The best all-girl coming-of-age movies, rated by cry factor

This movie, about a (you guessed it) 13-year-old, is basically every parent’s nightmare. It follows Tracy, a middle school girl who befriends a troubled classmate and gets into… everything. It’s an indie flick of the very dark variety, and captures the much more serious side of adolescent experimenting. If your childhood was a happy one, Thirteen was probably interesting, but if it wasn’t, it’s most definitely a trigger. —Seija Rankin

Cry Factor: 😭😭

Greta Gerwig’s coming-of-age dramedy perfectly taps into the highs and lows that come with desperately wanting to find oneself, being on the brink of young adulthood, and the complicated beauty of the mother-daughter relationship. Whether it’s the separation anxiety she gets from leaving her friends as they go away to college, or her desire to come to life creatively in a romanticized version of the East Coast, the film feels like an honest snapshot of one of the most exhilarating and terrifying moments in a young woman’s life. —Aja Hoggatt

Cry Factor: 😭😭😭

The hyper-specific locale of the Los Angeles suburb Baldwin Hills, a.k.a the Black Beverly Hills, adds an extra layer of authenticity by highlighting a real neighborhood that is home to black prosperity — something rarely depicted onscreen. With that backdrop, the film is able to be, simply, a girl-next-door love story between two basketball players who pursue their dreams and each other from childhood to adulthood. Watching their love story play out is at times angsty, at times heartbreaking, and altogether inevitable.  — Aja Hoggatt

Cry Factor: 😭

If you went to a slumber party between the years of 1995 and 2005, chances are this movie informed the night’s activities (#seance). Before women sat around at brunch debating who was a Samantha or a Miranda, they were girls who were a Chrissy, a Teeny, a Sam or a Roberta. It’s a kids’ movie, but the characters tackle all sorts of adult (and tragic) topics. —Seija Rankin

Cry Factor: 😭😭😭

This movie is about Vada, the daughter of a widowed funeral director (who also happens to have hypochondria), who faces all the struggles of growing up (a first crush, a first period). But the movie’s central tragedy is all about Thomas J. We won’t spoil anything in case there is anyone left in the world who doesn’t know the ending, but trust that tears will be shed. — Seija Rankin

Cry Factor: 😭😭😭😭

Parts of John Hughes’ comedy classic haven’t aged well — looking at you, Long Duk Dong — but the story of Sam Baker (Molly Ringwald) and her forgotten birthday stands as one of the director’s most iconic coming-of-age tales. Being a teenage girl means feeling invisible and, more often than not, like you’re the only sane person in a crazy world — a feeling that Sixteen Candles captures perfectly. It’s more slapstick comedy than emotional cryfest, but Samantha’s heart-to-heart with her dad about unrequited love is one of the most touching, realistic father-daughter scenes in film history. —Devan Coggan.

Cry Factor: 😭😭

The sorry tale of the Lisbon sisters is the ultimate in teenage tragedy. Sofia Coppola masterfully adapted Jeffrey Eugenides’ novel, which follows the five sisters as they struggle to find themselves among suffocating parents, new relationships, and the stifling expectations of ‘70s suburbia. —Devan Coggan

Cry Factor: 😭😭😭😭

Juno introduced us not only to Diablo Cody and the world’s hippest soundtrack, but also a character who was tough, funny, and vulnerable all at once. While people may remember the movie more for its quirky teen dialogue than its emotional impact, don’t tell us you didn’t tear up seeing the note Juno left for Jennifer Garner’s character framed above the crib. —Dana Schwartz

Cry factor: 😭😭

The year is 1973, the setting is Bedford-Stuyvesant, Brooklyn, and our hero is a 9-year-old girl named Troy. This Spike Lee joint depicts not only the life of its main character but the vibe of an entire neighborhood, tragedies and joys combined. The Carmichael family’s fate takes a turn, but the perfectly-chosen soundtrack and sets keep things from getting too dark. —Seija Rankin

Cry Factor: 😭😭 

Kelly Fremon Craig’s dark comedy is one of the most realistic depictions of what it’s like to grow up as a 21st-century high schooler. Hailee Steinfeld imbues the teenage outcast Nadine with a sardonic spikiness, whether she’s trading insults with a teacher (Woody Harrelson) or talking graphically about sex. But underneath all that sarcasm is a squishy heart, as Nadine learns to come to terms with her insecurities. —Devan Coggan

Cry Factor: 😭

A pair of magical pants that deepens the bond between a group of four best friends? That’s exactly what you get when you watch this coming-of-age drama. The personalities and struggles of each girl, Carmen (America Ferrera), Bridget (Blake Lively), Lena (Alexis Bledel), and Tibby (Amber Tamblyn), could not be more different, but there is not a single one that doesn’t connect with the audience. Watching Bridget loose her virginity prematurely or Lena break down her walls and experience first love, there is a subtle honesty that is rarely seen in a studio film featuring a cast of teenage girls. Carmen’s relationship with her father is more complicated than most as the two figure out how to exist in each other’s lives after time apart and new additions to the fragile family. The audience can truly feel her anger and frustration and later acceptance of this new dynamic, while Tibby learns about true loss. Whereas some films attempt to give viewers one dimensional, drastically different women in hopes you will be able to relate to one, viewers can sympathize with parts of each character in Sisterhood. —Aja Hoggatt

Cry Factor: 😭

Lara Jean is a wallflower type who just so happens to have it bad for her older sister’s boyfriend. She’s written secret letters to him to declare her feelings, and her younger sister takes things into her own hands and (gulp) sends them. This movie is about high school crushes on the surface but delves into the pain of young love that we all know too well. —Seija Rankin

Cry Factor: 😭