11 Best Movies Like Juno

For a certain generation, “Juno” was a milestone film that not only depicted a compelling, emotionally fruitful story, but also defined the offbeat, hyper-specific cultural milieu that came from the internet and popular culture in the ’00s. “Juno” was written by Diablo Cody (who won an Academy Award for best original screenplay for the film) and directed by Jason Reitman. It follows the life of a midwestern teen named Juno (Elliot Page) who loves indie rock music and gory horror, and who discovers, at the beginning of the film, that she has accidentally gotten pregnant. Cody’s writing is distinct — Juno and several other characters in the film tend toward a slangy style of dialogue that feels both referential to the past and difficult to understand when first encountered. From the film’s artsy opening credit sequence to its eclectic soundtrack, “Juno” combines many elements to present a cohesive, creative identity to the viewer.

That said, it’s really the central story of the film and the performances of its acting ensemble that have allowed the movie to stand the test of time. Now widely considered to be required viewing in the coming-of-age movie category, “Juno” is anchored by Elliot Page’s grounded, vulnerable performance and supporting work from fantastic actors like JK Simmons, Allison Janney, and Jennifer Garner. We looked for other iconic films that offer a stylish point-of-view or a significant coming-of-age story, as well as movies that present a harmonious balance between levity and poignance, just like “Juno.”

Another film collaboration between Diablo Cody and Jason Reitman, “Young Adult” cultivates an affect similar to “Juno” but follows an adult protagonist instead of a teenager. Mavis Gary (Charlize Theron) is a ghostwriter in her 30s who, after receiving a photo of her ex-boyfriend’s newborn daughter, decides to go back home from Minneapolis in order to pursue a romantic relationship with him. Her ex-boyfriend, Buddy (Patrick Wilson), is happily married to the mother of his newborn daughter, though, and Mavis’s old classmate Matt (Patton Oswalt) tells her that trying to reunite with Buddy is irrational. Mavis continues a destructive, selfish path throughout the movie and ultimately chooses to leave her hometown once again and return to her life.

“Young Adult” is sadder than “Juno” and ends on a far less optimistic note, but it explores many of the same themes. Mavis must emotionally deal with a miscarriage she suffered when she was a teenager and the fact that she left her family and hometown behind without looking back. Charlize Theron is fantastic as a woman who never got over being popular in high school, and the dark reality of her emotional stunting is almost disturbingly honest. The film prioritizes bleak reality over comedy, despite its many funny moments — Mavis is not likable, and its interesting to see Cody and Reitman depict such a different protagonist.

Juno loves alternative rock music and the grungy punk of the 1980s and the 1990s. She’s a guitarist, and it is her love of music and playing guitar that allows her to form such a strangely (and uncomfortably) intimate connection with Mark (Justin Bateman), her child’s prospective adoptive father. Music is essential to Juno’s life and therefore the film’s soundtrack is rich and textured, consisting mostly of various folk-esque tunes from singer-songwriter Kimya Dawson and her regular collaborators. With fill-ins from greats like The Velvet Underground, Sonic Youth, Belle & Sebastian, and more, the soundtrack is lived-in and evocative, much like that of the movie “Nick & Norah’s Infinite Playlist.” 

Another film following millennial teens and co-starring Michael Cera, “Nick & Norah’s Infinite Playlist” is a more straight-forward love story than “Juno.” Norah (Kat Dennings) has discovered that the ex-boyfriend of her frienemy, Tris (Alexis Dziena), is her “musical soulmate” after pilfering the mix CDs that he has been sending to Tris (who tosses them in the trash at school) to convince her to get back together. Nick (Cera) meets Norah later that night and it doesn’t take long for him to lose interest in Tris after realizing the beauty of Norah’s understated personality and musical preferences. In the same way that “Juno” aptly captures the millennial teen experience, so does “Nick & Norah,” offering an organic, casual thread filled with loving references to the magic of music and New York City.

Greta Gerwig wrote and directed “Lady Bird,” a coming-of-age film about a young woman in Sacramento, CA about to graduate high school. Lady Bird (Saoirse Ronan), whose given name is Christine, prefers to refer to herself as Lady Bird and makes every effort to pursue poignant individuality; whether she succeeds is often in question throughout the film. Lady Bird, unlike Juno, is desperate to be taken seriously and to find her way to the spotlight. She’s not much like Juno, but both characters are beautifully written and thoroughly imagined, and their depictions are helmed by equally impressive acting from Page and Ronan. 

With a cast that includes Beanie Feldstein, Timothée Chalamet, and Tracy Letts, “Lady Bird” is a top-tier feature and one of the best films that studio A24 has ever produced. It’s a cleaner film than “Juno,” less focused on artistic whimsy and more centered in the meat of the film’s plot and dialogue, which rings true to Lady Bird’s struggle to discover her authentic identity. A character like Juno is quirky, yes, but seems to understand herself in a way that Lady Bird doesn’t. Really, Lady Bird doesn’t know who she is, and she compensates for this by defaulting to confidence and stubbornness when confronted with obstacles. “Lady Bird” is an excellent film and one that any graduating teen should watch.

This isn’t about to be a list of movies all about teen pregnancy, but it’s impossible not to think of a few when looking for movies that align with “Juno.” When Juno discovers that she is pregnant, her first instinct is to call a women’s clinic on her burger phone and make an abortion appointment. While Juno does go to the appointment, she ultimately decides to leave the clinic when confronted with the concept that her unborn fetus already has fingernails. After this, she tells her parents about the pregnancy and decides to find loving potential parents that are ready to take care of a baby. This leads to Mark (Jason Bateman) and Vanessa (Jennifer Garner) and the main disruption of the film.

“Juno” depicts a totally valid way to handle an unwanted pregnancy via adoption, but it’s important to see characters who make different choices so as to understand that there are a lot of ways someone can deal with such a curveball. “Unpregnant,”  one of the best HBO original movies you can’t watch anywhere else, is more a movie about a friendship than a young woman’s individual growth. It follows high school student Veronica (Haley Lu Richardson) as she takes a road trip with her estranged best friend, Bailey (Barbie Ferreira) to a state where parental consent is not required in order to have an abortion. It’s a road trip movie and a buddy comedy, but with the heart of a coming-of-age flick. 

Thanks to the popularity of young adult fiction about deadly illnesses, like “The Fault in Our Stars” by John Green, there have been several “teen cancer” movies in theaters over the past two decades. One of the best by far is “Me and Early and the Dying Girl,” a sweet little movie based on the novel of the same name by Jesse Andrews (who also wrote the screenplay for the film). The movie follows teenager Greg (Thomas Mann), who spends his free time making punny, spoof versions of famous films with his best friend, Earl (RJ Cyler). Early in his senior year of high school, Greg is encouraged by his mother (Connie Britton) to reach out to his classmate, Rachel (Olivia Cooke), who has recently been diagnosed with cancer. Greg is initially quite awkward with Rachel, but soon discovers that she’s witty, thoughtful, and fun to be around.

Earl and Greg’s films (“Senior Citizen Kane,” “Anatomy of a Burger” etc.) provide a more whimsical motif to a film with a very sad central plot and are definitely a reminder of the overtly artistic elements in “Juno.” With a title like “Me and Earl and the Dying Girl,” it’s not a surprise that this film is a tearjerker, but all of the comedy and reality leading up to the third act heartbreak set it apart from similar films. With a supporting cast including Jon Bernthal, Molly Shannon, and Nick Offerman, there’s not a single scene of the movie that isn’t compelling. 

The dynamic between Juno and her father and stepmother (played by JK Simmons and Allison Janney, respectively) is just one small part of “Juno,” but just like most of the movie’s other relationships, it feels storied. Through so many tiny moments, a vivid, realistic family picture comes together in “Juno,” and the same is true for “Silver Linings Playbook.” “Silver Linings Playbook,” which is not based on a true story but rather a novel by Matthew Quick, follows a man named Pat Solitano (Bradley Cooper) the day he leaves the mental health facility where he’s received treatment for his bipolar disorder for the past eight months. He’s a man who feels like his life has fallen apart, an individual primed for transformation, much like Juno at the beginning of “Juno.”

Pat’s parents, Pat Sr. (Robert De Niro) and Dolores (Jackie Weaver), are desperate to help him find peace and purpose, but also unfailingly willing to stand by him as he readjusts to life outside of a mental health facility. He continues to cause stress for the people around him until he meets Tiffany (Jennifer Lawrence), a young widow with a refreshingly authentic and assertive personality. With the help of his family, friends, Tiffany, and the Philadelphia-adjacent community in which he lives, Pat is able to move forward from his divorce. It’s always nice to watch a movie that isn’t set in L.A. or New York City, and “Juno” and “Silver Linings Playbook” both offer a distinct picture of their respective parts of America.

A cult favorite from the minute it came out in theaters, “Little Miss Sunshine” is a family-centric, dark comedy that follows a dysfunctional clan as they travel to a beauty pageant for little Olive (Abigail Breslin). “Little Miss Sunshine”  provides another family dynamic that immediately reads onscreen like volumes of writing have already taken place. Sheryl and Richard Hoover (Toni Collette and Greg Kinnear) are a married couple living in New Mexico with their daughter Olive; Dwayne (Paul Dano), Sheryl’s angsty son from her previous marriage; Frank (Steve Carell), Sheryl’s suicidal brother; and Edwin (Alan Arkin), Richard’s father. Edwin has been training Olive for beauty pageantry, and the family agrees to take a road trip to California for the Little Miss Sunshine pageant.

Almost none of the members of this family are particularly happy with their lives as they are, and it takes the arduous, cathartic road trip from Albuquerque, NM to Redondo Beach, California to realize that they can be a support system for each other. Actor Paul Dano has said that being stuck in a van with Alan Arkin is one of his best memories from filming “Little Miss Sunshine,” and it’s no surprise that Arkin received an Academy Award for his work as the lewd, cynical Edwin. The family’s signature yellow van is an apt metaphor for their unit: Many things are falling apart, but still the van keeps going, and so does the family. 

Twelve years before “Juno” hit theaters, another teen movie came along and offered a slew of slang and aesthetic gems to audiences.  “Clueless,” a modernized adaptation of Jane Austen’s novel “Emma,” follows a teenager named Cher (Alicia Silverstone) who lives a charmed life in Los Angeles with her wealthy father. While fashion doesn’t play as much of a role in “Juno,” it is a huge part of what makes “Clueless” so aesthetically distinct, with Cher, her best friend Dionne (Stacey Dash), and their peers all wearing dozens of colorful, stylish outfits throughout the film. Between the fashion, music, and slang (“I am totally buggin’!”), “Clueless” establishes a clear, artistic point-of-view, much like “Juno.” 

There are other movies more like “Clueless” than “Juno,” but as teen films from different eras, they shouldn’t necessarily be too similar. What rings true across both is the sense of youthful potential and optimism that abounds regardless of its characters’ obstacles, even though Cher’s issues are really not on the same level as Juno’s. Both films present an inarguably happy ending and many funny moments, and while the serious moments of “Juno” are far more serious than those in “Clueless,” whimsical, accessible comedy abounds in both movies.

In contrast to some of the other teen films on this list, “The Perks of Being a Wallflower” is actually a far more melancholy film than “Juno.” It follows a young man named Charlie (Logan Lerman), who is just starting his first year of high school. Charlie has suffered from major depression for most of his life, and as such is often a quiet observer of others as opposed to an invested participant in his own life. At school, Charlie meets Sam (Emma Watson) and Patrick (Ezra Miller), two seniors who see very quickly that Charlie is a lonely, suffering person. They take him under their wing, and while Charlie experiences so much joy with them, he also witnesses and feels plenty of heartbreak and sorrow. 

By the end of the film, viewers have greater insight into the reasons for Charlie’s reticence and depression, and Charlie has come to realize that the good moments that come with living an active life are worth all of the uncertainty and potential for sadness that come as well. Young people are capable of experiencing so many complicated emotions, and this is a truth conveyed both in “The Perks of Being a Wallflower” and in “Juno.” “The Perks of Being a Wallflower” takes place in 1991 and music is a big part of Charlie’s friendship with Sam and Patrick, but it’s definitely not as stylized a film as “Juno” or some others.

A beloved Jack Black comedy that’s been crushing it on Netflix since coming onto the streamer, “School of Rock” is the kind of movie that has gotten better and better the longer it’s been around. Directed by Richard Linklater and written by Mike White (“White Lotus”), who also costars, “School of Rock” is about a man named Dewey (Jack Black) who is determined to become a professional rock musician despite his lack of success thus far. Through a confluence of financial obligations and professional misunderstandings, Dewey takes a job as a substitute teacher for a fifth grade class at a nearby private school. He is highly unqualified, and as such, various shenanigans ensue.

Dewey realizes that many of the students in his class are musically gifted and decides to form a band with them to compete in a local battle of the bands competition. He bonds with the kids and helps them gain confidence and creative inspiration, among other things, thanks to his ability to see the best in all of them and respect their agency. The film ends on a high note — after all, it is a kid-friendly comedy — and importantly offers its kid characters real opportunities for growth. While it’s pretty different from “Juno” plot-wise, “School of Rock” feels like a kindred spirit, espousing the similar values and sharing an equally joyful appreciation for the power of music.

Another Michael Cera film for the list, “Scott Pilgrim vs. the World” is just as quirky as “Juno,” if not similarly rooted in reality. Based on a series of comic books written by Bryan Lee O’Malley, “Scott Pilgrim vs. the World” follows a 22-year-old man named Scott Pilgrim (Michael Cera). Scott plays guitar for a garage band called Sex Bob-Omb and is in a relationship with a 17-year-old girl called Knives Chau (Ellen Wong). Everyone in Scott’s life thinks it’s gross that he’s dating a high schooler, and Scott soon finds himself thoroughly taken with a woman named Ramona Flowers (Mary Elizabeth Winstead). In pursuing Ramona, Scott is also faced with defeating her seven evil exes video-game-boss-fight-style. The film melds the bleak winter setting of Toronto with a neon cascade of video game-inspired graphics.

This film adaptation of a comic book inspired by video games is actually very entertaining and surprisingly sweet. Because this came out in 2010, there are a ton of fun actors in it who have since gone on to develop quite a mainstream profile in the entertainment industry. Peformers like Chris Evans, Brie Larson, and Kieran Culkin display chops both comedic and creative as over-the-top exes and supporting players throughout the film, and the film’s leads — Cera and Winstead — are generous, willing to let their characters shine in reflection. “Scott Pilgrim vs. the World” is also, critically, a film heavily involving the playing of music.