Best movies like The Perks of Being a Wallflower
Last updated March 2024
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Plot Summary:
A coming-of-age story based on the best-selling novel by Stephen Chbosky, which follows 15-year-old freshman Charlie, an endearing and naive outsider who is taken under the wings of two seniors. A moving tale of love, loss, fear and hope - and the unforgettable friends that help us through life.
IMDB Rating: 7.9
IMDB Votes: 539000
Genere: Drama
Country: USA
Duration: 103 min
Plot tags: touching, sincere, teen, melancholic, romantic, emotional, realistic, feel good, heartbreaking, independent film
Best tv shows and movies like The Perks of Being a Wallflower (2012):
Similar in 76%
My So-Called Life (1994)
Plot Summary:
The life of a 15 year-old high school student, whose angst-ridden journey through adolescence, friendship, parents, and life teaches her what it means to grow up.
IMDB Rating: 8.4
IMDB Votes: 22000
Genere: Comedy, Drama, Romance
Country: USA
Duration: 912 min
Plot tags: sentimental, sincere, serious, emotional, realistic, talky, teen, romantic, anime, clever
Similar in 87%
One Tree Hill (2003)
Plot Summary:
Set in the fictional small town of Tree Hill, North Carolina, this teen-driven drama tells the story of two half brothers, who share a last name and nothing else. Brooding, blue-collar Lucas is a talented street-side basketball player, but his skills are appreciated only by his friends at the river court. Popular, affluent Nathan basks in the hero-worship of the town, as the star of his high school team. And both boys are the son of former college ball player, Dan Scott, whose long ago choice to abandon Lucas and his mother Karen, will haunt him long into his life with wife Deb, and their son Nathan. Until now, Dan has managed to keep his two sons far from each other. But the past and present collide sharply when Tree Hill's basketball coach recruits Lucas for his team, much to the chagrin of Nathan and Daddy Dan. And the siblings natural rivalry only intensifies when they set their sights on the same girl, Peyton Sawyer. The residue of the past lingers far into the future for the residents of Tree Hill, even as a new generation is rising. Tree Hill follows the lives and loves of these two brothers, their friends and their family as they navigate high school, marriage, and finally... adulthood.
IMDB Rating: 7.8
IMDB Votes: 86000
Genere: Drama, Romance, Sport
Country: USA
Duration: 60 min
Plot tags: sincere, serious, realistic, touching, teen, soap opera, feel good, sweet, entertaining, action adventure
Similar in 90%
Before I Fall (2017)
Plot Summary:
Samantha Kingston has everything. Then, everything changes. After one fateful night, she wakes up with no future at all. Trapped into reliving the same day over and over, she begins to question just how perfect her life really was.
IMDB Rating: 6.4
IMDB Votes: 56000
Genere: Drama, Fantasy, Mystery
Country: USA
Duration: 98 min
Plot tags: bad ending, suspense, teen, sweet, meditative, inspirational, intellectual, brutal, spiritual, heartbreaking
Similar in 75%
Skins (2007)
Plot Summary:
Irreverent comedy drama which follows the messy lives, loves, delirious highs and inevitable lows of a group of raucous teenage friends in Bristol.
IMDB Rating: 8.2
IMDB Votes: 91000
Genere: Drama
Country: UK
Duration: 46 min
Plot tags: captivating, cynical, realistic, semi serious, teen, sexy, erotic, dark, controversial, sexual
Similar in 78%
2:37 (2006)
Plot Summary:
A contemporary, ensemble drama telling the complex tale of six high school students whose lives are interwoven with situations that so many of today's youth are faced with. The story takes place during a normal school day. At precisely 2:37 a tragedy will occur, affecting the lives of a group of students and their teachers. As the story unfolds, the individual stories of the six teenagers are revealed, each with its own explosive significance. An unwanted pregnancy unravels a terrible, dark secret; all is not as it appears for the seemingly confident school football hero; an outcast must deal with everyday taunts from his peers; a beautiful young girl battles an eating disorder; a stellar student constantly struggles to win his parents' approval; while another uses drugs to escape from his own demons.
IMDB Rating: 6.8
IMDB Votes: 7000
Genere: Drama
Country: Australia
Duration: 95 min
Plot tags: psychological, bleak, sincere, serious, depressing, sad, contemplative, teen, realistic, thought provoking
Similar in 84%
If I Stay (2014)
Plot Summary:
Mia Hall, a talented young cellist, thought the most difficult decision she would ever have to make would be whether to pursue her musical dreams at prestigious Juilliard or follow her heart to be with the love of her life, Adam, a rock singer/guitarist. However, a car wreck changes everything in an instant, and now Mia's life hangs in the balance. Suspended between life and death, Mia faces a choice that will decide her future.
IMDB Rating: 6.7
IMDB Votes: 127000
Genere: Drama, Fantasy, Music, Romance, Sci-Fi
Country: USA
Duration: 107 min
Plot tags: touching, emotional, tear jerker, sad, uplifting, teen, sincere, heartbreaking, romantic, bleak
Similar in 89%
X+Y (2014)
Plot Summary:
A socially awkward teenage math prodigy finds new confidence and new friendships when he lands a spot on the British squad at the International Mathematics Olympiad.
IMDB Rating: 7.1
IMDB Votes: 30000
Genere: Drama, Romance
Country: UK
Duration: 111 min
Plot tags: touching, sentimental, emotional, feel good, sweet, uplifting, semi serious, intellectual, teen, social
Similar in 80%
Mysterious Skin (2004)
Plot Summary:
A teenage hustler and a young man obsessed with alien abductions cross paths, together discovering a horrible, liberating truth.
IMDB Rating: 7.6
IMDB Votes: 75000
Genere: Drama
Country: USA, Netherlands
Duration: 105 min
Plot tags: disturbing, depressing, psychological, independent film, realistic, controversial, heartbreaking, serious, gloomy, emotional
Similar in 79%
Boyhood (2014)
Plot Summary:
The film tells a story of a divorced couple trying to raise their young son. The story follows the boy for twelve years, from first grade at age 6 through 12th grade at age 17-18, and examines his relationship with his parents as he grows.
IMDB Rating: 7.9
IMDB Votes: 364000
Genere: Drama
Country: USA
Duration: 165 min
Plot tags: melancholic, emotional, independent film, depressing, serious, realistic, philosophical, touching, sincere, inspirational
Similar in 81%
Short Term 12 (2013)
Plot Summary:
Grace, a compassionate young supervisor at a foster care facility, works with her boyfriend and colleague, Mason, to help at-risk teens. But when a new charge dredges up memories of her own troubled past, Grace's tough exterior begins eroding.
IMDB Rating: 7.9
IMDB Votes: 91000
Genere: Drama
Country: USA
Duration: 96 min
Plot tags: compassionate, emotional, sad, touching, realistic, independent film, depressing, sweet, thought provoking, spiritual
Similar in 90%
The Fault in Our Stars (2014)
Plot Summary:
Despite the tumor-shrinking medical miracle that has bought her a few years, Hazel has never been anything but terminal, her final chapter inscribed upon diagnosis. But when a patient named Augustus Waters suddenly appears at Cancer Kid Support Group, Hazel's story is about to be completely rewritten.
IMDB Rating: 7.7
IMDB Votes: 396000
Genere: Drama, Romance
Country: USA
Duration: 126 min
Plot tags: touching, emotional, romantic, sentimental, tear jerker, sad, sincere, teen, serious, melancholic
Similar in 77%
Speak (2004)
Plot Summary:
Freshman high-school student Melinda has refused to speak ever since she called the cops on a popular summer party. With her old friends snubbing her for being a rat, and her parents too busy to notice her troubles, she folds into herself, trying to hide her secret: that star senior Andy raped her at the party. But Melinda does manage to find solace in her art class headed by Mr. Freeman.
IMDB Rating: 7.2
IMDB Votes: 29000
Genere: Drama
Country: USA
Duration: 89 min
Plot tags: touching, psychological, sentimental, independent film, sincere, sad, depressing, teen, thought provoking, intellectual
Similar in 82%
Manchester by the Sea (2016)
Plot Summary:
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.
IMDB Rating: 7.8
IMDB Votes: 305000
Genere: Drama
Country: USA
Duration: 137 min
Plot tags: sad, depressing, heartbreaking, psychological, emotional, touching, independent film, compassionate, realistic, cerebral
Similar in 88%
Paper Towns (2015)
Plot Summary:
Quentin Jacobsen has spent a lifetime loving the magnificently adventurous Margo Roth Spiegelman from afar. So when she cracks open a window and climbs back into his life-dressed like a ninja and summoning him for an ingenious campaign of revenge-he follows. After their all-nighter ends and a new day breaks, Q arrives at school to discover that Margo, always an enigma, has now become a mystery. But Q soon learns that there are clues-and they're for him. Urged down a disconnected path, the closer he gets, the less Q sees of the girl he thought he knew.
IMDB Rating: 6.2
IMDB Votes: 107000
Genere: Adventure, Comedy, Drama, Mystery, Romance
Country: USA
Duration: 109 min
Plot tags: exciting, teen, road movie, emotional, heartbreaking, serious, gloomy, captivating, disturbing, psychological
Similar in 89%
Charlie Bartlett (2007)
Plot Summary:
Awkward teenager Charlie Bartlett (Anton Yelchin) has trouble fitting in at a new high school. Charlie needs some friends fast, and decides that the best way to find them is to appoint himself the resident psychiatrist. He becomes one of the most popular guys in school by doling out advice and, occasionally, medication, to the student body.
IMDB Rating: 6.9
IMDB Votes: 66000
Genere: Comedy, Drama, Romance
Country: USA, Canada
Duration: 97 min
Plot tags: teen, entertaining, independent film, sentimental, cynical, funny, feel good, indie film, clever, witty
Similar in 82%
Me and Earl and the Dying Girl (2015)
Plot Summary:
Greg is coasting through senior year of high school as anonymously as possible, avoiding social interactions like the plague while secretly making spirited, bizarre films with Earl, his only friend. But both his anonymity and friendship threaten to unravel when his mother forces him to befriend a classmate with leukemia.
IMDB Rating: 7.7
IMDB Votes: 137000
Genere: Comedy, Drama, Romance
Country: USA
Duration: 105 min
Plot tags: touching, independent film, emotional, teen, depressing, black comedy, sad, aesthetic, semi serious, funny
Similar in 82%
Palo Alto (2013)
Plot Summary:
Palo Alto weaves together three stories of teenage lust, boredom, and self-destruction: shy, sensitive April, torn between an illicit flirtation with her soccer coach and an unrequited crush on sweet stoner Teddy; Emily, who offers sexual favors to any boy to cross her path; and the increasingly dangerous exploits of Teddy and his best friend Fred, whose behavior may or may not be sociopathic.
IMDB Rating: 6.2
IMDB Votes: 31000
Genere: Drama
Country: USA
Duration: 100 min
Plot tags: melancholic, atmospheric, serious, teen, realistic, indie film, aesthetic, erotic, mumblecore, artsy
Similar in 86%
Stuck in Love. (2012)
Plot Summary:
An acclaimed writer, his ex-wife, and their teenaged children come to terms with the complexities of love in all its forms over the course of one tumultuous year.
IMDB Rating: 7.2
IMDB Votes: 91000
Genere: Comedy, Drama, Romance
Country: USA
Duration: 97 min
Plot tags: touching, heartbreaking, sweet, emotional, independent film, romantic, teen, sad, romantic comedy, humorous
Similar in 82%
The Spectacular Now (2013)
Plot Summary:
A hard-partying high school senior's philosophy on life changes when he meets the not-so-typical "nice girl.".
IMDB Rating: 7.0
IMDB Votes: 160000
Genere: Drama, Romance
Country: USA
Duration: 95 min
Plot tags: touching, teen, sincere, melancholic, emotional, independent film, romantic, feel good, sweet, heartbreaking
Similar in 78%
Submarine (2010)
Plot Summary:
15-year-old deep-thinking Welsh schoolboy, Oliver Tate struggles to initiate and maintain a relationship with Jordana, his devilish, dark-haired classmate at their Swansea high school. As his parents' marriage begins to fall apart, similar problems arise in his relationship with Jordana.
IMDB Rating: 7.3
IMDB Votes: 95000
Genere: Comedy, Drama, Romance
Country: UK, USA
Duration: 97 min
Plot tags: visually appealing, witty, surreal, touching, talky, independent film, unusual plot structure, melancholic, offbeat, indie film
Similar in 90%
Keith (2008)
Plot Summary:
Natalie (Elisabeth Harnois) is high school royalty, but her queen bee status falls apart when she falls for the new guy at school. Although Keith (Jesse McCartney) ignores her at first, they soon become friends -- even though Natalie suspects that Keith has something to hide. As the free-spirited Keith shows Natalie how to embrace what life offers, they grow closer -- until a secret tests the bounds of their relationship.
IMDB Rating: 7.4
IMDB Votes: 37000
Genere: Drama, Romance
Country: USA
Duration: 95 min
Plot tags: sad, psychological, romantic, touching, emotional, serious, bad ending, realistic, heartbreaking, sentimental
Similar in 90%
The Art of Getting By (2011)
Plot Summary:
George, a lonely and fatalistic teen who's made it all the way to his senior year without ever having done a real day of work, is befriended by Sally, a popular but complicated girl who recognizes in him a kindred spirit.
IMDB Rating: 6.5
IMDB Votes: 60000
Genere: Drama, Romance
Country: USA
Duration: 83 min
Plot tags: feel good, independent film, semi serious, humorous, realistic, romantic, indie film, witty, teen, heartbreaking
Similar in 86%
The First Time (2012)
Plot Summary:
Dave, a high school senior, spends most of his time pining away over a girl he can’t have. Aubrey, a junior with artistic aspirations, has a hot boyfriend who doesn’t quite understand her or seem to care. Although they go to different schools, Dave and Aubrey find themselves at the same party. When both head outside to get some air, they meet. A casual conversation sparks an instant connection, and, over the course of a weekend, things turn magical, romantic, complicated, and funny as Aubrey and Dave discover what it's like to fall in love for the first time.
IMDB Rating: 6.8
IMDB Votes: 73000
Genere: Comedy, Drama, Romance
Country: USA
Duration: 95 min
Plot tags: romantic, sexy, sincere, touching, realistic, light, feel good, sweet, teen, witty
Similar in 88%
The Way Way Back (2013)
Plot Summary:
Over the course of his summer break, a teenager comes into his own thanks in part to the friendship he strikes up with one of the park's managers.
IMDB Rating: 7.4
IMDB Votes: 155000
Genere: Comedy, Drama
Country: USA
Duration: 103 min
Plot tags: touching, emotional, realistic, teen, independent film, sweet, indie film, semi serious, sentimental, witty
Similar in 82%
Dead Poets Society (1989)
Plot Summary:
At an elite, old-fashioned boarding school in New England, a passionate English teacher inspires his students to rebel against convention and seize the potential of every day, courting the disdain of the stern headmaster.
IMDB Rating: 8.1
IMDB Votes: 530000
Genere: Comedy, Drama
Country: USA
Duration: 128 min
Plot tags: philosophical, inspirational, sentimental, emotional, uplifting, intellectual, touching, motivational, sad, tear jerker
Similar in 78%
A Walk to Remember (2002)
Plot Summary:
When the popular, restless Landon Carter is forced to participate in the school drama production he falls in love with Jamie Sullivan, the daughter of the town's minister. Jamie has a "to-do" list for her life and also a very big secret she must keep from Landon.
IMDB Rating: 7.3
IMDB Votes: 219000
Genere: Drama, Romance
Country: USA
Duration: 101 min
Plot tags: touching, romantic, inspirational, tear jerker, sad, sentimental, emotional, sincere, dramatic, teen
Similar in 79%
Words on Bathroom Walls (2020)
Plot Summary:
The story follows a student navigating high school life while living with paranoid schizophrenia and battling wild hallucinations. An experimental drug trial promises to help hide his illness from his peers and, most importantly, from the girl of his dreams.
IMDB Rating: 7.2
IMDB Votes: 13000
Genere: Drama, Romance
Country: USA
Duration: 110 min
Plot tags: realistic, romantic, touching, independent film, offbeat, romantic comedy, teen, aesthetic
Similar in 86%
The Breakfast Club (1985)
Plot Summary:
Five high school students, all different stereotypes, meet in detention, where they pour their hearts out to each other, and discover how they have a lot more in common than they thought.
IMDB Rating: 7.8
IMDB Votes: 428000
Genere: Comedy, Drama
Country: USA
Duration: 97 min
Plot tags: teen, talky, feel good, realistic, cult classic, humorous, semi serious, funny, inspirational, sincere
Similar in 89%
It's Kind of a Funny Story (2010)
Plot Summary:
A clinically depressed teenager gets a new start after he checks himself into an adult psychiatric ward.
IMDB Rating: 7.1
IMDB Votes: 147000
Genere: Comedy, Drama, Romance
Country: USA
Duration: 101 min
Plot tags: touching, sentimental, independent film, funny, feel good, humorous, teen, sweet, visually appealing, semi serious
Similar in 88%
Flipped (2010)
Plot Summary:
When Juli meets Bryce in the second grade, she knows it's true love. After spending six years trying to convince Bryce the same, she's ready to give up - until he starts to reconsider.
IMDB Rating: 7.7
IMDB Votes: 96000
Genere: Comedy, Drama, Romance
Country: USA
Duration: 90 min
Plot tags: touching, sweet, feel good, romantic, emotional, sentimental, realistic, romantic comedy, teen, cute