10 Best Latinx Coming-Of-Age Films On Netflix

With members of the Latinx community making up the largest minority in the United States, it is now virtually impossible to ignore the influence the population has on popular culture. Streaming service giants such as Netflix have taken notice of this growing demographic and have made large strides in making and curating Spanish language content that appeals to all ages.

One of the most popular genres on Netflix is undoubtedly the coming-of-age story, in large part due to its ability to transgress cultural bounds. These coming-of-age films take pride in showcasing the multifaceted reality of growing up in a Hispanic household.

10 We The Animals (2018)

Told from the perspective of 10-year-old Jonah, We The Animals is a wholly unique take on a young boy’s coming of age. Director/writer Jeremiah Zagar manages to craft a film that isn’t afraid to shed a light on aspects of society that normally get ignored by other filmmakers.

Not only is young Jonah from a multiracial background, he also happens to be discovering his own burgeoning sexuality and dealing with a highly dysfunctional home life at the same time. The product of these intersecting identities is a protagonist with whom audiences can deeply resonate and connect, no matter their background.

9 Raising Victor Vargas (2002)

In this coming-of-age dramedy, Peter Sollett draws from his own adolescence growing up in New York City, but instead of focusing on the Jewish and Italian neighborhoods he was from, he shifts the focus to the more working-class Lower East Side.

Sollett’s film, Raising Victor Vargas, tells the story of a Dominican teenager as he navigates first love and a traditional, old fashioned grandmother. Critics and audiences alike praised the movie’s handling of universal themes and the effective use of its young, talented cast. Watching Victor as he finds himself caught between his traditional family and his new, more diverse surroundings as he tries to come into his own is something many people can still resonate with.

8 Tortilla Soup (2001)

The three daughters at the center of 2001’s Tortilla Soup may be fully grown women, but that doesn’t mean they have truly come of age. In fact, sisters Leticia, Carmen and Maribel still live with their strict Mexican-American father, chef Martin Naranjo, who finds himself having to let go of his daughters over the course of the film.

What the Naranjo sisters go through in order to realize their own individual identities is what millions of Latinx youth experience in the United States. The setting of Los Angeles also becomes like another character in the film, lending it a distinct identity of its own.

7 I’m No Longer Here (2019)

After screening at the Tribeca Film Festival in 2019, I’m No Longer Here was picked up by Netflix for streaming, adding to the service’s extensive catalog of international films. The musically themed coming-of-age drama follows 17-year-old Ulises from Monterrey, Mexico, and how his love of the cumbia music subculture gets him involved in organized crime.

The teenager is forced to leave his whole life behind and immigrate to New York, where he experiences severe culture shock and homesickness. Ulises’s deep love of music helps him cope and gives him the strength he needs to keep going until he is able to return home. Visually stunning, I’m No Longer Here is a testament to the power of music and culture.

6 Roma (2018)

Considered by many to be Mexican auteur Alfonso Cuarón’s magnum opus, 2018’s Roma is an extremely personal story of one woman’s journey into adulthood. The protagonist, Cleo, is a young Indigenous woman working as a live-in maid for a well-to-do upper-middle-class family in 1970s Mexico City. An unexpected pregnancy propels Cleo into a long and difficult few months filled with rejection, intolerance, political upheaval and class tensions.

Throughout its entirety, Roma maintains a feeling of hope and beauty, which is emphasized by the breathtaking black and white cinematography. The film is Cuarón’s love letters to his hometown of Mexico City, and his profound passion and respect for his roots come through in each and every frame.

5 The Chosen Ones (2015)

This 2015 Mexican drama shines a spotlight on the very prevalent issue of human trafficking along the border, all told through the point of view of teenager, Sofia. What begins innocently enough as a depiction of first love quickly turns tragic when the true intentions of Sofia’s boyfriend Ulysis are revealed: he intends to make her a part of his family’s prostitution ring.

As uncomfortable as the subject matter is to watch, director David Pablos manages to avoid making the story feel melodramatic or exploitative. Instead, he creates a heart-wrenchingly real yet sobering look into one girl’s coming of age.

4 Pan’s Labyrinth (2006)

This Mexican and Spanish coproduced fantasy/drama is a wonderful melange of influences from the mind of Guillermo del Toro. It is most succinctly described as a grown-up Alice in Wonderland set in 1944 Francoist Spain. Over the course of the film, 10-year-old Ofelia copes with hardships that no child should suffer, but finds an escape from her bleak reality in a series of fantastical labyrinths, where she encounters many mythical creatures that offer her immortality if she is willing to pay the price.

Del Toro was able to appeal to audiences of all kinds with this unique take on a coming-of-age story that earned him three Academy Awards.

3 Holy Camp! (2017)

For many youths, summers spent at camp are some of the most formative of their lives, and this is no exception for spirited teenage girls, Maria and Susana. The two friends find their love of contemporary music at odds with the traditionalist values of the nuns at their Catholic summer camp, but one holy, godly vision suddenly changes everything for them.

The power of music proves strong enough to band everyone together, as Maria and Susana learn to reconcile their desire for modernity with more old-fashioned traditional values.

2 Y Tu Mamá También (2001)

No list of the best Latinx coming-of-age films would be complete without this modern classic, written and directed by Alfonso Cuarón. Y Tu Mamá También made quite the splash when it was released back in 2001 and for good reason. On the surface, the movie may seem like a run-of-the-mill, raunchy teenage road movie, but upon closer inspection, it provides extremely nuanced socio-political commentary, along with a refreshingly honest depiction of human sexuality.

Best friends Julio and Tenoch hold nothing back in terms of expressing their deepest, most personal desires and learn even more about life, love and themselves after spending a summer with the stunningly beautiful Luisa. None of them are the same, afterward.

1 Innocent Voices (2004)

The devastating effects of war are on full display in Innocent Voices, a Salvadoran drama told through the eyes of an 11-year-old boy. Chava is about to turn 12 and runs the risk of being forcefully recruited by the Salvadoran military unless his uncle can safely smuggle him out of the country. Caught in the middle of a violent civil war, Chava witnesses horrors no child should endure.

As difficult as Innocent Voices may be to watch, at times, it is mandatory viewing for anyone wishing to learn more about the horrors of living in a war-torn country and the effects it can have on children.

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