Summer is fast approaching, and with it comes the long-awaited end of the semester. Maybe it’s your time to graduate and you’re ready to embark on a new phase of life. While post-grad can be scary for some, a good emotional outlet is watching movies. If that’s the case, this list could be right up your alley.
Graduation season can bring out a lot of feelings. You might be relieved that your time in classrooms is over. Possibly scared about not quite knowing what comes next. Maybe sad to say goodbye to all the friends and memories you’ve made over the last four years. It could be one or all of the above.
Whichever emotion follows earning your degree, know that you’re not alone in feeling uncertain about the future. It’s incredibly common when navigating a transition like this.
That’s why one good way to deal with these emotions is watching films and connecting with the characters experiencing similar situations.
Though not all focus on graduation itself, each movie portrays messages that are worth watching this time of year.
An Autumn Summer
Set in Northern Michigan, Kevin (Mark McKenna) and Cody (Lukita Maxwell) are spending their summer at Kevin’s family cabin. With only a month before they go their separate ways for college, they soak up every last bit of summer.
They spend their final days hiking, boating, and wondering what the future holds for them and their relationship. It’s a beautiful film mainly centered around the experiences to be had rather than a fast-paced plot.
This movie stands as a reminder that being young and free, just like summertime, is fleeting. It’s important to enjoy the present while it’s still here. It’s easy to get overwhelmed thinking of the future, but taking time to appreciate how far you’ve come is just as vital.
An Autumn Summer is now available to rent or buy on select streaming services.
Girls Like Girls
Directed by and based on Hayley Kiyoko’s 2015 song, Girls Like Girls explores love, identity, and self-acceptance.
Following the death of her mother, Coley (Maya da Costa) moves to a small town in Oregon and soon meets Sonya (Myra Molloy). Over a summer, feelings bloom between the two, but self-doubt and an on-again, off-again boyfriend complicates things.
Girls Like Girls is a great film for exploring first loves, growing out of old expectations, and navigating self-identity. It captures the endless possibilities between finishing school and figuring out what comes next in life.
While periods of transition and dealing with grief can be hard, Coley learns to embrace love and start anew. The film encourages audiences to overcome fear of judgement and pursue their own happiness, whatever that may be.
If you’re searching for a sapphic/queer summer movie, look no further!
Girls Like Girls is set to release in theaters on June 19.
Heartstopper Forever
Beloved Netflix series, Heartstopper, is saying goodbye this summer with the feature film, Heartstopper Forever.
While this movie mainly serves as a series finale, I still thought it should be on the watchlist.
If you aren’t already familiar, Heartstopper — based on the graphic novels by Alice Oseman — follows an openly gay student, Charlie Spring (Joe Locke) and rugby player, Nick Nelson (Kit Connor). The unlikely friendship between the two eventually grows into something more as they navigate adulthood, mental health, and gender identity.
The three season series will not have a fourth season and instead will just conclude with the film.
While the movie will be shorter than eight more new episodes, Oseman promises “The movie will be an exploration of time, memory, love, pain, the changing of the seasons, endings, and beginnings, and the core element of Heartstopper: the ordinary magic of our everyday lives.”
Without saying too much, we last saw Nick grappling with the decision between going to a university close to home for Charlie or choosing to go to one farther away to figure out who he is outside of his relationship.
The movie, and the series, fits right into graduation season and building your own identity outside of school. It’s a time to discover what you really want without the confines of a schedule and assignments to complete.
It doesn’t just have to be a frightening transition, but also an exciting one with a road full of opportunities ahead of you.
Heartstopper Forever will premiere globally on Netflix on July 17.
Feel My Voice
The heartwarming story of the next movie on the list has transcended language as Feel My Voice (Non abbiam bisogno di parole) is the Italian remake of CODA which is the American remake of the French film, La Famille Bélier.
Eletta (Sara Toscano) is the only hearing member of her family and aids them in communication with the outside world. When she signs up for chorus because of a boy she likes, the instructor (Serena Rossi) immediately notices her talent and potential.
Encouraged to audition for a prestigious music school that would take her away from home, Eletta now has to make the decision between her future and her family that relies on her.
Centered around self-discovery, family, and leaving your comfort zone, Feel My Voice makes for a great graduation movie when considering pursuing your dreams.
It’s easy to avoid risks and stay with what’s familiar, but it’s not until you branch out that you might realize your full potential and capabilities.
Feel My Voice is now available to stream on Netflix.
People We Meet on Vacation
The last movie on this list might, ultimately, be my favorite one yet.
Earlier this year on January 9th, People We Meet on Vacation hit Netflix.
Based on Emily Henry’s 2021 book of the same name, the film follows college best friends Poppy (Emily Bader) and Alex (Tom Blyth) as they go on their annual summer trips together. Just like any other good friends-to-lovers romantic comedy, the tensions mount for the polar opposites until they can no longer deny the feelings they’ve been trying to ignore.
People We Meet on Vacation is a great, colorful summer film that will leave you feeling better than when you first started watching the movie.
Now, you may ask, what does this have to do with graduating?
Besides the romantic element, it’s a story about navigating your early twenties and making mistakes and not being afraid to go after what you want. It demonstrates the reality of dealing with a quarter-life crisis, trying to build your career, and maintaining those long-distance friendships when everyone leaves college.
Just like for Poppy, in the chaos of trying to find a job or moving to a new place, you can still find “home” in the people you meet and the relationships you build.
Life can be awkward and not perfect one hundred percent of the time and that’s perfectly okay; People We Meet on Vacation does a really good job of portraying that.
At the end of the day, we’re all just trying to figure it out together. So if you want a laugh or a story to fall in love with, People We Meet on Vacation is the one.
People We Meet on Vacation is now streaming on Netflix.
Post-grad anxiety is normal
If you haven’t gathered from this list of movies, and plenty more out there, feeling uncertain about where your future might take you is common.
You are not alone in wondering what path you should take next and possibly with who. You also don’t need to have it all figured out right away. It’s the time for trial-and-error, growth, and exploring what could be out there for you. Change is inevitable, but it’s what you do with it that matters.
Work the strange jobs, go on side-quests with friends, protect your health and mental well-being. Just because you don’t land your dream job straight out of college doesn’t mean you won’t ever get there.
Allowing yourself the space and time to grow into who you actually want to be is crucial for a fulfilling post-grad life.
And, in the meantime, enjoy a movie or two. You might be surprised what it teaches you.
