Film

The Art of Getting By

A tender, melancholic romance about two teenage misfits in New York—one brilliant and paralysed by existential dread, the other popular but fracturing underneath. Understated and earnest, occasionally frustrating in its refusal to resolve things neatly. For people who loved *The Perks of Being a Wallflower* but want something quieter and stranger.

TMDb rating3.3

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The Perks of Being a Wallflower2012

Similar spirit of romantic melancholy and teenage alienation, with the same gift for capturing the bittersweet ache of belonging nowhere. Slightly more assured in its execution.

But It's become something of a cultural touchstone for a specific type of sensitive teen film. If you've already seen it, you know what you're getting.

The Perks of Being a Wallflower poster

The Spectacular Now2013

Two appealing leads with real chemistry, a romance that feels genuinely earned rather than imposed. Beautiful to look at and unafraid to linger on small moments.

But The plotting occasionally sacrifices character for neat story beats. Less willing to sit in discomfort than *The Art of Getting By*.

The Spectacular Now poster

Paper Towns2015

Another smart teen romance about chasing the wrong person, with that same New York location energy and the bittersweet realisation that people aren't what you imagine them to be.

But Adaptation work means it sometimes feels more like a plot checklist than lived experience. More earnest than cynical.

Paper Towns poster

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The wildcard

Something you would not have found on your own.

Boyhood2014

Both films are about time's actual texture rather than narrative propulsion. Neither hurries toward resolution. Both understand that adolescence is less a coming-of-age arc and more a sustained, slightly numb experience of becoming.

Twelve years of real time, a boy becoming a man while everything shifts around him. Linklater's experiment in sustained attention mirrors George's drift through time—the passage itself becomes the subject.

But Nearly three and a half hours of deliberately small moments. Some will experience it as profound; others will experience it as patience being tested. Requires specific patience for a specific experiment.

Boyhood poster
More like this (8)

Thumbsucker2005

A genuinely strange and moving portrait of suburban adolescent emptiness. Lou Taylor Pucci is excellent, and the film earns every moment of tenderness without sentimentality.

But It's deliberately slow and low-key in a way that requires patience. Some will find it precious rather than poignant.

Thumbsucker poster

The Virgin Suicides2000

Sofia Coppola's debut captures that same sense of teen melancholy and cultural alienation, with gorgeous '70s aesthetics and a haunting mystery at its core.

But It's more interested in atmosphere than plot or conventional character development. Feels distant by design.

The Virgin Suicides poster

Moonlight2016

A film about how we construct identity and connection, told in three acts across a life. Quieter and more artful than most coming-of-age stories, with genuine emotional weight.

But It demands patience and interpretation. Some scenes feel slow. Not a traditional narrative with clear resolutions.

Moonlight poster

Beginners2011

A story about loneliness, connection, and the strange ways people try to understand each other. Romantic without being sentimental, quirky without trying too hard.

But It's more about mood than plot. The editing can feel deliberately fragmented in ways that frustrate some viewers.

Beginners poster

A Ghost Story2017

A haunting meditation on time, love, and what lingers after people leave. Unconventional, genuinely moving, and stays with you for days.

But It's more experimental than accessible. Some will find the pacing frustrating. It's not really a ghost story in any traditional sense.

A Ghost Story poster

The Squid and the Whale2005

A sharp, honest portrayal of family fracture and adolescent confusion, with the same eye for small moments and unresolved emotional tangles that define *The Art of Getting By*.

But It's bleak and sometimes uncomfortable to watch. The protagonists are not particularly likeable, and the film doesn't soften that.

The Squid and the Whale poster

Red Desert1964

Both films treat existential paralysis as a legitimate subject rather than a problem to be solved. Both are interested in how people move through spaces feeling fundamentally disconnected from them. Both refuse the comfort of clear emotional resolution.

Antonioni's 1964 masterpiece about a woman (and implicitly a whole generation) struggling to find meaning in modern spaces. Shot in stunning colour, utterly hypnotic and deeply strange.

But It's deliberately paced to the point of stillness. No traditional plot. If you want narrative momentum or clear emotional beats, this will feel like it's not moving.

Red Desert poster

Marie and Bruce2004

Both are about attraction to broken people and the odd intimacy of recognising your own fracture in someone else's. Both value the strange honesty of two misfits finding each other more than they value fixing either of them.

A couple walks through New York City arguing, and somehow—against all odds—it's tender and darkly funny and weirdly romantic. Small, weird, completely its own thing.

But It's uncomfortable and unresolved. Sally and George's relationship might remind you of this in ways you won't enjoy. Bleak without the dignity of tragedy.

Marie and Bruce poster

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