The kids are not all right...
by carpediemalready | created - 29 Mar 2015 | updated - 11 Feb 2016 | PublicMovies dealing with kids who are struggling. Themes include child abuse, child neglect, teen runaways, teen drug use, alienation and kids in the foster care system.
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101. Ken Park (2002)
Not Rated | 93 min | Drama
Ken Park is about several Californian skateboarders' lives and relationships with and without their parents.
Directors: Larry Clark, Edward Lachman | Stars: Adam Chubbuck, James Bullard, Seth Gray, Eddie Daniels
Votes: 30,816
102. Last Ride (2009)
Not Rated | 90 min | Crime, Drama
A young boy travels across Australia with his father, who's wanted by the law for committing a violent crime.
Director: Glendyn Ivin | Stars: Hugo Weaving, Tom Russell, Anita Hegh, John Brumpton
Votes: 2,609 | Gross: $0.01M
103. Lakki... The Boy Who Could Fly (1992)
102 min | Drama
A friendless, lonely boy who dreams of escape from a broken home with an neglectful, promiscuous. alcoholic mother and self-centered, clueless, absent father.
Director: Svend Wam | Stars: Anders Borchgrevink, Nina Gunke, Bjørn Skagestad, Jorunn Kjellsby
Votes: 286
104. Lost Christmas (2011)
PG | 89 min | Drama, Family
Urban fairytale set in Manchester. A series of tragic events that blight a young boy's life are reversed one Christmas Eve, giving him and those around him the happy ending that they were destined to have.
Director: John Hay | Stars: Eddie Izzard, Larry Mills, Jason Flemyng, Geoffrey Palmer
Votes: 1,528
105. Mouchette (1967)
Not Rated | 81 min | Drama
A young girl living in the French countryside suffers constant indignities at the hand of alcoholism and her fellow man.
Director: Robert Bresson | Stars: Nadine Nortier, Jean-Claude Guilbert, Marie Cardinal, Paul Hébert
Votes: 12,994
106. Phoebe in Wonderland (2008)
PG-13 | 96 min | Drama
Confounded by her clashes with the seemingly rule-obsessed world, a troubled young girl seeks enlightenment from her unconventional drama teacher.
Director: Daniel Barnz | Stars: Elle Fanning, Patricia Clarkson, Felicity Huffman, Bill Pullman
Votes: 8,079 | Gross: $0.07M
107. Pixote (1980)
TV-MA | 128 min | Crime, Drama
The life of a boy on the streets of Sao Paulo, involved with crimes, prostitution, and drugs.
Director: Hector Babenco | Stars: Fernando Ramos da Silva, Jorge Julião, Gilberto Moura, Edilson Lino
Votes: 9,244
108. Aurore (2005)
115 min | Drama
After her mother's sudden death, Aurore Gagnon is abused by her disturbed stepmother as her town remains in the silence followed by her death. Based on a true story.
Director: Luc Dionne | Stars: Marianne Fortier, Serge Postigo, Hélène Bourgeois Leclerc, Yves Jacques
Votes: 1,694
109. Angela (1995)
Not Rated | 99 min | Drama
Rebecca Miller's riveting drama examines how two sisters cope with their mother's mental illness.
Director: Rebecca Miller | Stars: Miranda Rhyne, Charlotte Eve Blythe, Anna Thomson, John Ventimiglia
Votes: 1,060
110. God Bless the Child (1988 TV Movie)
Not Rated | 93 min | Drama
Single mother Theresa Johnnson becomes homeless, loses her job, and tries to survive with her young daughter Hillary through charities and public shelters.
Director: Larry Elikann | Stars: Mare Winningham, Grace Johnston, L. Scott Caldwell, Obba Babatundé
Votes: 475
111. The Basketball Diaries (1995)
R | 102 min | Biography, Crime, Drama
A teenager finds his dreams of becoming a basketball star threatened after he free falls into the harrowing world of drug addiction.
Director: Scott Kalvert | Stars: Leonardo DiCaprio, Lorraine Bracco, Marilyn Sokol, James Madio
Votes: 121,122 | Gross: $2.42M
112. Fresh (1994)
R | 114 min | Crime, Drama, Thriller
Death and violence anger a twelve-year-old drug courier, who sets his employers against each other.
Director: Boaz Yakin | Stars: Sean Nelson, Giancarlo Esposito, Samuel L. Jackson, N'Bushe Wright
Votes: 14,599 | Gross: $8.09M
113. Khaled (2001)
85 min | Drama
Adolescent Khaled lives with his drug-addict French-Canadian mother Monique in a Toronto tenement, his Moroccan father totally out of the picture. He is often bullied at school being a ... See full summary »
Director: Asghar Massombagi | Stars: Michael D'Ascenzo, Michèle Duquet, Normand Bissonnette, Michael Kanevsky
Votes: 176
114. Matchstick Men (2003)
PG-13 | 116 min | Comedy, Crime, Drama
A phobic con artist and his protégé are on the verge of pulling off a lucrative swindle when the former's teenage daughter arrives unexpectedly.
Director: Ridley Scott | Stars: Nicolas Cage, Alison Lohman, Sam Rockwell, Bruce Altman
Votes: 138,382 | Gross: $36.91M
115. Liars, Fires and Bears (2012)
Not Rated | 99 min | Comedy, Drama
Eve, a 9-year-old hardened by time as a neglected foster child, is accustomed to taking life seriously, so when she meets Dave, a drunk thirtysomething who forgot to grow up, she sees an ... See full summary »
Director: Jeremy Cloe | Stars: Megli Micek, Lundon Boyd, Luke Jones, Melody Melendez
Votes: 222
116. Texas Killing Fields (2011)
R | 105 min | Crime, Drama, History
In the Texas bayous, a local homicide detective teams up with a cop from New York City to investigate a series of unsolved murders.
Director: Ami Canaan Mann | Stars: Sam Worthington, Jeffrey Dean Morgan, Chloë Grace Moretz, Jessica Chastain
Votes: 22,009 | Gross: $0.05M
117. American Heart (1992)
R | 113 min | Crime, Drama, Romance
An ex-convict is tracked down by his estranged teenage son, and the pair try to build a relationship and life together in Seattle.
Director: Martin Bell | Stars: Jeff Bridges, Edward Furlong, John Boylan, Greg Sevigny
Votes: 3,622 | Gross: $0.38M
118. Patrik, Age 1.5 (2008)
Unrated | 103 min | Comedy, Drama, Romance
A Swedish gay couple adopt what they think is an 18-month-old orphan, only to meet their new son, a 15-year-old homophobic delinquent.
Director: Ella Lemhagen | Stars: Gustaf Skarsgård, Torkel Petersson, Tom Ljungman, Amanda Davin
Votes: 10,394 | Gross: $0.06M
119. Sortie 67 (2010)
100 min | Action, Crime, Drama
Ronald, an eight year-old biracial boy, sees his life turning upside down after witnessing the brutal murder of his mother by his father. Often moved from one foster home to the next, ... See full summary »
Director: Jephté Bastien | Stars: Henri Pardo, Benz Antoine, Jacquy Bidjeck, Alain Lino Mic Eli Bastien
Votes: 99
120. East of Hope Street (1997)
88 min | Drama
A teenage Salvadoran refugee living in the U.S. struggles to survive the abuses of home, the inner city, and an overburdened social system in a Los Angeles most of us never see.
Director: Nate Thomas | Stars: Jude Herrera, Tim Russ, Roxanne Coyne, Magda Rivera
Votes: 81
121. The Way Home (2004)
78 min | Drama
A boy struggles to remain with the foster family that he has grown to love.
Director: Peter Anthony Fields | Stars: Robert Abrams, Daniel Anstandig, Joy D. Borland, Cheryl Eitman
Votes: 23
122. Gimme Shelter (2013)
PG-13 | 101 min | Drama
A pregnant teenager flees her abusive mother in search of her father, only to be rejected by her stepmother and forced to survive on the streets until a compassionate stranger offers a hopeful alternative.
Director: Ron Krauss | Stars: Vanessa Hudgens, Rosario Dawson, Brendan Fraser, James Earl Jones
Votes: 9,437 | Gross: $1.36M
123. Bully (2001)
R | 108 min | Biography, Crime, Drama
A pack of naïve teenagers conspire to murder a mutual friend, whose aggressive demeanour has proven too much.
Director: Larry Clark | Stars: Brad Renfro, Nick Stahl, Bijou Phillips, Rachel Miner
Votes: 40,542 | Gross: $1.54M
124. Lean on Me (1989)
PG-13 | 108 min | Drama
The dedicated but tyrannical Joe Clark is appointed the principal of a decaying inner-city school he is determined to improve by any and all means.
Director: John G. Avildsen | Stars: Morgan Freeman, Beverly Todd, Robert Guillaume, Alan North
Votes: 22,995 | Gross: $31.91M
125. Total Eclipse (1995)
R | 111 min | Biography, Drama, Romance
Young, wild poet Arthur Rimbaud and his mentor Paul Verlaine engage in a fierce, forbidden romance while feeling the effects of a hellish artistic lifestyle.
Director: Agnieszka Holland | Stars: Leonardo DiCaprio, David Thewlis, Romane Bohringer, Dominique Blanc
Votes: 16,788 | Gross: $0.34M
126. Alice Doesn't Live Here Anymore (1974)
PG | 112 min | Drama, Romance
A recently widowed woman is on the road with her precocious young son, determined to make a new life for herself as a singer.
Director: Martin Scorsese | Stars: Ellen Burstyn, Kris Kristofferson, Mia Bendixsen, Alfred Lutter III
Votes: 27,491 | Gross: $18.60M
127. Fireflies in the Garden (2008)
R | 99 min | Drama
The Taylor family is devastated by an accident that takes place on the day their matriarch is due to graduate from college -- decades after leaving to raise her children.
Director: Dennis Lee | Stars: Ryan Reynolds, Willem Dafoe, Emily Watson, Carrie-Anne Moss
Votes: 13,605 | Gross: $3.39M
128. Camp (I) (2013)
PG-13 | 109 min | Drama
On his 10th birthday, Eli, a neglected and abused kid, is taken to the hospital by police who respond to a domestic disturbance call. Eli is removed from his home and is placed in Locustwood, a facility little better than a youth prison.
Director: Jacob Roebuck | Stars: Miles Elliot, Betsy Roth, Josh Berry, Michael Mattera
Votes: 790 | Gross: $0.32M
129. Begin Again (II) (2013)
R | 104 min | Comedy, Drama, Music
A chance encounter between a down-and-out music business executive, and a young singer songwriter new to Manhattan, turns into a promising collaboration between the two talents.
Director: John Carney | Stars: Keira Knightley, Mark Ruffalo, Adam Levine, Hailee Steinfeld
Votes: 167,035 | Gross: $16.17M
130. The Reflecting Skin (1990)
R | 96 min | Drama, Horror, Thriller
In the 1950s, a young boy living with his troublesome family in rural USA fantasizes that a neighboring widow is actually a vampire, responsible for a number of disappearances in the area.
Director: Philip Ridley | Stars: Viggo Mortensen, Lindsay Duncan, Jeremy Cooper, Sheila Moore
Votes: 9,354
131. Motorama (1991)
R | 90 min | Adventure, Comedy, Drama
A ten year-old boy runs away from his abusive parents, steals a Mustang, and a pursues a promotional card game sold at gas stations.
Director: Barry Shils | Stars: Jordan Christopher Michael, Martha Quinn, Michael Naegel, Susan Tyrrell
Votes: 2,199
132. Josh and S.A.M. (1993)
PG-13 | 96 min | Adventure, Comedy, Drama
After their parent's divorce, 12-year-old Josh and 7-year-old Sam decide to go on an underage road trip. Sick of being ferried between their distant mother and remarried father, Josh and his brother steal a car and set out for Canada.
Director: Billy Weber | Stars: Jacob Tierney, Noah Fleiss, Martha Plimpton, Stephen Tobolowsky
Votes: 1,643 | Gross: $1.53M
133. Equus (1977)
R | 137 min | Drama, Mystery
A psychiatrist attempts to uncover a troubled stable boy's disturbing obsession with horses.
Director: Sidney Lumet | Stars: Richard Burton, Peter Firth, Colin Blakely, Joan Plowright
Votes: 8,749
134. Mockingbird Don't Sing (2001)
Not Rated | 98 min | Biography, Drama
Based on the actual events of one of the most horrific cases of child abuse ever to be documented, this haunting drama tells the tale of a young girl that was locked in a room for over 12 years.
Director: Harry Bromley Davenport | Stars: Melissa Errico, Michael Lerner, Joe Regalbuto, Sean Young
Votes: 2,252
135. A Kind of Hush (1999)
96 min | Drama
Six teens who were traumatized by child abuse early in their lives come together to form a gang that ultimately plots revenge against the ones who committed the crimes against them. The ... See full summary »
Director: Brian Stirner | Stars: Harley Smith, Marcella Plunkett, Ben Roberts, Paul Williams
Votes: 203
136. Coldwater (2013)
Not Rated | 104 min | Drama, Thriller
A teenage boy is sent to a juvenile reform facility in the wilderness. As we learn about the tragic events that sent him there, his struggle becomes one for survival with the inmates, counselors, and the retired war colonel in charge.
Director: Vincent Grashaw | Stars: P.J. Boudousqué, James C. Burns, Chris Petrovski, Octavius J. Johnson
Votes: 4,418
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