“Discover the Cinematic Gems That Captured Gen Z’s Heart and Shaped a Generation!”
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Moonlight is told in three parts, each giving us a window into the youth, teenage years, and twenty-something maturity of Chiron (Alex R. Hibbert, Ashton Sanders, Trevante Rhodes) and Kevin (Jaden Piner, Jharrel Jerome, Andre Holland). Chiron endures bullying and a broken home during the crack epidemic in Miami, but he and Kevin connect romantically and sexually. Unfortunately, the circumstances surrounding them in this flick, which was written and directed by Barry Jenkins, aren’t keen on giving them a happy ending. Anchored by a masterful performance by Mahershala Ali and a sextet of actors portraying the leads, this brokenhearted romance is stellar.
To All The Boys I’ve Loved Before (2018)
Based on Jenny Han’s novel, the first installment of the celebrated series focuses on Lara Jean Covey (Lana Condor), a reserved teen who writes letters to her crushes she never intends to send. When they get out into the wild, she finds herself swatting away confused boys, potential suitors, and her own swirling feelings. Effectively, she tries to survive everyone’s worst love-based nightmare, which results in an uproarious comedy of errors, rife with embarrassment that we get to enjoy safely from our sofas.
Clueless (1995)
Amy Heckerling’s riff on Jane Austen’s Emma speaks to all generations but especially hits on Gen Z’s current nostalgia for the ’90s. Cher Horowitz (Alicia Silverstone) is an airheaded teen with a big heart who wants to help others but doesn’t really know how. She’s obsessed with clothes and status, but her woke stepbrother Josh (Paul Rudd) and a series of new friendships and mishaps make Cher reevaluate her priorities. It’s a romance, sure, but it’s more about personal growth and learning that you can’t charm your way into passing a driver’s test after hitting other cars.
Booksmart (2019)
Olivia Wilde directed this bold look at two nerdy girls as they flail at having the night of their lives. Amy (Kaitlyn Dever) has a crush on a girl named Ryan, but like everything else in her life, she doesn’t plan on pursuing it. Her best friend Molly (Beanie Feldstein) is the unpopular class president who sweetly bullies Amy into crashing the cool kids party for the night, resulting in a bonkers escapade through dying phone batteries, principals moonlighting as Uber drivers, and the dangers of watching pornography while connected to a car’s Bluetooth speakers. As everything careens off the rails, the movie—which is essentially an American Pie for a new generation—offers proof that things working out in unexpected ways is often better than working out how we hope.
Spirited Away (2001)
This breathtaking masterpiece from Hayao Miyazaki tells the story of Chihiro (voiced by Rumi Hiiragi), a young girl moving to a new city with her parents when they’re waylaid at a mysterious abandoned village. Then she learns the village is a spa for spirits run by the witch Yubaba (Mari Natsuki). Aided by the enslaved Haku (Miyu Irino), Chihiro must remember her name and rescue her parents (who have turned into pigs) before she’s stuck scrubbing mud off radish spirits forever. Far more than its plot, the inventive and magical film is a visual feast of delightful oddities exploring this bratty girl’s evolution into someone with a massive heart.
Eighth Grade (2018)
Before making his secluded COVID special Inside, Bo Burnham wrote and directed this coming-of-age comedy about a girl who optimistically posts inspirational vlogs about confidence despite no one ever watching them. Kayla Day (Elsie Fisher) is the perfect teen heroine, a delightful outsider who is both desperate and not ready to grow up. Beyond the usual sexual misadventures and friendship disasters, the film mainly explores teen anxiety, whether it’s Kayla who can’t hide her nerves and encroaching depression, or other students who are simply far better at hiding them.
The Hunger Games (2012)
An early YA smash hit (and probably a depiction of our future), this adaptation of Suzanne Collins’s novel stars Jennifer Lawrence as Katniss Everdeen, an impoverished young woman who volunteers to take her sister’s place in a televised event where teenagers from different American “districts” try to kill each other. Katniss decides to rebel against the predetermined rules of the contest, fighting alongside her district-mate Peeta (Josh Hutcherson) to dominate the competition while drawing the adoring public to her anti-establishment side. The fascists hate that, and they hate it even more when she threatens to bring the violence of the games to their doorsteps throughout the series. A rewatch is enough to make you want to take up archery.
Get Out (2017)
Jordan Peele’s explosive debut as a feature filmmaker practically reinvented the tone and structure of fear on the big screen. While horror has long been used to explore taboo topics and complex problems within society (including racist violence), Peele brought it all into the modern age with this story of a young Black photographer named Chris (Daniel Kaluuya) visiting the wealthy family of his white girlfriend (Allison Williams) for the first time at their isolated estate. Naturally, they’re super nice and hospitable, but all of his uncomfortable feelings grow alongside disturbing encounters until he discovers what they really want him there for. But they mean so well!
