No one ever said growing up would be easy. We’ve all seen countless movies depict the proverbial “coming-of-age” process. It is an inherently relatable setup, and one that we all intrinsically resonate with, regardless of our current stage in life. But significantly fewer motion pictures have endeavored to examine another crucial stage of our lives – the period of abject existential crisis that immediately follows graduation from any kind of higher education.
What should I do now? Who am I? Is this what being an adult is supposed to feel like? All very real questions that post-graduates must grapple with. These movies all attempt to capture this shared sense of post-educational ennui, in their own unique ways. Maturing into adulthood is an emotional gauntlet that everyone experiences on a specific individual basis. But the universality of this utterly confusing process, makes it an evergreen subject for storytelling. And frankly, there is much, much more insightful work left to be mined from this modern sub-genre.
Table of Contents
16/16 ‘Kicking and Screaming’ (1995)
It’s not the Will Ferrell Soccer comedy of the same name, but a different comedy, containing considerably more heart-wrenching material. 1993’s Kicking and Screaming is distinguished auteur Noah Baumbach’s first film, and possibly the most insightful movie ever made about the year-long state of arrested development that college graduates so often fall prey to.
Originally titled “5th Year”, Kicking and Screaming takes an unflinching look at the state of limbo between childhood and adulthood, that its main character’s refuse to break out of. Baumbach excels at taking his real life experiences and translating them to the screen, intact with all the messy human nuance and painfully funny awkwardness of life. Kicking and Screaming is as hilarious as it is emotionally harrowing. Sounds like the life of a post-grad.
15/16 ‘Into The Wild’ (2007)
14/16 
Sometimes when folks are caught up in a deep post-collegiate rut, the only logical thing left to do is to burn their credit cards, and head off deep into the unknown wilderness. Sean Penn’s adaptation of John Krakauer’s best-selling book about the real life story of Christopher MCcandless a.k.a. “Alexander Supertramp” is a soulful, stirring tragedy that crystallizes its lead character’s sense of pure wanderlust.
In its opening, this movie depicts graduation as a somber, perfunctory event for Chris. This and numerous other sequences in the movie, epitomize the disconnect between Chris and his parents, and thus the difference in their respective generation’s approach to the notion of adult life
13/16 ‘Accepted’ (2006)
12/16
Accepted is a college comedy in the tradition of Animal House or Revenge of The Nerds, but it defines itself by incorporating a unique comedic set-up to the familiar formula. What should a group of high school buddies, led by Justin Long do when they are all rejected by every last college that they applied for? Create their own college of course.
While far from revolutionary, the movie does derive quite a bit of humor from its absurd premise. A more light-hearted affair that’s rife with the anxieties that come with the pursuit of higher education.
11/16 ‘St. Elmo’s Fire’ (1985)
10/16
St. Elmo’s Fire was released smack dab in the middle of the 1980’s, and is still one of the cultural artifacts that is most representative of its time. The movie’s elevator pitch is simple: seven best friends who all recently graduated from Georgetown University struggle with their transition into adulthood.
The events of the story center around the crew’s go-to college stomping ground, the titular St. Elmo’s bar. When the loaded cast, overflowing with 80s cinema royalty (Rob Lowe, Demi Moore, Emilio Estevez, Judd Nelson etc.) reconvenes at this nostalgic watering hole, a wave of unspoken attractions, deep-seated grudges, and revealing secrets start bubbling to the surface. The movie serves as an impeccable companion piece to The Breakfast Club, for its parallel themes and repeat casting of key performers.
9/16 ‘Reality Bites’ (1994)
This quintessentially Gen-X dramatic Rom-Com distills the notion of post-graduate crisis as succinctly as any movie out there. If there is one discernible lesson to be learned from Reality Bites, it is that in the prosaic landscape of modern capitalism, good intentions and even better grades, still just might end up landing you a job flipping burgers, at best.
The cast is composed of recognizably Gen-X actors like Ethan Hawke, Steve Zahn, Janeane Garofalo, and Ben Stiller (who also made his directorial debut behind the lens on this movie). Reality Bites is a movie that speaks for a generation, and it poses difficult questions about the nature of a worthwhile existence in the modern world, and admirably, mostly leaves the answers to these fundamental quandaries up to the interpretation of the audience.
8/16 ‘Neighbors’ (2014)
7/16
Neighbors is one of the more beloved original comedies of the last ten years. It portrays an epic conflict of increasingly petty hijinx that occur between a middle-aged couple with a newborn baby (Seth Rogen and Rose Byrne), and their next door neighbors, — a fraternity led by two seniors (Zack Efron and Dave Franco) who are determined to make the most of their last year of college.
The results of a post-college crisis are evident in Rogen’s character’s soul-crushing office job. But the crushing imminence of post-college life is even more pronounced in the relationship between fraternity leaders Teddy Sanders (Efron) and Pete Regazolli (Franco). It’s a gut busting comedy, and one of the few movies that both the long term aftermath of college life, and the unavoidable ending of it as well.
6/16 ‘Old School’ (2003)
5/16
The definitive college comedy of the 2000s, Old School is every middle-aged man’s last grasp at recreating the spirit of debauchery, mayhem, and comradery that defined their college years. The movie’s predicable premise – a group of middle-aged pals forming their own rogue fraternity on a college campus – is infinitely improved by the fantastic cast of comedic actors, including Vince Vaughn, Luke WIlson, and Will Ferrell in his indelible breakout role as Frank the Tank.
The movie captures the most extreme outcome of a group of old college pals deciding to over-correct the boring routine of their midlife crisis, to the point of madness. And for what its worth, that set-up results in more laugh-out-loud moments than almost any comedy of its ilk from the 2000s.
4/16 ‘The Graduate’ (1967)
Mike Nichols’ The Graduate is a deceptively dark, romantic satire of a generation of feckless middle-class post-grads and their largely incompetent parents. The Graduate qualifies as a movie about post-college crisis specifically because of its hilariously-biting portrayal of Ben (Dustin Hoffman) as a listless man-child who is utterly confused by the world and his place in it, now that he graduated from school.
Fellow audiences can relate to the feeling conjured by the movie’s iconic opening credit sequence, set to Simon and Garfunkel’s “The Sound of Silence,” which depicts a noticeably ambivalent Ben gilding his way through the halls of LAX. He morosely prepares himself to face his parents, knowing he has no job prospects, no clear ambitions, and no definite notion of himself. Hello darkness my old friend, indeed.
3/16 ‘The Big Chill’ (1983)
2/16
If Reality Bites is a generation wallowing in the throes of an extended post-graduation crisis, The Big Chill is a generation confronting an even larger existential reckoning, twenty years post-graduation. A group of college friends who all suffer a personal tragedy are brought back together for one weekend to party, gossip, and reminisce. Of course, the group inevitably begins to peel back the complicated web of friendship, infidelity, and unrequited love that their mutual bonds are built on.
The movie sports one of the most distinguished casts of all time, featuring a murders’ row of household name performers such as Kevin Cline, Glenn Close, William Hurt, Jeff Goldblum, and Tom Berenger among others. The Big Chill‘s cast, music, and overall vibe is synonymous with a specific generation. But its themes are eternal.
1/16 ‘Adventureland’ (2009)
When recent graduate James’ (Jesse Eisenberg) plans for a post-college trip to Europe fall through because of his parents plummeting finances, he is forced to find work at the local county fair in his hometown of Pittsburgh over the summer instead. While enduring this humiliating ordeal, James finds common ground with a group of fellow underachieving post-grad misfits, and builds a deep connection with co-worker and fellow Lou Reed obsessive Em (Kristen Stewart).
Adventurelandstrikes a deeper, sweeter chord than most “college comedies.” It distinctly captures the unique comradery that develops between a group young people who are all struggling with the same pitfalls of adult life.
Source link
More Stories
Trump admin DHS lawyer begs Minnesota judge to hold her in contempt so she can sleep – We Got This Covered
All 9 Seasons of OG ‘One Tree Hill’ Coming to Netflix Internationally
IRON LUNG May Be Painfully Empty and Completly Lost on Me, But Its Massive Success is Impressive as Hell — GeekTyrant