There are a lot of things one might have on their turning-30 bucket list. A bold new haircut. A reading marathon. An actual marathon. Needless to say there are plenty of ways to mark the occasion – but if we had to pick the most comforting and enjoyable way to spend out 20s, in anticipation of our 30s – it would be watching movies.
A good film lis like a mirror held up to ourselves – one that might teach us something about the times we live in, love, friendship, family and our own internal turmoil. The RUSSH editors thought long and hard about the movies that have shaped their own 20s experiences – films that either told us something about what we were experiencing in those years, or that might have pointed a way forward through the years to come. And so, please enjoy this deftly curated list of 30 films to watch before you’re 30, according to the RUSSH editors...
1. Before Sunrise (1995)
Richard Linklater turns a single night in Vienna between two strangers into something subtly philosophical, letting Ethan Hawke and Julie Delpy wander through conversations about love, time and chance in a way that feels borderless and unscripted.
2. Frances Ha (2013)
Frances Ha captures the strange grief of your twenties – the feeling of being emotionally ambitious but financially and romantically unmoored. And Greta Gerwig makes the chaos look oddly graceful.
3. Lady Bird (2017)
Speaking of Gerwig, her directorial debut Lady Bird understands that growing up is often just learning how deeply you’ve misunderstood your Mother, your hometown and yourself.
4. The Perks of Being a Wallflower (2012)
Played out like a handwritten diary passed between teenagers, Perks of Being a Wallflower so perfectly balances tenderness and trauma – and has dominated Tumblr feeds for more than a decade now.
5. La La Land (2016)
Beneath the saturated colours and jazz-soaked romance of La La Land sits a surprisingly adult idea: that love can be life-changing even when it doesn’t last.
6. Submarine (2010)
Submarine has the deadpan melancholy of an Arctic Monkeys song (and even has a soundtrack written and recorded by Alex Turner himself), turning adolescent self-importance into something both hilarious and painfully sincere. If you loved Rushmore or Harold and Maude – this sits in a similar emotional universe.
7. The Breakfast Club (1985)
A classic in every sense of the word. What makes The Breakfast Club endure is how quickly its high-school archetypes collapse into vulnerable, lonely people simply desperate to be understood. It also contains one of the best closing-scene needle drops in history: Don’t You (Forget About Me) by Simple Minds.
8. But I'm a Cheerleader (1999)
Weaponising candy-coloured camp to critique conformity, sexuality and gender expectations long before queer cinema became culturally mainstream – this film is finding a new following thanks to the love for Natasha Lyonne.
9. Her (2013)
Spike Jonze’s Her is a science fiction, yes, but it's more than that too. It's almost like an emotional prophecy, asking us whether technology is making us more connected or simply better at simulating intimacy.
10. 500 Days of Summer (2009)
A classic tale of unrequited love, 500 Days of Summer cleverly dismantles the manic-pixie-dream-girl fantasy by forcing its protagonist – and audience – to confront how projection masquerades as love.
11. Spirited Away (2001)
Hayao Miyazaki’s Oscar-winning Spirited Away moves with dream logic, creating a world so imaginative and spiritually textured it feels like stumbling into childhood fairytale.
12. Somewhere (2010)
One of Sofia Coppola's most underrated films, Somewhere turns celebrity emptiness into something almost hypnotic. The sweetest young Elle Fanning puts on a stellar performance too.
13. Little Women (2019)
Another rendition of Louisa May Alcott’s classic, this time by the inimitable Greta Gerwig. Alcott's observations about ambition, authorship and the economics of womanhood remains as sharp and as poignant as ever – especially when recited from the mouths of Saorise Ronan, Florence Pugh, Timothée Chalamet and Laura Dern.
14. La Chimera (2023)
Alice Rohrwacher’s La Chimera drifts between archaeology, grief and folklore. It stars Challengers leading man Josh O'Connor in an almost unrecognisable role.
15. Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind (2004)
Is heartbreak worth erasing? It's the question asked by Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind, which stars Kate Winslet and Jim Carrey at their very best. You might also find a similar feeling in Synecdoche, New York or Charlie Kaufman’s Antkind.
16. Blue Valentine (2010)
There’s nothing romanticised about Blue Valentine. Ryan Gosling and Michelle Williams chronicle the rise and fall of a marriage; one where love feels simultaneously intimate, exhausting and impossible to preserve against time.
17. Beautiful Boy (2018)
One of Chalamet's best roles is this – played against Steve Carrell in an adaptation of the life of journalist David Sheff and his son, Nic. It's devastating precisely mostly because it refuses easy redemption, instead portraying addiction as something that fractures entire families.
18. Thelma & Louise (1991)
Thelma & Louise transformed the road trip movie into a feminist act of rebellion, with Geena Davis and Susan Sarandon giving one of cinema’s great portraits of female friendship. Plus, there's a young Brad Pitt to admire too.
19. Past Lives (2023)
Celine Song's directorial debut Past Lives will linger with you like jet lag. Starring Greta Lee in one of her most defining roles – it's a meditation on destiny, migration and the versions of ourselves that exist in other people’s memories.
20. Party Girl (1995)
Daisy von Scherler Mayer’s Party Girl turns downtown New York into a glittering mess of club culture and self-reinvention. It's a not-talked-about enough fashion film, and one that should firmly live at the top of Parker Posey's résumé if you ask us.
21. Scott Pilgrim vs. The World (2010)
Scott Pilgrim vs. the World – despite being a comic book adaptation – perfectly captures the awkwardness of early adulthood. channels video games, indie sleaze and heartbreak into a hyperactive visual language that somehow still
22. Lost in Translation (2003)
Lost in Translation is about the intimacy of being emotionally displaced – a feeling that most of us can relate to in our 20s. It's also about the rare comfort of meeting someone who understands your loneliness.
23. Dazed & Confused (1993)
Dazed and Confused barely has a plot, but somehow that's exactly why it works. Richard Linklater recreates the drifting, euphoric feeling of one endless teenage summer night – and gives Matthew McConaughey his debut acting role and iconic line... Alright, alright, alright.
24. Fast Times at Ridgemont High (1982)
On the topic of adolescence on screen – Fast Times at Ridgemont High helped define the modern teen movie by treating adolescent mistakes, sex and insecurity with surprising honesty rather than moral panic. It was Cameron Crowe's debut film – one he wrote and directed when he was only 22 years old (and went undercover at Clairemont High School for research).
25. Almost Famous (2000)
Crowe’s magnum opus though has to be Almost Famous, a semi-autobiographical film that follows a teenage music journalist who is swept up into the world of 1970s rock'n'roll. Kate Hudson’s luminous performance as Penny Lane is a real highlight.
26. Big (1988)
Big remains one of Tom Hanks’ most charming performances because beneath its fantasy premise is a simple question about whether adulthood actually makes anyone wiser (a question you might begin to ask yourself as you approach 30 too).
27. The Worst Person In The World (2021)
Joachim Trier’s The Worst Person in the World captures the anxiety of modern adulthood with unusual compassion. It's already captured hearts in the few years since its release – and Renate Reinsve is a true star in the making.
28. Girl, Interrupted (1999)
Existing somewhere between coming-of-age story and institutional critique, Girl, Interrupted is a force of a film – and one elevated by Angelina Jolie’s Oscar-winning performance that’s equal parts magnetic and terrifying.
29. Little Miss Sunshine (2006)
The dysfunctional family at the centre of Little Miss Sunshine gradually reveal that failure can be oddly liberating. And honestly, that's a message that we need re-told to us yearly.
30. Amélie (2001)
Lastly, we'd be adding this French film gem to your list. Amélie turns Paris into a whimsical emotional playground, though beneath its visual charm is a quieter meditation on isolation, kindness and the courage required to participate in life.
Looking for more media recommendations from the RUSSH editors? Check out our list of 30 books to read before you're 30 too.
