Top 15 Movies About Kids Who Think They Know Better Than Adults

1-15

Ignacio Weil

Entertainment - September 8th 2025, 22:00 GMT+2

Cropped imagen 2025 09 04 193155754 — Licorice Pizza (2021)

Confidence arrives on roller skates, selling waterbeds and big ideas like adulthood is a brand you can wear. Every scheme is a flex until logistics step in, and suddenly the bravado has to share space with accountability. The film captures that dizzy phase where ambition outruns emotional age, where swagger hides an instruction manual nobody read. Sun-baked comedy keeps the mood buoyant while the characters collect small dents that start to look like growth. What’s irresistible is the hustle – the urge to sprint before you’ve learned to walk straight. By the time the dust settles, the performance of being grown up has softened into something almost real. | © Ghoulardi Film Company

Cropped imagen 2025 09 04 193309315 — Good Boys (2019)

Armed with bike helmets and internet bravado, three sixth graders march into the world like tiny consultants who’ve watched one too many tutorials. The joke, of course, is that “knowing” and actually understanding are not the same skill set; every plan collapses under the weight of real-life nuance. Slang is misused, gadgets go missing, and friendship contracts get renegotiated on the fly. What keeps it buoyant is the sincerity – these kids truly think they’re handling grown-up business, which makes each misunderstanding both hilarious and weirdly tender. It’s the purest version of your theme: certainty colliding with reality at 10 miles per hour, scuffed knees included. Underneath the raunch, the movie’s heart is painfully wholesome about loyalty and boundaries. By the end, they don’t know less; they just know better. | © Point Grey Pictures

Cropped imagen 2025 09 04 193505649 — Booksmart (2019)

Overachievers with a spreadsheet for fun try to cram four years of “life experience” into one night, and discover that adulthood isn’t unlocked by extra credit. The confidence is immaculate – rules, routes, contingency plans – until real people and real feelings refuse to fit the algorithm. What starts as a mission morphs into a humility lesson, the kind that makes you laugh while also wincing in recognition. Every detour adds texture: friendship defined, ambition reframed, self-image updated without losing the spark. It’s a coming-of-age comedy that treats intelligence as a tool, not a shield, which is why the emotional beats land. The party is chaos; the growth is precise. Somewhere between a wrong turn and a right choice, they stop performing adulthood and start practicing it. | © Annapurna Pictures

Cropped imagen 2025 09 04 193443335 — Lady Bird (2017)

A self-declared expert on her own future argues with the world – and her mother – like it’s a debate she can win on style points alone. The film gently, hilariously proves otherwise, letting each certainty meet a counterexample in the shape of money, love, geography, or pride. What’s lovely is how the bravado never fully disappears; it matures, learns to listen, and figures out that independence isn’t the same as indifference. Class, faith, and first love become pop quizzes that no amount of eye-rolling can ace. The humor lands because it’s so specific, the kind of specificity that makes the character feel universal. By the last bell, the performance of adulthood gives way to the practice of it – messier, kinder, and finally her own. It’s not about being right; it’s about being ready. | © IAC Films

Cropped imagen 2025 09 04 193630576 — The Edge of Seventeen (2016)

Sharp retorts are easy until the conversation turns personal, which is why this teen whirlwind keeps stepping on emotional rakes. She narrates her life like she’s already solved it, only to discover that people don’t fit tidy scripts – even the ones we love most. The movie’s secret strength is empathy without softening: friendships strain, family misfires, and first crushes short-circuit with perfect awkwardness. Comedy doesn’t undercut the drama; it disarms it, letting the honesty slip past defenses. Watching her recalibrate – apology by apology, risk by risk – is quietly exhilarating. Guidance arrives from unexpected places, and the best advice is the stuff she figures out herself. By the time the credits roll, certainty has been traded for curiosity, which is a much sturdier compass. | © Gracie Films

Cropped imagen 2025 09 04 193716478 — Moonrise Kingdom (2012)

Two kids run away with total confidence and absolutely no plan, the cinematic equivalent of packing a suitcase with dreams and one snack. The world responds – storm systems, scout troops, worried adults – and suddenly the romance of self-sufficiency meets the logistics of staying dry. It’s whimsical on the surface, but the insight is pointed: playing house is easy until the roof leaks. The film’s meticulous style mirrors youthful certainty, while the story keeps nudging the characters toward less tidy, more honest forms of love. Everyone grows a little, even the so-called grown-ups. The adventure doesn’t collapse; it evolves, scaled to a size that real life can hold. Turns out, maturity can coexist with wonder – you just have to earn it. | © Indian Paintbrush

Cropped imagen 2025 09 04 193801332 — Submarine (2010)

A self-appointed expert on love writes his own legend in voiceover, then spends the movie discovering that other people didn’t get the memo. The deadpan humor hides a sincere ache: trying to manage parents, first romance, and public image with the swagger of a much older narrator. Plans look brilliant until they meet actual humans; then the edges fray, and the jokes get funnier – and truer. Style becomes a mask, one the film invites him to remove slowly, one mortification at a time. What lingers is the tenderness beneath the irony, proof that vulnerability isn’t failure, it’s progress. In the end, he stops editorializing long enough to feel something real, and the movie exhales with him. Growing up, it turns out, is a rewrite. | © Warp Films

Cropped imagen 2025 09 04 193821110 — An Education (2009)

Sophistication appears in a sports car and speaks fluent culture, which is exactly how a bright student mistakes gloss for wisdom. The seduction here isn’t just romantic; it’s a pitch for skipping the line to adulthood – parties instead of exams, flattery instead of effort. Reality, patient and unforgiving, dismantles the fantasy piece by piece until the lesson becomes impossible to ignore. What’s remarkable is the film’s generosity: it doesn’t mock youthful certainty so much as trace how easily it can be weaponized against the young. The aftermath is the real story – accountability, recovery, and the quieter kind of courage. By choosing to learn rather than calcify, the protagonist earns the adulthood she almost borrowed. Some shortcuts, it turns out, go the long way round. | © BBC Films

Cropped imagen 2025 09 04 193945482 — Juno (2007)

Sarcasm as armor only gets you so far, and this whip-smart story delights in showing where the plates don’t quite cover. She treats massive decisions like homework she can ace with a good quip, discovering that real life insists on extra credit you can’t Google. The comedy is bright, the emotions sneak up from the side, and the character’s certainty keeps getting product-tested by consequences. Adults look alternately clueless and kind, which is exactly how the world feels when you’re sure you’ve figured it out. What sells it isn’t sanctimony; it’s curiosity, a willingness to update the plan when reality refuses to cooperate. The result is a teen movie that respects intelligence while reminding us that wisdom costs. | © Mr. Mudd Productions

Cropped imagen 2025 09 04 194148484 — 13 Going on 30 (2004)

Wish fulfillment sounds easy until tomorrow lands with office politics, messy friendships, and a career that doesn’t come with instructions. Our heroine thinks adulthood is just outfits and confidence, then finds out it’s apologies, boundaries, and the occasional rewrite. The rom-com gloss makes the medicine go down, but the lessons are sturdy: nostalgia isn’t a roadmap, and shortcuts skip the parts that make you whole. What’s irresistible is the optimism; the film believes in do-overs without pretending they’re magic erasers. Watching naiveté collide with responsibility is the gag and the growth. By the final beat, “thirty, flirty, thriving” means something earned, not just said. | © Revolution Studios

Cropped Freaky Friday — Freaky Friday (2003)

Trading bodies is the fastest route to humility, especially when you’re convinced the other side has it easy. Mother and daughter play dress-up with each other’s stress, and the punchlines double as empathy lessons in disguise. The teen confidence that looked bulletproof at breakfast wilts by lunch under schedules, expectations, and complicated love. Meanwhile, the adult swagger evaporates in hallways where reputation changes with the bell. It’s fizzy fun that grants both characters the dignity of being wrong and the grace to improve. The miracle isn’t the switch; it’s the understanding that sticks after they switch back. | © Walt Disney Pictures

Cropped imagen 2025 09 04 194313790 — Almost Famous (2000)

A teenage know-it-all walks into the myth of rock and roll and promptly drowns in the tide of real people. He thinks access equals understanding, then learns that truth has receipts and every idol has a receipt drawer. The road is seductive, the journalism is messy, and the heartache feels like tuition for the kind of wisdom you can’t teach. What makes it sing is tenderness: the film loves its dreamers while gently puncturing the dream. Confidence slowly gives way to care, the difference between a story you want and the one that’s true. In the end, credibility isn’t a backstage pass; it’s earned with patience, listening, and a little pain. | © DreamWorks Pictures

Cropped imagen 2025 09 04 194359656 — Election (1999)

Student government looks simple until ambition sharpens its teeth and everyone’s ethics start bargaining for lunch money. The overachiever at the center has certainty down to a science, but the world responds with chaos, pettiness, and deliciously awkward consequences. Adults, allegedly wiser, behave like teenagers with better wardrobes, which is the joke and the indictment. It’s satire that understands how righteousness curdles when it meets power, even in a hallway ballot box. Every smile hides a plan; every plan hides a blind spot. The campaign promises growth, but the results teach perspective the hard way. | © MTV Films

Cropped imagen 2025 09 04 194519191 — Rushmore (1998)

Being a prodigy is adorable until it’s disruptive, and this charmer treats extracurriculars like trench warfare for a kid who won’t take a hint. He’s convinced that genius can bend reality, only to discover that people – teachers, friends, rivals – don’t fold on command. Deadpan style keeps the wounds from bleeding too much, but the lessons land: obsession needs editing, and affection can’t be engineered. The movie loves his audacity even as it tallies the collateral damage with a sigh. Creativity survives; ego gets sanded down to size. Somewhere between a failed play and a hard-earned apology, actual maturity sneaks in. | © Touchstone Pictures

Cropped imagen 2025 09 04 194558429 — Big (1988)

Growing up overnight turns out to be a trapdoor, not an elevator, and the fall is both hilarious and strangely poignant. A kid’s common sense dazzles the boardroom, but rent, romance, and responsibility aren’t arcade cabinets you can master with quarters. The wonder of play crashes into the weight of expectation, and the face in the mirror stops feeling like a costume. What lingers isn’t cynicism; it’s appreciation for the time it takes to become yourself without skipping steps. The fantasy sets the hook; the empathy reels you in. Childhood wisdom isn’t wrong – it’s just incomplete, and that’s the difference experience makes. | © Gracie Films

1-15

Every generation swears it has the answers – especially the kids. This list spotlights the films that capture that glorious, misguided confidence: the teen (or tween) who’s sure they’ve cracked the code on love, work, politics, or family, only to meet reality head-on. From sharp coming-of-age comedies to knotty dramas, these movies show young protagonists acting like adults, talking big, and learning bigger. Expect awkward victories, hard lessons, and plenty of “oh no” moments that feel uncomfortably familiar.

We picked titles that balance humor and heart with genuine stakes – stories where adolescent bravado drives the plot and consequences do the teaching. Some entries go magical (body swaps and wish-fulfillment) to make the point loud; others stay grounded and let life do the humbling. Either way, each film earns its spot by answering the same question: what happens when you’re absolutely certain… and absolutely not ready? If you’re hunting for the best movies about kids who think they know it all – across classics, indies, and modern hits – you’re in the right place.