10 Movies About Growing Up to Watch After Inside Out 2
After Inside Out 2, you may want a story that stays with the awkward, exciting business of becoming a teenager. The sequel turns Riley’s hockey camp and changing friendships into an animated adventure, but its themes also connect to coming-of-age movies about family expectations, first independence, embarrassment and finding a place in the world. This list moves from heartfelt family dramas to sharply funny portraits of adolescence.
Your ranking is preserved, with CODA at number ten and Turning Red at number one. Each film is described through its actual premise before we discuss its performances, tone and place on the countdown. We are ranking by how clearly the story captures growing up, how memorable its characters are and how well it pairs emotional truth with an engaging movie experience. Some picks are gentle and family-friendly; others deal with heavier subjects and are better suited to older teens.
These films also differ in how directly they speak to a younger audience. Turning Red and Margaret are animated or family-oriented choices with humour close to the characters’ age, while Eighth Grade, Mid90s and The Perks of Being a Wallflower handle more mature social or emotional material. It is sensible to check ratings and content details for your household, especially if you are choosing a film for a younger viewer. The recommendations are here to help you find the right kind of story, not to imply that every title suits every age.
The variety is deliberate. Eighth Grade follows Kayla through the last stretch of middle school and the online persona she uses to make sense of social life. Lady Bird and The Edge of Seventeen focus on difficult friendships and mother-daughter friction, while Are You There God? It’s Me, Margaret. places puberty and faith inside a warm family story. Boyhood takes an unusually long view of one child’s life, and CODA asks a teenager to balance her musical ambitions with a close-knit Deaf family.
The most useful follow-up is the one that matches your mood: a comedy when you want to laugh, a gentle family story for a shared watch, or a more intimate drama when you want to think about your own school years.
Turning Red is our closest companion to Inside Out 2 because it uses a fantastical transformation to show a young person caught between family expectations and a changing identity. But the rest of the list offers different angles on the same threshold: leaving childhood routines, making mistakes and deciding which parts of yourself to carry forward. Pixar’s official Turning Red page and the JustWatch UK film guide are useful starting points; provider availability changes, so check the title pages below. Let’s get into it 👇
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10. CODA
Seventeen-year-old Ruby Rossi is the only hearing person in her Deaf family, who run a fishing business in Gloucester, Massachusetts. She helps her parents and brother communicate with the hearing world while discovering a love of singing at school. When her music teacher encourages her to audition for a prestigious programme, Ruby faces a difficult choice between pursuing her own future and remaining available to a family that depends on her.
Emilia Jones gives Ruby warmth and determination, while the family’s comic, blunt affection keeps the story from turning its characters into symbols. CODA understands that independence can feel like abandonment when everyone is used to relying on you. The music scenes give Ruby a private space to imagine a different life, and the family scenes show what that life would mean for the people she loves. Its emotional clarity makes the choice affecting.
CODA opens the countdown because its central coming-of-age conflict is powerful, though the film is more focused on family responsibility than the social and identity questions explored higher up. It ranks above The Way Way Back for its layered family perspective, but below Mid90s and the teen-focused picks for the specificity of adolescence. It is a moving recommendation when you want a story about choosing a future without dismissing where you came from.
Who should watch: For viewers who want an intimate family drama about music, responsibility and independence.
Where to watch: Check JustWatch UK for current options.
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9. The Way Way Back
Fourteen-year-old Duncan spends a summer at a beach house with his mother Pam, her overbearing boyfriend Trent and Trent’s daughter. Feeling like an outsider, Duncan finds a job at the local water park, where the easygoing manager Owen becomes an unexpected mentor. The summer gives Duncan somewhere to belong and a chance to speak up for himself, even as the adults around him keep treating him as a problem to manage.
The film balances an uncomfortable family dynamic with the freedom of a summer job and a welcoming group of water-park employees. Liam James plays Duncan as guarded rather than naturally witty, which makes his gradual confidence believable. Sam Rockwell gives Owen comic charisma while leaving room for a more thoughtful bond. The setting creates a satisfying sense of escape, though the story’s supporting characters sometimes get less space than its central pair.
It ranks ninth because its summer setting and mentor relationship make a warm, easy watch, but it is less searching about identity than the stronger teen portraits above it. It beats CODA on lightness and comic energy, yet sits below Mid90s because Duncan’s world is more protected. This is a good pick when you want a coming-of-age story with a hopeful centre and a low-key pace.
Who should watch: For anyone who likes summer stories about an awkward teen finding confidence and an adult who takes him seriously.
Where to watch: Check JustWatch UK for current options.
8. Mid90s
Thirteen-year-old Stevie lives in Los Angeles with his older brother Ian and their mother, while trying to find somewhere he feels accepted. He becomes drawn to a group of older skateboarders who spend their days at a local skate shop and on the streets. The new friends offer Stevie a sense of belonging and a glimpse of independence, but their age and influence also expose him to behaviour he is not ready to understand.
Jonah Hill’s directorial debut uses a grainy, intimate style and a strong sense of place to capture the pull of a group that makes an outsider feel noticed. Sunny Suljic gives Stevie a mix of eagerness and uncertainty, and the skateboarding scenes create energy without turning the film into a sports story. Its world is rougher than Inside Out 2 and it deals with family tension more bluntly, which makes it a more mature watch.
Mid90s takes eighth because its atmosphere and point of view are distinctive, though some viewers may find the older group’s influence troubling rather than comforting. It ranks above The Way Way Back for its sharper social detail, but below Perks and Boyhood for the emotional breadth of their character journeys. It earns its place for showing how belonging can be exciting and risky at the same time.
Who should watch: For older teens and adults interested in a raw, specific portrait of adolescence and skate culture.
Where to watch: Check JustWatch UK for current options.
7. The Perks of Being a Wallflower
Charlie is a quiet teenager beginning high school after a difficult period in his life. He feels out of place until seniors Sam and Patrick welcome him into their close friendship group. Through parties, music, first love and school routines, Charlie starts to participate in life rather than observe it from the edges. His new friends help him feel less alone, while the film gradually reveals that his past continues to shape his present.
Logan Lerman, Emma Watson and Ezra Miller create a warm central trio, and the film’s use of music gives Charlie’s inner life a strong sense of mood. Its story takes friendship seriously: Sam and Patrick do not magically fix Charlie, but they help him imagine that he can belong. The film includes heavier themes than some of the other choices, so it is best approached as an emotional drama rather than a cosy teen comedy.
It ranks seventh because its friendships and coming-of-age perspective are memorable, though its story carries more difficult material and a different tone from the lighter recommendations above. It beats Mid90s through its tenderness and fuller emotional arc, but sits below Boyhood for the breadth of its time span and The Edge of Seventeen for sharp comic precision. This is a strong pick when you want a heartfelt, music-filled teen drama.
Who should watch: For viewers who like character-led stories about friendship, loneliness and being welcomed into a group.
Where to watch: Check JustWatch UK for current options.
6. Boyhood
Richard Linklater’s film follows Mason from early childhood through the end of high school, with the same cast filmed over twelve years. Mason and his sister Samantha move between homes as their divorced mother builds a new life and their father remains a changing presence. Rather than hinge on one dramatic goal, the story watches daily experiences accumulate: school, family changes, friendships, first relationships and the slow approach of adulthood.
The film’s production approach gives time itself a role in the story. The audience sees the actors age alongside their characters, so a haircut, a new school or a family argument can carry the weight of years without a speech explaining it. Ellar Coltrane’s Mason is often quiet, while Patricia Arquette and Ethan Hawke give the parents distinct and evolving lives. The reflective pace is rewarding but asks for patience.
Boyhood reaches sixth because it offers the widest view of growing up on the list, but its loose structure is less immediately gripping than the stories above it. It ranks above Perks for ambition and scope, but below The Edge of Seventeen for comic momentum and Margaret for a more concentrated look at one age. This is the choice for viewers who want to watch time reshape an ordinary family.
Who should watch: For patient viewers who enjoy naturalistic family stories and the gradual shape of a life.
Where to watch: Check JustWatch UK for current options.
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5. The Edge of Seventeen
Nadine is a socially awkward high-school junior whose closest friendship is with Krista. When Krista begins dating Nadine’s older brother Darian, Nadine feels betrayed and increasingly isolated. She turns to her history teacher and a classmate, Erwin, for perspective, but her sharp tongue often makes the situation worse before it gets better. The story follows her through the humiliations and small breakthroughs of a year when every relationship seems to be changing.
Hailee Steinfeld gives Nadine a fearless comic voice, then lets the defensiveness underneath it show through. The film gets the scale of teenage embarrassment right: a social crisis may look small from outside and still occupy the character’s whole day. Woody Harrelson’s teacher is a dry, imperfect sounding board, not a magical mentor. The jokes are sharp, but the film’s best scenes also understand how hard it can be to apologise or ask for help.
It takes fifth because its character voice, pacing and humour make teenage insecurity unusually specific and entertaining. It ranks above Boyhood for its tighter structure and above the lower choices for the detail of its friendships. It stops short of the top four because the films above it offer richer family contexts or a more distinctive setting. It is one of the easiest recommendations for fans who liked Riley’s social worries.
Who should watch: For viewers who want an honest, funny film about friendship jealousy and teenage self-consciousness.
Where to watch: Check JustWatch UK for current options.
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4. Are You There God? It’s Me, Margaret.
Eleven-year-old Margaret Simon moves from New York City to suburban New Jersey when her parents choose a new home. She is starting sixth grade, making new friends and trying to understand puberty, while also thinking about religion because her mother is Christian and her father Jewish. Margaret talks through her questions in private conversations with God, and a group of classmates share their own anxious hopes about growing up.
Kelly Fremon Craig’s adaptation is affectionate without making adolescence seem tidy. Abby Ryder Fortson gives Margaret curiosity and uncertainty, while Rachel McAdams and Benny Safdie make her parents feel like people with histories of their own. The friendship group is funny and sometimes messy, and the film handles periods, bodies and belief with a directness that feels welcoming rather than sensational. Its gentle tone suits a family conversation.
Margaret earns fourth because it combines a clear growing-up story with unusual openness about family, faith and the body. It ranks above The Edge of Seventeen for its broader family perspective and below Lady Bird and Eighth Grade, whose voices are more formally distinctive. This is a thoughtful choice for younger teens and adults who want a warm, specific portrait of questions that can feel enormous at eleven.
Who should watch: For families and viewers looking for an empathetic, age-appropriate puberty story.
Where to watch: Check JustWatch UK for current options.
3. Lady Bird
Christine McPherson, who insists on being called Lady Bird, is a Sacramento high-school senior dreaming of college on the East Coast. Her ambitions clash with her mother Marion’s practical worries about money and distance. As Lady Bird moves through friendship, first romance, school productions and college applications, she tries to become someone new without fully understanding what she values about home. The central relationship is loving, funny and often combative.
Greta Gerwig’s film has an alert comic rhythm and a sharp eye for how affection can hide inside an argument. Saoirse Ronan and Laurie Metcalf make Lady Bird and Marion feel capable of hurting each other and showing up anyway. Sacramento is not a placeholder to escape; the film gradually reveals why home matters even to someone desperate to leave. Its small scenes build a precise picture of a young person practising independence.
Lady Bird ranks third for its writing, performances and unusually layered mother-daughter relationship. It beats Margaret with a more complex comic voice and sharper formal control, but Eighth Grade edges it for its intimate focus on social anxiety in a digital adolescence. The film captures growing up as both a wish to leave and a later recognition of what has shaped you.
Who should watch: For viewers drawn to funny, complicated family relationships and a teen’s search for independence.
Where to watch: Check JustWatch UK for current options.
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2. Eighth Grade
Kayla Day is finishing eighth grade and preparing to enter high school. At school she is quiet and anxious, but she posts upbeat advice videos online as a way to imagine a more confident version of herself. She hopes to connect with classmates, spends time navigating social media and begins to understand that adulthood is not a personality you can copy overnight. The film follows her through an ordinary but emotionally demanding final week of middle school.
Bo Burnham’s close, sometimes uncomfortable direction lets viewers feel how much Kayla reads into silences, posts and conversations. Elsie Fisher gives her a tender, awkward performance that never asks the audience to laugh at her. The internet is part of Kayla’s environment rather than a single villain, and the film understands how a private worry can be amplified by public comparison. Its small scale makes the emotional detail unusually powerful.
Eighth Grade takes second because it is the most precise film here about the social pressure and self-consciousness that make early adolescence feel so intense. It outranks Lady Bird for its formally intimate point of view, but Turning Red wins for pairing teen observation with more warmth, fantasy and family scope. This is the closest live-action match to the vulnerability that makes Inside Out 2 resonate.
Who should watch: For older children, teens and adults who want a perceptive, empathetic portrait of middle-school anxiety.
Where to watch: Check JustWatch UK for current options.
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1. Turning Red
Mei Lee is a confident thirteen-year-old in Toronto, devoted to her close friends and the boy band 4*Town while also trying to meet her mother Ming’s expectations. When Mei discovers that strong excitement turns her into a giant red panda, she has to manage a change that keeps interrupting school, family duties and friendships. Her mother wants to protect her, but Mei is beginning to want more independence and a say in the person she becomes.
Domee Shi turns adolescence into physical comedy without losing the emotional tension between Mei and Ming. The red panda gives big feelings a vivid shape, while the Toronto setting and 4*Town fandom make Mei’s world feel particular. Her friends are not just a chorus; they support her as she balances family tradition and a new sense of freedom. The film’s energetic style makes the emotional story accessible to younger viewers and entertaining for adults.
Turning Red takes number one because it combines a clear coming-of-age arc, a memorable fantasy metaphor, warm humour and a layered family relationship. Eighth Grade is more intimate, and Lady Bird more biting, but this film offers the broadest emotional accessibility while still being culturally specific. It feels like the most natural follow-up to Inside Out 2: another animated story where a teenager’s changing inner life drives the adventure.
Who should watch: The best next watch if you want humour, friendship and a fantastical story about a teen becoming her own person.
Where to watch: Check JustWatch UK for current options.
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Conclusion
These ten films show that coming of age rarely looks like one grand transformation. It may be a summer job, a new school, a family move, a friendship under pressure or the first time a young person imagines a future their parents did not choose. Some stories make that change funny; others are tender, awkward or quietly difficult.
If you want a close companion to Inside Out 2, Turning Red brings a teenage heroine, a fantastical emotion metaphor and a loving but complicated family relationship. Eighth Grade is the most intimate live-action pick, while Lady Bird has the sharpest mother-daughter dialogue. Margaret is warm and thoughtful about early adolescence, and CODA gives independence a distinctive family context. Each film offers a different kind of growing-up story rather than a single universal template.
Turning Red wins because it brings the list’s strongest combination of character, comedy, visual invention and emotional clarity. It gives Mei room to be funny, loyal, embarrassed and independent, and it makes the family conflict part of the adventure. Tell us which film you would watch first, what you would move to number one and whether there is a coming-of-age movie we have missed.
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Frequently Asked Questions
What should I watch after Inside Out 2?
Turning Red is the closest animated follow-up for its teenage protagonist, family conflict and fantasy metaphor. If you want live-action, Eighth Grade, Lady Bird and The Edge of Seventeen offer very different portraits of adolescence. The other picks explore family, friendship and independence through a range of tones.
Which movie is most like Inside Out 2?
Turning Red is the closest match in this ranking because both films use a fantastical idea to explore adolescence and family relationships. Eighth Grade shares the focus on social pressure, while Lady Bird examines a teenager’s desire for independence from her mother.
What is Eighth Grade about?
Bo Burnham’s film follows Kayla, a shy eighth grader who posts confident advice videos online while struggling to connect at school and prepare for high school. It focuses on the ordinary social moments that can feel overwhelming at that age.
Is Lady Bird a coming-of-age movie?
Yes. It follows a Sacramento high-school senior who wants to leave home for college and often clashes with her mother. Its story explores friendship, first romance, family and the complicated feelings involved in becoming independent.
What is Are You There God? It’s Me, Margaret. about?
Margaret moves from New York to New Jersey, starts sixth grade and makes new friends while thinking about puberty and religion. The story follows her questions and the changing relationships in her family and school life.
Which film is suitable for younger teens?
Are You There God? It’s Me, Margaret. is a gentle option centred on an eleven-year-old, though families should check its rating and themes. Turning Red is animated and lively. Eighth Grade and The Perks of Being a Wallflower may be better for older teens because they cover more mature experiences.
Is The Perks of Being a Wallflower suitable for children?
It is a teen drama with heavier themes than a typical family animation, including emotional trauma. Parents and younger viewers should check the film’s rating and content information before watching. It may suit older teens and adults looking for a story about friendship and belonging.
What is CODA about?
CODA follows Ruby, a hearing teenager in a Deaf family who discovers a passion for singing while helping her family with their fishing business. She must decide how to pursue her own future while remaining close to people who rely on her.
Where can I stream these coming-of-age movies in the UK?
Current providers can change. Each entry links to its JustWatch UK title page so you can check subscription, rental and purchase options for that film before watching.
Which movie is the best for a family watch?
Turning Red and Are You There God? It’s Me, Margaret. are accessible options for many families, though age and themes matter. CODA and The Way Way Back offer different family dynamics, while Eighth Grade and Mid90s are more mature portraits of adolescence.
More Places to Find Great Movies and TV Shows
The official Pixar page and Disney’s film page provide studio information. IMDb is useful for cast and release details, while Rotten Tomatoes gathers reviews and JustWatch UK checks current viewing options.
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