Coming of age movies touch on a subject that everyone can relate to: At some point in your life, you will question the person you are and begin trying to figure out who you should or want to be. Olivia Wilde’s directorial debut, Booksmart, is the latest movie in the genre to prove that axiom with honest, poignant, and hilarious results. It tells the story of two high schoolers, Amy and Molly (played by Kaitlyn Dever and Beanie Feldstein), who, with graduation approaching, wonder what their lives would have been like if they partied as hard as they had studied. They seek to find out by trying to attend the big end-of-the-year party hosted by the most popular guy in school. (You can read our review here.)

Just what exactly does it take for these movies to resonate with audiences? Here are five ingredients necessary to pull off a great coming-of-age movie.

1. Find A MacGuffin

MacGuffins in movies are like the Lost Ark, Thanos’ Infinity Stones, or the Rabbit’s Foot from Mission: Impossible 3. They’re objects or devices that the heroes are searching for in a way that pulls the trigger on the story. For coming-of-age films, MacGuffins serve a similar function but exactly what they are can vary.

In The Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants, the MacGuffin is, well, the pants. It’s what helped link the four main characters together, regardless of where they are. A MacGuffin can also be a tad morbid, such as Ray Brower (and his Keds) in Stand by Me. Movies like American Pie and Superbad, however, had the same MacGuffin: The loss of virginity before the end of high school.

Whether the object is physical or more figurative or abstract, for most movies’ protagonists, achieving or securing the MacGuffin ultimately reveals itself to be less important than the journey taken to do it. Especially the revelations learned and experiences unlocked along the way.

Friendships That Make Individuals A Better Person

With some exceptions — think Bo Burnham’s excellent Eighth Grade — most of the genre’s movies involve a group of friends to band together to achieve the goal. No one person’s journey is the same, and that’s why it’s important for films like Booksmart to have these types of friendships. Think Now and Then or Traveling Pants and its sequel. In Pants, four best friends bond over a pair of pants that somehow fit all of them. This one article of clothing sets these friends on a journey from Mexico, to Greece, and then to the Carolinas. It also sparks each individual character’s arc in a way that makes them a more complete person than when the movie started — a hallmark of the genre.

Life Lessons (Obvie)

High school has a way of making time feel like it’s simultaneously moving too fast and standing still. That frozen-in-amber feeling our golden years have on us while we can’t wait to grow up, capturing that on film — especially within this genre — leads to some of the best and most dramatic moments for both us and our characters.

The four friends in Stand By Me, for example, drifted apart after their search for the body — with only Gordie and Chris remaining somewhat close. In Superbad, the closing moments of the film has Seth going down the escalator with his crush, Jules, while Evan and the girl he likes, Becca, walk the other way. This scene symbolizes that for everyone life moves forward, but forward isn’t necessarily in the same direction together.

Learning How To Handle Emotional Conflict

In high school, as much as we wished everyone — no matter their looks or class or level of popularity — could be friends like we’re all part of the Federation of Planets, that wasn’t the case. Almost everyone falls into their niche, or gets pushed into one. For audiences to connect with kids in this genre of movie, it’s essential to make sure that these factions appear in some form. It’s also important for the movies to say something new and familiar about this experience in a way that helps both the characters and audience feel seen and heard.

While this is an essential ingredient, it’s also the hardest to perfect.

Conflict is a significant part of telling stories for the big screen, and in coming of age films, the common source of conflict usually comes from one of these groups or a member of them being the “villain.” (Think Mean Girls‘ Regina George.) Or take She’s All That; the popular group in this ’90s classic was made up of Zack (Freddie Prinze, Jr.), Taylor (Jodi Lyn O’Keefe), and Dean (Paul Walker). While Taylor and Dean are egomaniacs that think they are better than everyone else, Zack learns and grows as a person throughout the movie. Just because you are part of a particular group doesn’t mean you have to adhere to preconceived stereotypes about it, or that you have to stay there if you do.

Find That Balance Between Heartfelt And Funny

The best of these movies play out like being a teenager; there are ups and downs, comedy and drama (LOTS of drama). Mistakes are made, lessons are hopefully learned from them. And in between, a lot of struggle — which is just another way to say “potential growth” — occurs.

Falls and successes are challenges in real life and, in movies, they are also opportunities to identify pain points or problems that, if we cannot find a way to solve, we must invent. Superbad and American Pie are solid examples of this, despite their raunchy comedy labels. In American Pie, you crack up when Finch meets Stifler’s Mom, but you feel for Kevin and Vicky, the seemingly perfect couple, who turn out to be just the opposite. Knowing when to laugh and when to not is what makes for a great coming of age movie. This is especially true for ones that know how to laugh with, but never at, their characters.

Booksmart is in theaters now. Grab your tickets here.

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