| # | Film | Language | Where to watch |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Wake Up Sid (2009) | Hindi | — |
| 2 | O Kadhal Kanmani (2015) | Tamil | — |
| 3 | Bangalore Days (2014) | Malayalam | — |
| 4 | Pelli Choopulu (2016) | Telugu | — |
| 5 | The Worst Person in the World (2021) | Norwegian | — |
| 6 | Frances Ha (2012) | English | — |
| 7 | Udaan (2010) | Hindi | — |
| 8 | Dil Chahta Hai (2001) | Hindi | — |
Some films give you advice. These ones sit next to you. I picked eight films for the years when you are not quite a teenager anymore and not quite sure what being an adult is supposed to look like—when the rent is due, the group chat is both life support and chaos, and every choice feels both huge and impossible.
These are not lessons; they are mirrors. From Mumbai to Kochi to Oslo, they understand how messy, broke, hopeful and ridiculous your 20s can be. No gyaan, just company.
Wake Up Sid (2009, Hindi)
Ayan Mukerji’s debut follows a rich, unmotivated Mumbai boy who has to learn that doing things badly is still doing something. It belongs here because Sid’s late start feels like permission for anyone who has measured themselves against friends who seem sorted. Watching it is warm and a little embarrassing in the best way, like being caught smiling at your own excuses. The film does not punish Sid for being clueless; it simply waits for him to begin. That patience is exactly what your 20s need.
O Kadhal Kanmani (2015, Tamil)
Mani Ratnam’s romance follows a young couple in Mumbai who decide to try living together without getting married. It belongs here because it treats a live-in relationship without moral panic, and the quiet final choice is more grown than most 20s romances allow. The film feels like sea breeze and city noise: playful, intimate and modern. It lets desire and doubt sit in the same room. Watching it is a reminder that commitment can look different for different people.
Bangalore Days (2014, Malayalam)
Anjali Menon’s ensemble film follows three cousins who move to Bangalore and crash into each other’s lives. It belongs because it knows your cousins can be your first friends and your worst enablers. The bikes, rain and confusion feel right for a decade where everyone is pretending to have a plan. Watching it is like a long drive with people who have known you too long to be impressed. It is funny, sentimental and deeply kind.
Pelli Choopulu (2016, Telugu)
This charming Telugu film begins with a traditional matchmaking meeting that goes nowhere and turns into a food truck partnership. It belongs here because it finds romance and ambition in the same small, scrappy business, and because the leads feel like people you have actually met. The film is light on melodrama and heavy on nervous energy. Watching it feels like a conversation that starts awkwardly and becomes your favourite part of the day.
The Worst Person in the World (2021, Norwegian)
Joachim Trier’s film follows Julie through restless years of wanting everything and choosing nothing. It belongs here because it understands that drift can be a stage, not a failure, and it refuses to make that feel tragic. Watching it is giddy, intimate and a little bruising, often in the same scene. It treats indecision with more respect than most films do. It is one of the best cinematic mirrors of the quarter-life maze.
Frances Ha (2012, English)
Noah Baumbach and Greta Gerwig’s black-and-white comedy follows a dancer who is broke, unqualified and lost in New York. It belongs here because it makes that condition feel less lonely. The running dance through the streets still picks me up, as does Frances’s stubborn, clumsy optimism. Watching it feels like borrowing a friend’s confidence when you have none of your own. It understands that being behind is not the same as being defeated.
Udaan (2010, Hindi)
Vikramaditya Motwane’s debut follows a boy forced to return to his authoritarian father and the small town he thought he had escaped. It belongs here because it is about the 20s battle of writing your own life when a parent has already written one for you. The film never flinches, but it is never cruel without purpose. Watching it is tense, then quietly liberating. It earns its hope and hands it to you.
Dil Chahta Hai (2001, Hindi)
Farhan Akhtar’s debut changed the look and sound of Hindi friendship films, and it still holds up as the friendship-in-your-20s film I return to. It belongs here because it takes the group chat, the Goa trip and the falling-out seriously. The Goa trip still feels like a permission slip to be silly, honest and young. Watching it is like reading an old diary: some fashion has changed, but the feelings have not.
These eight are my company for the quarter-life chaos, but your list may look different. Tell me which film understood your 20s best—or which one you would add to the queue.
Film images from TMDB. This product uses the TMDB API but is not endorsed or certified by TMDB.
