Then, one day, he suddenly has second thoughts about what he's really doing. When he voices these doubts, he ends up losing his job and all of his clients, save Rod Tidwell, an egomaniacal football player.

Crazy, Stupid, Love. poster
Crazy, Stupid, Love.
2011 · dir. Glenn Ficarra
🍅 79%★ 7.4comedy · drama · romanceMax

Cal Weaver is living the American dream. He has a good job, a beautiful house, great children and a beautiful wife, named Emily. Cal's seemingly perfect life unravels, however, when he learns that Emily has been unfaithful and wants a divorce. Over 40 and suddenly single, Cal is adrift in the fickle world of dating. Enter, Jacob Palmer, a self-styled player who takes Cal under his wing and teaches him how to be a hit with the ladies.

Manchester by the Sea poster
Manchester by the Sea
2016 · dir. Kenneth Lonergan
🍅 96%★ 7.8dramaPrime Video

After his older brother passes away, Lee Chandler is forced to return home to care for his 16-year-old nephew. There he is compelled to deal with a tragic past that separated him from his family and the community where he was born and raised.

The Whale poster
The Whale
2022 · dir. Darren Aronofsky
🍅 64%★ 7.6dramaRent or buy

A reclusive English teacher suffering from severe obesity attempts to reconnect with his estranged teenage daughter for one last chance at redemption.

The Secret Life of Walter Mitty poster
The Secret Life of Walter Mitty
2013 · dir. Ben Stiller
🍅 52%★ 7.3adventure · comedy · drama

A timid magazine photo manager who lives life vicariously through daydreams embarks on a true-life adventure when a negative goes missing.

As Good as It Gets poster
As Good as It Gets
1997 · dir. James L. Brooks
🍅 86%★ 7.7drama · comedy · romance

A misanthropic author, a single mother and waitress, and a gay artist form an unlikely friendship after the artist is assaulted in a robbery.

Mrs. Doubtfire poster
Mrs. Doubtfire
1993 · dir. Chris Columbus
🍅 71%★ 7.1comedy · drama · familyHuluDisney+

Loving but irresponsible dad Daniel Hillard, estranged from his exasperated spouse, is crushed by a court order allowing only weekly visits with his kids. When Daniel learns his ex needs a housekeeper, he gets the job -- disguised as a British nanny. Soon he becomes not only his children's best pal but the kind of parent he should have been from the start.

The Intern poster
The Intern
2015 · dir. Nancy Meyers
🍅 59%★ 7.1comedyParamount+

70-year-old widower Ben Whittaker has discovered that retirement isn't all it's cracked up to be. Seizing an opportunity to get back in the game, he becomes a senior intern at an online fashion site, founded and run by Jules Ostin.

Nobody poster
Nobody
2021 · dir. Ilya Naishuller
🍅 83%★ 7.4action · thrillerPeacock

Hutch Mansell, a suburban dad, overlooked husband, nothing neighbor — a "nobody." When two thieves break into his home one night, Hutch's unknown long-simmering rage is ignited and propels him on a brutal path that will uncover dark secrets he fought to leave behind.

Lolita poster
Lolita
1962 · dir. Stanley Kubrick
🍅 89%★ 7.5drama · comedy · romance

Humbert Humbert is a middle-aged British novelist who is both appalled by and attracted to the vulgarity of American culture. When he comes to stay at the boarding house run by Charlotte Haze, he soon becomes obsessed with Lolita, the woman's teenaged daughter.

A Serious Man poster
A Serious Man
2009 · dir. Ethan Coen
🍅 89%★ 7comedy · dramaPrime Video

It is 1967, and Larry Gopnik, a physics professor at a quiet Midwestern university, has just been informed by his wife Judith that she is leaving him. He scrambles to find a semblance of meaning as he loses control of nearly every aspect of his life.

Scenes from a Marriage poster
Scenes from a Marriage
1974 · dir. Ingmar Bergman
★ 8.3drama · romanceMax

Johan and Marianne are married and seem to have it all. Their happiness, however, is a façade for a troubled relationship, which becomes even rockier when Johan admits that he's having an affair. Before long, the spouses separate and move towards finalizing their divorce, but they make attempts at reconciling. Even as they pursue other relationships, Johan and Marianne realize that they have a significant bond, but also many issues that hinder that connection.

Every title above links to its kindred spirits. Find the one you love, then follow the thread. Or browse the mood behind this shelf: contemplative, warm.