Highest-Rated Movies about 'Troubled Teen'

Stand by Me (1986), Short Term 12 (2013), Donnie Darko (2001), The Breakfast Club (1985), Ordinary People (1980), The Edge of Seventeen (2016), Pump Up the Volume (1990), The United States of Leland (2003) ... Let's take a look at the ranked list of the best Troubled Teen movies.

#1. Stand by Me (1986)

Storyline: It's the summer of 1959 in Castlerock, Oregon and four 12 year-old boys - Gordie, Chris, Teddy and Vern - are fast friends. After learning of the general location of the body of a local boy who has been missing for several days, they set off into woods to see it. Along the way, they learn about themselves, the meaning of friendship and the need to stand up for what is right.

Plot Keywords: friendship, childhood, treehouse, teenage boy, based on the works of stephen king, friendship between boys, no opening credits ...

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#2. Short Term 12 (2013)

Storyline: At a foster-care facility for at-risk teenagers, Grace is a young counselor trying to do her best for kids who often have been pulled from the worst kinds of home situations. Even then, life is not easy as Grace and her colleagues care for kids who are too often profoundly scarred, even as they try to have lives of their own. Now, things are coming to a head as Grace readies for marriage even as some her charges are coming to major turning points in their lives. To cope, Grace will have to make difficult perceptions and decisions that could put her career, and more importantly her charges, at dire risk.

Plot Keywords: strong female character, child abuse, incest, suicide attempt, self harm, teenager, based on short film ...

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#3. Donnie Darko (2001)

Storyline: Donnie Darko doesn't get along too well with his family, his teachers, and his classmates; but he does manage to find a sympathetic friend in Gretchen, who agrees to date him. He has a compassionate psychiatrist, who discovers hypnosis is the means to unlock hidden secrets. His other companion may not be a true ally. Donnie has a friend named Frank, a large bunny which only Donnie can see. When an engine falls off a plane and destroys his bedroom, Donnie is not there. Both the event, and Donnie's escape, seem to have been caused by supernatural events. Donnie's mental illness, if such it is, may never allow him to find out for sure.

Plot Keywords: surrealism, parallel universe, time travel, masturbation, schizophrenia, psychology, child pornography ...

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#4. The Breakfast Club (1985)

Storyline: Beyond being in the same class at Shermer High School in Shermer, Illinois, Claire Standish, Andrew Clark, John Bender, Brian Johnson and Allison Reynolds have little in common, and with the exception of Claire and Andrew, do not associate with each other in school. In the simplest and in their own terms, Claire is a princess, Andrew an athlete, John a criminal, Brian a brain, and Allison a basket case. But one other thing they do have in common is a nine hour detention in the school library together on Saturday, March 24, 1984, under the direction of Mr. Vernon, supervising from his office across the hall. Each is required to write a minimum one thousand word essay during that time about who they think they are. At the beginning of those nine hours, each, if they were indeed planning on writing that essay, would probably write something close to what the world sees of them, and what they have been brainwashed into believing of themselves. But based on their adventures during that ...

Plot Keywords: high school, teenage angst, geek, teenage girl, chicago illinois, teenage rebellion, 1980s ...

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#5. Ordinary People (1980)

Storyline: Beth, Calvin, and their son Conrad are living in the aftermath of the death of the other son. Conrad is overcome by grief and misplaced guilt to the extent of a suicide attempt. He is in therapy. Beth had always preferred his brother and is having difficulty being supportive to Conrad. Calvin is trapped between the two trying to hold the family together.

Plot Keywords: psychiatrist, mother son relationship, based on novel, father son relationship, psychoanalysis, dysfunctional family, family crisis ...

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#6. The Edge of Seventeen (2016)

Storyline: Everyone knows that growing up is hard, and life is no easier for high school junior Nadine (Hailee Steinfeld), who is already at peak awkwardness when her all-star older brother Darian (Blake Jenner) starts dating her best friend Krista (Haley Lu Richardson). All at once, Nadine feels more alone than ever, until the unexpected friendship of a thoughtful boy (Hayden Szeto) gives her a glimmer of hope that things just might not be so terrible after all.

Plot Keywords: coming of age film, adolescence, black pantyhose, pantyhose, high school, interrupted sex, title directed by female ...

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#7. Pump Up the Volume (1990)

Storyline: Mark is an intelligent but shy teenager who has just moved to Arizona from the East Coast. His parents give him a short-wave radio so he can talk to his pals, but instead he sets up shop as pirate deejay Hard Harry, who becomes a hero to his peers while inspiring the wrath of the local high school principal. When one of Harry's listeners commits suicide, inspired chaos breaks out at the school and the authorities are called in to put a stop to Harry's broadcasts.

Plot Keywords: radio, freedom, freedom of speech, dual identity, depression, defiance, cult film ...

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#8. The United States of Leland (2003)

Storyline: As a detached kid spends time in juvenile hall for the unspeakable murder of a special needs kid, a writer and the people around him try to comprehend and cope with his reasoning for commiting this murder from the writings in a classroom book from his juvenile class, where he tries to let people know "the why".

Plot Keywords: california, teenage boy, teenage girl, student, teacher student relationship, fight, kicking ...

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#9. Chronicle (2012)

Storyline: The shy, lonely and outcast teenager Andrew Detmer is bullied and has no friends at high-school and lives with his abusive and alcoholic father Richard Detmer and his terminally ill mother Karen. Andrew buys a camera to film his everyday life. His cousin Matt Garetty drives him to school and invites Andrew to go to a party at night. Nearby they find a tunnel and suddenly acquire telekinetic abilities and Andrew becomes the most powerful. But he easily loses his temper and becomes dangerous while Matt tries to control him. When his mother needs a medicine and Andrew does not have enough money to buy it, his darker side overwhelms him and he becomes a menace.

Plot Keywords: troubled teen, found footage, teen angst, telekinesis, supernatural power, video camera, levitation ...

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#10. Charlie Bartlett (2007)

Storyline: Although cheerful, friendly, intelligent, well-dressed, authentic and wealthy, Charlie Bartlett has problems. With his father gone and his mother loopy and clueless, he's been expelled from every private school for his victimless crimes. Now he's in a public school getting punched out daily by the school thug. He ever longs to be popular - the go-to guy - and the true crux of his troubles is that he invariably finds the means to this end, whatever that might be. At Western Summit High, he makes peace with his tormentor by going into business with him - listening to kids' problems and selling them prescription drugs. Charlie's a hit, but attraction to Susan (daughter of the school's laissez-faire principal), new security cameras on campus, a student's overdose, and Charlie's open world view all converge to get him in serious trouble. Can this self-made physician possibly heal himself and just be a kid?

Plot Keywords: jail, lollipop, brushing teeth, mirror, policeman, audition, petition ...

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#11. Boy Wonder (2010)

Storyline: A young Brooklyn boy witnesses the brutal murder of his mother and grows up obsessed with finding her killer. Thus begins his life as a quiet, straight-A student by day and a self-appointed hero at night. But what is a real hero? And who decides what is right or wrong? As the boundaries blur, Sean's dual life wears on his psyche and his two worlds careen dangerously close to colliding. Like a graphic novel you can't put down, Boy Wonder challenges morality, distorting perceptions of what is right and what is justified, as it races to its shocking conclusion.—Michael Morissey

Plot Keywords: subway, punching bag, witness protection, hoodie, gun, child abuse, violence ...

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#12. Marvin's Room (1996)

Storyline: Estranged since their father's first stroke some 17 years earlier, Lee and Bessie lead separate lives in separate states. Lee's son, Hank, finds himself committed to a mental institution after setting fire to his mother's house. His younger brother, Charlie, seems unfazed by his brother's eccentricities or his mother's seeming disinterest. When Lee comes to the asylum to spring Hank for a week in Florida so that he can be tested as a possible bone marrow donor for Bessie, Hank is incredulous. "I didn't even know you had a sister," he says. "Remember, every Christmas, when I used to say 'Well, looks like Aunt Bessie didn't send us a card again this year?'" "Oh yeah," Hank says. Meanwhile, Marvin, the two women's bedridden father, has "been dying for the past twenty years." "He's doing it real slow so I don't miss anything," Bessie tells Dr. Wally. In Bessie's regular doctor's absence, it has fallen to Dr. Wally to inform Bessie that she has leukemia and will die without a bone marrow ...

Plot Keywords: cigarette smoking, automobile, garage, haircut, kitchen, medicine, ohio ...

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#13. Louder Than Bombs (2015)

Storyline: An upcoming exhibition celebrating photographer Isabelle Reed three years after her untimely death, brings her eldest son Jonah back to the family house - forcing him to spend more time with his father Gene and withdrawn younger brother Conrad than he has in years. With the three of them under the same roof, Gene tries desperately to connect with his two sons, but they struggle to reconcile their feelings about the woman they remember so differently.

Plot Keywords: bare chested male, coming of age, absent mother, photojournalist, mother son relationship, flashback, depression ...

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#14. A Nightmare on Elm Street 3: Dream Warriors (1987)

Storyline: Picking up where the original Nightmare left off, Nancy has grown up and become a psychiatrist specializing in dream therapy. She meets a group of children at a local hospital facing Freddy Krueger, the same demon she once encountered in her sleep. One of them is Kristen, who has the power to draw other people into her dreams. Working with a male doctor assigned to the case, Nancy helps the kids realize their special abilities within the nightmare world. When Freddy captures one of her charges, she leads a rescue attempt into Krueger's domain, in hopes of putting his spirit to rest once and for all.

Plot Keywords: reference to edgar allan poe, corpse, dream within a dream, orderly, cut arm, nurse, slow motion scene ...

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#15. Friday the 13th (1980)

Storyline: One summer at Camp Crystal Lake, a group of young counselors begin to get ready to lead campers. Unfortunately, someone isn't happy about what's going on in the camp and enjoys playing Kill the Counselor. As bodies fall to the ground in the camp, no one is safe.

Plot Keywords: 1970s, surprise ending, mother, slasher, actual animal killed, bare chested male, machete ...

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