Though a relatively small film, Lady Bird has made a big impact since its release in 2017. The movie marked a stunning directorial debut from Greta Gerwig, and featured an Oscar-nominated performance from Saoirse Ronan as the titular character, a young high school girl struggling with her parents, her social standing and her future.
The movie is a funny, honest and moving coming-of-age story that ranks among the very best in that genre. Not a lot of movies can capture that feeling of being young and insecure so effectively. Here are some movies worth checking out if you love Lady Bird.
10 Fast Times At Ridgemont High (1982)
Fast Times at Ridgemont High is sometimes looked back on as just another teen sex comedy from the 1980s, but it is surprisingly more complex than that. The movie features an all-star cast of young talent, including Sean Penn, Jennifer Jason Leigh, and Forest Whitaker as the various students at the titular high school.
While there is certainly plenty of broad comedy to entertain younger audiences, like Lady Bird, the film also takes a very honest look at some of the struggles of young people. There's a lot to admire beyond the laughs.
9 Brooklyn (2015)
With a number of phenomenal performances already to her name, Saoirse Ronan is one of the most acclaimed young actresses in recent memory. She scored another Oscar nomination for her stunning lead role in Brooklyn, a period piece that tells a very different coming-of-age story.
Ronan stars as a young Irish woman who leaves her family to make a new life in America in the 1950s. She then wavers between the life she left behind and the new one she is trying to make. Ronan is compelling and charming in this brilliant little drama with a wonderful love story at its center.
8 The Spectacular Now (2013)
Part of what makes Lady Bird such an interesting movie is that it is not afraid to show its main character being wrong. We might root for her, but sometimes she doesn't make it easy. The Spectacular Now is another great example of a high school drama that isn't afraid to have a troubled protagonist.
Miles Teller stars as a popular high school kid whose main focus is partying. After breaking up with his girlfriend, he starts a relationship with a shy scholarly student (Shailene Woodley). It's fascinating to see this take on the fun-loving party animal, and how lost they feel when high school comes to an end.
7 Ghost World (2001)
Lady Bird is an interesting character as she is not the most popular kid in school, but she seems to see herself as one of the coolest. She has a cynical view of the students around her, even if she secretly craves to be accepted by the "in crowd."
Another film that explores similar types of high school characters is Ghost World. Thora Birch and Scarlett Johansson star as social outcasts who spend their time ridiculing the world around them. However, it becomes clear that they, like everyone, are dealing with their own insecurities.
6 Easy A (2010)
Emma Stone broke through as a lead actor with her winning performance in Easy A. She is absolutely wonderful as Olive Penderghast, a young high school girl who, after attempting to help out a friend, gains a reputation in her school for being promiscuous. Olive then deals with the various social consequences of this lie.
Apart from being another high school movie with a fantastic lead performance, Easy A and Lady Bird share some similarities with their main characters. Both are somewhat outcasts who find themselves pushing back against how society says they should act.
5 Frances Ha (2012)
Lady Bird was Greta Gerwig's first film as a director, but she was already an accomplished actor and screenwriter by this point. Frances Ha is a movie that displayed both of those talents as Gerwig co-wrote the film with director Noah Baumbach, and stars in the lead role.
There are a lot of similarities between Gerwig's Frances in this film of Ronan's Lady Bird in her later film. Both are free-spirited, artistic people who seem to run into problem after problem, many of which are caused by their own actions. Frances Ha is a funny and sweet look at a highly entertaining character.
4 Booksmart (2019)
Lady Bird and her friend Julie (Beanie Feldstein) might be outcasts in a social sense but they take solace in the fact that they are intelligent and creative young women. This is echoed in another great teen comedy, Booksmart.
Feldstein stars in this film as well alongside Kaitlyn Dever as two scholarly high school seniors who realize the party-loving students they looked down upon also got into good post-secondary schools. On the last night of high school, they decide to finally let loose. The movie is a refreshing and hilarious teen romp with great performances and a touching message.
3 Juno (2007)
Lady Bird beautifully mixes the wonderful humor of the story with a lot of heart and genuinely touching moments. This is a hard balance to pull off, and it was done just as well in another unique teen comedy, Juno.
The film stars Ellen Page as a quirky young girl who is hit with an unexpected pregnancy, and decides to give the baby to a young married couple. Again, this is a movie that takes a more honest look at the struggles of teenage years, including the laughs and the uncertainty.
2 Little Women (2019)
Gerwig followed up her first film as a director with this adaptation of the much-loved novel Little Women. Gerwig proved Lady Bird was no fluke as she delivered another poignant, funny and heartfelt story of young women finding their identity.
Though set centuries before Lady Bird, Little Women feels like a somewhat similar tale. It is the beautiful story of how intelligent women had to fight to creating their own paths in the 1800s. Saoirse Ronan gives another knock-out performance, and is backed by a stellar cast.
1 The Edge Of Seventeen (2016)
The Edge of Seventeen might not have gotten the same attention or awards love as Lady Bird, but it is a perfect companion piece to Gerwig's film. It stars Hailee Steinfeld as a socially awkward young high schooler whose life is made even worse when her best friend begins dating her older brother.
Steinfeld is great in the lead role as another charming and witty protagonist who is certainly not perfect. The movie strikes a complex balance between humor and heavy subject matter, which results in a compelling and entertaining coming-of-age story.
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