Highest-Rated Movies about 'High School Graduation'

The Last Picture Show (1971), The Perks of Being a Wallflower (2012), Imitation of Life (1959), The Blind Side (2009), Lady Bird (2017), Ghost World (2001), Say Anything... (1989), Spider-Man (2002) ... Let's take a look at the ranked list of the best High School Graduation movies.

#1. The Last Picture Show (1971)

Storyline: In tiny Anarene, Texas, in the lull between World War Two and the Korean Conflict, Sonny and Duane are best friends. Enduring that awkward period of life between boyhood and manhood, the two pass their time the best way they know how -- with the movie house, football, and girls. Jacy is Duane's steady, wanted by every boy in school, and she knows it. Her daddy is rich and her mom is good looking and loose. It's the general consensus that whoever wins Jacy's heart will be set for life. But Anarene is dying a quiet death as folks head for the big cities to make their livings and raise their kids. The boys are torn between a future somewhere out there beyond the borders of town or making do with their inheritance of a run-down pool hall and a decrepit movie house -- the legacy of their friend and mentor, Sam the Lion. As high school graduation approaches, they learn some difficult lessons about love, loneliness, and jealousy. Then folks stop attending the second-run features at the movie...

Plot Keywords: 1950s, texas, nostalgia, child molester, sexual awakening, small town, character's point of view camera shot ...

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#2. The Perks of Being a Wallflower (2012)

Storyline: Based on the novel written by Stephen Chbosky, this is about 15-year-old Charlie (Logan Lerman), an endearing and naive outsider, coping with first love (Emma Watson), the suicide of his best friend, and his own mental illness while struggling to find a group of people with whom he belongs. The introvert freshman is taken under the wings of two seniors, Sam and Patrick, who welcome him to the real world.

Plot Keywords: mental illness, coming of age, high school, gay, depression, first love, gay friend ...

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#3. Imitation of Life (1959)

Storyline: Aspiring actress Lora Meredith meets Annie Johnson, a homeless black woman at Coney Island and soon they share a tiny apartment. Each woman has an intolerable daughter, though, Annie's little girl Sarah Jane, is by far the worse. Neurotic and obnoxious, Sarah Jane doesn't like being black; since she's light-skinned (her father was practically white), she spends the rest of the film passing as white, much to her mother's heartache and shame. Lora, meanwhile, virtually ignores her own daughter in a single-minded quest for stardom.

Plot Keywords: african american, housekeeper, race relations, melodrama, ambition, adolescence, friendship between women ...

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#4. The Blind Side (2009)

Storyline: Based on the true story of Leigh Anne Tuohy and Sean Tuohy who take in a homeless teenage African-American, Michael Oher. Michael has no idea who his father is and his mother is a drug addict. Michael has had little formal education and few skills to help him learn. Leigh Anne soon takes charge however, as is her nature, ensuring that the young man has every opportunity to succeed. When he expresses an interest in football, she goes all out to help him, including giving the coach a few ideas on how best to use Michael's skills. They not only provide him with a loving home, but hire a tutor to help him improve his grades to the point where he would qualify for an NCAA Division I athletic scholarship. Michael Oher was the first-round pick of the Baltimore Ravens in the 2009 NFL draft.

Plot Keywords: american football, magical negro stereotype, based on true story, high school football, singing in a car, non violence, high school teacher ...

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#5. 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: f rated, mother daughter conflict, homosexual, coming of age, loss of virginity, prom, shorthaired woman ...

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#6. Ghost World (2001)

Storyline: Enid and Rebecca after they finish the high school. Both have problems relating to people and they spend their time hanging around and bothering creeps. When they meet Seymour who is a social outsider who loves to collect old 78 records, Enid's life will change forever.

Plot Keywords: older man young girl relationship, coming of age film, f rated, mini skirt, short skirt, based on comic book, socially awkward ...

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#7. Say Anything... (1989)

Storyline: High school senior Lloyd Dobler wants nothing more than to go out with beautiful and intelligent Diane Court. Lloyd attempts to win her heart over the objections of her over-protective father before Diane leaves for a scholarship in England.

Plot Keywords: teenager, father daughter relationship, self doubt, self discovery, martial arts, boyfriend girlfriend relationship, unrequited love ...

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#8. Spider-Man (2002)

Storyline: Based on Marvel Comics' superhero character, this is a story of Peter Parker who is a nerdy high-schooler. He was orphaned as a child, bullied by jocks, and can't confess his crush for his stunning neighborhood girl Mary Jane Watson. To say his life is "miserable" is an understatement. But one day while on an excursion to a laboratory a runaway radioactive spider bites him... and his life changes in a way no one could have imagined. Peter acquires a muscle-bound physique, clear vision, ability to cling to surfaces and crawl over walls, shooting webs from his wrist ... but the fun isn't going to last. An eccentric millionaire Norman Osborn administers a performance enhancing drug on himself and his maniacal alter ego Green Goblin emerges. Now Peter Parker has to become Spider-Man and take Green Goblin to the task... or else Goblin will kill him. They come face to face and the war begins in which only one of them will survive at the end.

Plot Keywords: superhero, marvel comics, teenage superhero, secret identity, impalement, super villain, split personality ...

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#10. Grease (1978)

Storyline: A musical about teens in love in the 50's! It's California 1959 and greaser Danny Zuko and Australian Sandy Olsson are in love. They spend time at the beach, and when they go back to school, what neither of them knows is that they both now attend Rydell High. Danny's the leader of the T-Birds, a group of black leather jacket-wearing greasers while Sandy hangs with the Pink Ladies, a group of pink-wearing girls led by Rizzo. When they clash at Rydell's first pep rally, Danny isn't the same Danny from the beach. They try to be like each other so they can be together.

Plot Keywords: cheerleader uniform, year 1959, boyfriend girlfriend relationship, cult film, high school, dance contest, premarital sex ...

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#11. 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: goth girl, murder, violence, argument, discussion, psychological trauma, traumatic experience ...

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#12. Peyton Place (1957)

Storyline: It's the pre-WWII era. Peyton Place is a small town in New England, whose leading adult citizens rule the town with their high moral standards, which they try to pass on to their offspring. The adults, especially those that wield power largely through their positions and/or through their wealth, will not tolerate anything they believe morally improper, even if there is a hint of impropriety without comprehensive evidence to back up the hints. As their offspring grow from teenagers to adults, the offspring learn that there is much hypocrisy by the adults lying underneath that façade of proper Christian morals. The offspring begin to rebel in different ways, which is brought to public scrutiny with the arrival into town of an "outsider", the new young high school principal Michael Rossi, and through a murder trial.—Huggo

Plot Keywords: mother son relationship, pregnancy, sexual repression, suicide by hanging, world war two, school dance, deception ...

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#13. The Spectacular Now (2013)

Storyline: Sutter Keely lives in the now. It's a good place for him. A high school senior, charming and self-possessed, he's the life of the party, loves his job at a men's clothing store, and has no plans for the future. A budding alcoholic, he's never far from his supersized, whiskey-fortified thirst-master cup. But after being dumped by his girlfriend, Sutter gets drunk and wakes up on a lawn with Aimee Finecky hovering over him. She's different: the "nice girl" who reads science fiction and doesn't have a boyfriend. While Aimee has dreams of a future, Sutter lives in the impressive delusion of a spectacular now, yet somehow, they're drawn together.

Plot Keywords: loss of virginity, bra, underage drinking, boyfriend girlfriend relationship, drinking, drunkenness, sex ...

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#15. The Hard Way (1942)

Storyline: Ambitious Helen Chernin (Ida Lupino) pushes her talented younger sister Katherine (Joan Leslie) into marriage with broken down song-and-dance man Albert Runkel (Jack Carson) so that the two women can leave the dirty steel town where they live. Runkel's partner Paul Collins (Dennis Morgan), however, sees through Helen's plan. Helen continues driving her sister's career and eventually Katherine becomes a star on Broadway, while Runkel and Collins' act flounders. Success soon goes to Katherine's head and she becomes a fast-living party girl. Time passes and Helen and Katherine run into Paul, now a successful band leader. He and Katherine soon fall in love. The two sisters eventually have a showdown on opening night of Katherine's latest show when Katherine discovers that Helen is also in love with Paul.—Daniel Bubbeo <dbubbeo@cmp.com>

Plot Keywords: theatrical producer, tennis, swimming, suicide, singer, show business, sailing ...

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