Movies Like Perks of Being a Wallflower

Movies Like Perks of Being a Wallflower

Perks of Being a Wallflower is one of the best movies because it perfectly captures all the feelings of being...

Perks of Being a Wallflower is one of the best movies because it perfectly captures all the feelings of being...

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Perks of Being a Wallflower is one of the best movies because it perfectly captures all the feelings of being a teenager and dealing with new emotions for the first time. From falling in love, heartbreak, and dealing with mental health issues, it’s hard for many films to capture these feelings without being cheesy or inaccurate. 

This film brings out all the feelings you may have or may not have experienced when in high school or later in life. It makes a great film to watch by yourself or for a movie night with friends. We all have those movies we could watch over and over again, but sometimes it’s nice to switch it up with similar movies

If you’re a fan of Perks of Being a Wallflower but want to watch something different, you’re in luck. There’s plenty of fantastic films available that will remind you of this popular movie in all the best ways.

Here are 20 of the best movies like Perks of Being a Wallflower:

Paper Towns

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Initially, a stellar book by John Green, Paper Towns, was released to the world in 2015. The movie depicts a young and rather shy Quentin, played by Nat Wolff, embarking on a night of mischief with one of the most popular girls in school, Margo, played by Cara Delevingne.

The shy guy and popular girl set out to play pranks on all the friends who betrayed Margo. After living the night of his life, Margo is nowhere to be found the following day. Quentin and his friends set out to find the mysterious Margo based on clues she left. It’s a beautiful movie showcasing the power of genuine human connection and first loves. 

The Fault in Our Stars

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The Fault in Our Stars was released in 2014, and it’s a tear-jerker. At the request of her parents, 16-year-old Hazel attends a cancer patient support group. While she originally only goes to please her parents, she meets Augustus, another teenage cancer patient. They form an incredible bond and end up falling in love.

The movie chronicles their teenaged love story while depicting the real-world challenges of cancer. This film combines everything you love about teenage movies: love, friendship, and the raw emotions of realizing that sometimes your first love may not last forever. 

10 Things I Hate About You

10 Things I Hate About You is a classic film that seems like a cheesy teen movie, but the themes embrace everything that we love about movies like this. There are fantastic jokes, true love, and friendship all rolled into one movie for the ages. The new kid Cameron is infatuated with Bianca and would love nothing more than to date her.

Unfortunately, Bianca’s dad won’t let her date unless her sister, Kat, dates someone too. Cameron sets out to get resident bad boy Patrick to date Kat so he can have a shot with Bianca. This modern adaptation of Shakespeare’s, Taming of the Shrew showcases the challenges of dating in high school and navigating true love. 

Juno 

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At the time of its release in 2007, Juno was a unique story that many filmmakers would’ve shied away from creating. When high school student, Juno, realizes she’s pregnant, she’s faced with the challenging decision of what to do about the baby. Instead of keeping the baby or getting an abortion, she chooses adoption.

Thinking she already made the most difficult decision by choosing adoption, she soon finds herself challenged when she figures out what the family is actually like that she chose. The movie depicts the challenges that teens face when pregnant and the adult decisions they end up having to make. 

Silver Linings Playbook

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Silver Linings Playbook is a little different but still a great film for those who love Perks of Being a Wallflower. This movie focuses on adults instead of following teenagers, but many of the same themes in Perks of Being a Wallflower are present in Silver Linings Playbook. Pat is an adult who is recently released from a mental institution after learning to manage his bipolar disorder.

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He moves back in with his parents while he works on repairing his marriage and winning back his wife. While working on his marriage, Pat meets Tiffany, a young widow, who offers to help him if he’ll help her with something in exchange. The movie helps destigmatize mental illness, a key theme in Perks of Being a Wallflower. 

The Breakfast Club

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The Breakfast Club is an 80s classic and one that you’ll love if you enjoy Perks of Being a Wallflower. This influential film is a tribute to all the high schoolers who consider themselves or are considered by their peers to be loners. Whether you’re currently in high school or have long graduated, you’re sure to relate to at least one of the high school characters in this film.

The film follows the jock, future criminal, geek, rich girl, and more. It shows how high school affects everyone differently but similarly at the same time. As the movie progresses, you’ll see character development that shows just how high school helps mold us into who we are based on how these characters change by the end of the movie. 

It’s Kind of a Funny Story

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It’s Kind of a Funny Story is a unique take on the stress of high school that kids can feel. Craig, a 16-year-old overachiever, has what is depicted as a regular childhood other than his battle with depression and stress. These mental health battles only escalate when he enrolls into a Professional High school where he’s expected to be great.

After contemplating suicide, he checks into a mental health clinic. Since the youth wing is closed, he’s with adults and one other teenager, Noelle. Noelle and Craig share a bond from their mental health issues and maybe the one thing the other needs. While the themes in this film are dark, they depict the seriousness of mental health issues and show that it’s okay to admit you need help. 

LOL

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LOL is a film starting none other than Miley Cyrus. Miley plays your typical high school teenager, Lola. Lola has overprotective parents and is living in a day and age where all teenagers are connected through Twitter, Facebook, and other forms of social media. After going through a breakup with whom she assumed was the love of her life, Lola is distraught and lost.

Her world is flipped upside down as she tries to navigate her feelings surrounding the breakup and the fact that her best friend may be the love of her life after all. It has all your favorite themes of other teen movies like friendship and romance, and that what may feel like the end of the world at the time is just an obstacle you need to overcome. 

Love, Simon

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Love, Simon is a teenage love story for the ages. This modern high school movie follows Simon, your typical high school senior who is keeping a major secret from his friends and family. As far as high school goes, he’s led an average life. He has great friends and a great family that are incredibly supportive.

Simon is hiding that he’s gay, even though he believes his family will accept him. The one thing holding him back is how his peers would feel. There’s only one other openly gay classmate in his school, and the movie follows Simon’s love story with an anonymous classmate who is also struggling to come out. The movie follows Simon as he manipulates his friend’s love lives in an attempt to keep his secret and the challenges that come along with that. 

Booksmart

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Booksmart is a comedy that follows two overachieving high school seniors, Amy and Molly. Throughout their academic careers, they believed that studying hard and hardly having what their peers would consider fun would give them a leg up and get them into the colleges of their dreams. While they both did get into college, the duo realizes how much they missed out on while studying hard on the eve of their high school graduation.

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The two then plan on cramming four years’ worth of high school fun into one night, and the adventure is truly life-changing and hilarious. The film shows that while studying in high school is important, enjoying your time is just as important, so you have no regrets. 

The Edge of Seventeen

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The Edge of Seventeen is a great coming-of-age story that’s worth a watch. This film follows Nadine as she navigates high school when her world seems to be falling apart. Some may consider Nadine a loner or outcast, but when she meets Krista, everything seems to start making sense.

Their strong friendship makes Nadine feel like everything will be okay. That is until Krista starts dating her older brother. Nadine and Krista end their friendship which leaves Nadine navigating everything on her own again. This unique film shows how friendships can have an effect on people and that while challenges may arise, everything always turns out okay in the end. 

The Duff

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As with most teen movies, there’s always the popular kids and the less than popular kids. The Duff showcases a funny and witty film about the “sidekick” characters that are the heart and soul of most teen movies. The Duff, also known as the Designated Ugly Fat Friend, is a friend who isn’t as good-looking or intelligent enough to have their own clique in high school.

This movie follows Bianca, the Duff since her two best friends are much more popular than she is. Being tired of being the Duff, Bianca embarks on a journey to reinvent herself for her senior year with the help of a popular jock. The central theme in this movie is self-acceptance. Which many have struggled with in high school or at some point in their life. 

The Art of Getting By

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Similar to Perks of Being a Wallflower, The Art of Getting By shows a popular girl and a slacker boy forming a friendship. George hates homework and would rather focus on his artwork, but his hatred for homework may cause him not to graduate. Sally, a beautiful and popular girl, manages to hide how miserable she actually is through her positive attitude and popularity.

These two seemingly different people form a friendship that showcases that just because you’re in another clique doesn’t mean you don’t have things in common with someone. Even though George cannot stand homework, throughout the film, you’ll see him find a way to push through so he can achieve his artist dreams. It’s a great film that proves there’s more to life than just high school, and real-life doesn’t even begin until after graduation. 

Keith

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Released in 2008, Keith is a film all about falling in love in high school. Natalie seems to have it all. She has a scholarship to college, she’s the editor of the yearbook, and is overall a popular girl. When the shy and secretive Keith enters her life, he pulls her from her comfort zone, allowing her to explore a different side of herself.

Keith is very closed off, and the more he doesn’t share, the more Natalie wants to know. The pair are drawn to each other, and as they fall, their world unravels. This powerful love story is one that resembles the strong bonds in Perks of Being a Wallflower. 

The Spectacular Now

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The Spectacular Now brings together two seemingly different high school students, similar to other movies about high school. Sutter is the life of the party and loves to live in the now. He’s perfectly content living in the present and doesn’t have any plans for the future. Aimee is quite the opposite.

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This quiet overachiever has big plans for her future. When Sutter wakes up after a long night of partying in Aimee’s yard, the two opposites end up falling for one another as they navigate their very different lives. 

A Walk to Remember

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Landon and Jaime are two high school students that don’t exactly get along. After a prank gone wrong, Landon has to participate in more school activities, one of which involves joining the school play alongside Jaime. Jaime reluctantly helps Landon with his lines, and throughout their time together, Landon falls for the local minister’s daughter, Jaime.

Previously Landon and his friends made fun of Jaime, but now he’s on a mission to make her his. As they begin dating, Landon tries to make plans for their future when Jaime informs him she has cancer. Besides all the trials of high school, the couple must navigate their relationship with an illness no one should have to deal with. 

Dream Boy

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The majority of teen movies that focus on high school follow some form of a romantic relationship and the challenges they face. Dream Boy is a heartfelt movie that follows the story of two boys, Nathan and Roy, who fall in love. The challenge is that they’re a gay couple in the rural South in the 1970s.

This was a time where being gay wasn’t always accepted, at least not in the South. The movie follows the boys as they navigate their relationship while trying to keep themselves safe. It showcases the challenges that any average high school student would face with added challenges of homophobia. 

My Mad Fat Diary

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My Mad Fat Diary focuses on mental health issues while finding a way to keep things light but without diminishing the importance of talking about these issues. The story follows 16-year-old Rae, who just left a mental health hospital after four months away.

Rae starts to reconnect with Chloe, her best friend, who has no clue about Rae’s struggles with her body image and mental health. Rae fights to keep this from Chloe while she begins to befriend Chloe’s other friends. It’s a great movie to show how important it is to share your mental health with people you’re comfortable with and not to stigmatize mental health issues. 

If I Stay

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If you’ve ever been in love in high school, you may be all too familiar with the choice to follow your dreams or follow your significant other. That’s what Mia faces in If I Stay. She has to choose between her dream of studying at Juilliard or following her boyfriend Adam as he pursues his dream of being a Rockstar.

Following a terrible car wreck, Mia is suspended in time and must face a tough decision about the path she wants to take.

Words on Bathroom Walls

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Words on Bathroom Walls is a brilliant film that focuses on destigmatizing mental illness. When senior Adam suffers a psychotic break, he’s diagnosed with schizophrenia. Adam is embarrassed about his diagnosis and does everything to keep it private.

When he meets Maya, he goes off his new medication despite his mother’s wishes. He keeps his secret from Maya for as long as possible, but Maya encourages him to be him, despite his diagnosis. Words on Bathroom Walls helps to destigmatize mental illness and how important it is to manage the disease while not letting it control you. 

Conclusion

Perks of Being a Wallflower is an iconic movie with wonderful themes. Luckily, there are plenty of other fantastic films out there that you’re sure to love if you like that movie. 

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