Streamlining the coming of age genre

How a previously indie genre has become mainstream, filling up all the spots in the upcoming awards season.

A quick look at some of the frontrunners doing the awards circuit for 2021 yields surprising results. While there is the usual mix of sombre dramas, inspirational biopics, the token historical and a couple of musicals thrown in for good measure, the lists —across categories —are dominated by one genre: coming-of-age.

From the dazzling highs of Paul Thomas Anderson whimsical ode to ‘70s California and the glorious angst of teenage love in Licorice Pizza; to Belfast, Kenneth Branagh’s semi-autobiographical tale of a young boy’s childhood during the unrest in ‘60s Northern Ireland; to the profound tale of a hearing teenage girl who is a child of deaf adults in CODA; to two captivating tales of striking uncle-nephew relationships —Mike Mills’ C’mon C’monand George Clooney’s Tender Bar— the genre, predominantly considered an indiedarling for decades, has truly, well, come of age today.

Though John Hughes (The Breakfast Club, Ferris Bueller’s Day Off) set the ball rolling in the 1980s with several classics that explored the theme, credit must predominantly go to Richard Linklater for taking it mainstream with the success and cultural resonance of Dazed and Confused (1993) and Boyhood (2014). The latter — a nine-year-long labour of love —features on several all-time best lists and was an awards favourite, even picking up the Silver Bear at Berlin for the filmmaker.