#1. Go (2001)

Storyline: Sugihara (Yôsuke Kubozuka) feels more like a misfit than most high school students, being the son of a Japanese mother (Shinobu Ôtake) and a North Korean father (Tsutomu Yamazaki). Changing schools does not help much, as he is simply taunted by a different group of kids. Fortunately, his father has given him boxing lessons to keep the bullies at bay. When Sugihara falls for the popular Sakurai (Kou Shibasaki) and she seems interested in him, he sees the possibility of being accepted.

Plot Keywords: high-school student, mother, father, teen girl, teen boy, north korean, frenetic ...

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#2. Undefeated (2011)

Storyline: A documentary that follows the Manassas Tigers football team, a severely underfunded and underprivileged football team -- who were even hired out as a practice team for more successful schools -- as they reverse their fortunes, thanks to coach Bill Courtney.—Kevin Jagernauth

Plot Keywords: football coach, football player, high-school student, inspiring, intense, heartwarming, memphis, tenn. ...

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#4. Wild Boys of the Road (1933)

Storyline: At the bottom of the depression, Tom's mother has been out of work for months when Ed's father loses his job. Not to burden their parents, the two high school sophomores decide to hop the freights and look for work. Wherever they go, there are many other kids just like them, so Tom, Ed and now Sally stick together. They camp in places like 'Sewer City' as long as they can until the local authorities run them off. They travel all over the mid west and when they get to New York, Ed thinks that they may finally find work.—Tony Fontana <tony.fontana@spacebbs.com>

Plot Keywords: teen boy, high-school student, police officer, teen girl, aunt, gritty, dark ...

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#5. The Hate U Give (2018)

Storyline: Starr Carter is constantly switching between two worlds: the poor, mostly black, neighborhood where she lives and the rich, mostly white, prep school she attends. The uneasy balance between these worlds is shattered when Starr witnesses the fatal shooting of her childhood best friend Khalil at the hands of a police officer. Now, facing pressures from all sides of the community, Starr must find her voice and stand up for what's right.

Plot Keywords: teen girl, teen boy, neighbor, high-school student, friend, police officer, uneasy ...

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#6. Lady Bird (2017)

Storyline: Christine "Lady Bird" MacPherson is a high school senior from the "wrong side of the tracks." She longs for adventure, sophistication, and opportunity, but finds none of that in her Sacramento Catholic high school. LADY BIRD follows the title character's senior year in high school, including her first romance, her participation in the school play, and most importantly, her applying for college.

Plot Keywords: mother, daughter, teenager, high-school student, best friend, teacher, father ...

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#7. The Selfish Giant (2013)

Storyline: An official selection at the Cannes Film Festival, The Selfish Giant is a contemporary fable about 13 year old Arbor (Conner Chapman) and his best friend Swifty (Shaun Thomas). Excluded from school and outsiders in their own neighborhood, the two boys meet Kitten (Sean Gilder), a local scrap dealer. Wandering their town with just a horse and a cart, they begin collecting scrap metal for him. Swifty has a natural gift with horses while Arbor emulates Kitten - keen to impress him and make some money. However, Kitten favors Swifty, leaving Arbor feeling hurt and excluded, driving a wedge between the boys. As Arbor becomes increasingly greedy and exploitative, tensions build, leading to a tragic event that transforms them all.

Plot Keywords: friend, teenager, high-school student, bleak, cheeky, confident, crafty ...

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#8. Speak (2004)

Storyline: In the book Speak, by Laurie Halse Anderson, Melinda Sordino is forced into the worst year of her life. Her best friend, Rachel Bruin, has turned against her with all other of Melinda's fellow students looking away; not daring to take a single glance at Melinda. All because of one stupid end-of-summer party.

Plot Keywords: freshman, mother, old friend, father, high-school student, art teacher, solemn ...

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#9. The Basketball Diaries (1995)

Storyline: Film adaptation of street tough Jim Carroll's epistle about his kaleidoscopic free fall into the harrowing world of drug addiction. As a member of a seemingly unbeatable high school basketball squad, Jim's life centers around the basketball court and the court becomes a metaphor for the world in his mind. A best friend who is dying of leukemia, a coach ("Swifty") who takes unacceptable liberties with the boys on his team, teenage sexual angst, and an unhealthy appetite for heroin -- all of these begin to encroach on young Jim's dream of becoming a basketball star. Soon, the dark streets of New York become a refuge from his mother's mounting concern for her son. He can't go home and his only escape from the reality of the streets is heroin for which he steals, robs and prostitutes himself. Only with the help of Reggie, an older neighborhood friend with whom Jim "picked up a game" now and then, is he able to begin the long journey back to sanity.

Plot Keywords: high-school student, basketball coach, drug addict, concerned mother, priest, teammate, dark ...

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#10. American Wrestler: The Wizard (2016)

Storyline: In this inspiring tale based on true events, 17-year-old Ali Jahani is a newcomer to a small California town, where he stands out as different in an unwelcoming community. Living with his embittered uncle, the boy faces a mountain of adversity everywhere he turns. Rejected by everyone but determined to fit in, he joins the school's floundering wrestling team. With a chance to change how others see him, Ali must step up and learn to be a hero.—Warner Bros. Home Entertainment

Plot Keywords: high-school student, wrestler, hero, school principal, team member, coach, emotional ...

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#11. Friday Night Lights (2004)

Storyline: Odessa, Texas, is a small, town in Texas. Racially divided and economically dying, there is one night that gives the town something to live for: Friday Night. The Permian Panthers have a big winning tradition in Texas high school football, led by QB Mike Winchell and superstar tailback Boobie Miles, but all is not well, as Boobie suffers a career-ending injury in the first game of the season. Hope is lost among citizens in Odessa, and for the team, but Coach Gary Gaines, who believes that "Perfection is being able to look your friends in the eye and know you did everything you could not to let them down", is somehow able to help the team rise up from the ashes and make a huge season comeback. Now on their way to state, the Panthers must go out and be perfect, because they may never matter this much for the rest of their lives.

Plot Keywords: coach, football player, townsperson, girlfriend, quarterback, high-school student, emotional ...

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#12. Fast Times at Ridgemont High (1982)

Storyline: Follows a group of high school students growing up in southern California, based on the real-life adventures chronicled by Cameron Crowe. Stacy Hamilton and Mark Ratner are looking for a love interest, and are helped along by their older classmates, Linda Barrett and Mike Damone, respectively. The center of the film is held by Jeff Spicoli, a perpetually stoned surfer dude who faces off with the resolute Mr. Hand, who is convinced that everyone is on dope.

Plot Keywords: high-school student, teen boy, teen girl, brother, surfer, teacher, amusing ...

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#13. 21 Jump Street (2012)

Storyline: In high school, Schmidt (Jonah Hill) was a dork and Jenko (Channing Tatum) was the popular jock. After graduation, both of them joined the police force and ended up as partners riding bicycles in the city park. Since they are young and look like high school students, they are assigned to an undercover unit to infiltrate a drug ring that is supplying high school students synthetic drugs.

Plot Keywords: undercover cop, police detective, high-school student, teacher, drug dealer, police captain, hilarious ...

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#14. Dope (2015)

Storyline: A coming of age comedy/drama for the post hip hop generation. Malcolm is a geek, carefully surviving life in The Bottoms, a tough neighborhood in Inglewood, CA filled with gangsters and drug dealers, while juggling his senior year of college applications, interviews and the SAT. His dream is to attend Harvard. A chance invitation to a big underground party leads Malcolm and his friends into an "only in Los Angeles" gritty adventure filled with offbeat characters and bad choices. If Malcolm can persevere, he'll go from being a geek, to being dope, to ultimately being himself.

Plot Keywords: high-school student, best friend, drug dealer, punk, criminal, brash, thrilling ...

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#15. Home Room (2003)

Storyline: The aftermath of a high school shooting leaves Deanna Cartwright seriously wounded and nine others dead, including the perpetrator. Det. Martin Van Zandt is assigned the unenviable task of investigating the crime and finding someone to hold responsible. His attention settles on Alicia Browning, a darkly troubled outsider who, as the only person present throughout the entire incident, is both the key witness and a possible suspect. Further complicating her isolated existence, Alicia's high school principal compels her to pay a reluctant visit on the still-hospitalized Deanna. Privileged and popular, Deanna differs dramatically from the alienated Alicia. Yet, beneath an upbeat appearance, she is struggling desperately with the emotional and physical scars left by the attack. Over the next few days, united by nothing more than their common suffering, the two young women form an unlikely friendship to cope with the tragic events that threaten to overwhelm them.—Anonymous

Plot Keywords: high-school student, teen girl, murderer, police officer, murder suspect, friend, emotional ...

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