: An Australian masterpiece concerning the mysterious disappearance of schoolgirls during an outing. It is renowned for its ethereal cinematography and themes of repressed emotion and the power of the natural world. Spirit of the Beehive (1973)
This is the unavoidable comparison. Set in a New Orleans brothel in 1917, it stars a very young Brooke Shields. Malle handles the subject of a child’s sexualization with a documentary-like detachment. While controversial, it is a legitimate historical drama about exploitation rather than an endorsement of it. It shares Maladolescenza ’s uncomfortable gaze at innocence corrupted by cynical adult (or near-adult) desire. movies like maladolescenza 1977
: A dark French film about two girls who rebel against their convent upbringing through occultism and sexual games. Summary of Similar Themes Pretty Baby , , Little Lips Summer Awakening A Real Young Girl , That Splendid November Transgressive Youth Don't Deliver Us from Evil , The Dreamers Set in a New Orleans brothel in 1917,
: A drama directed by Luca Guadagnino that follows a teenager's excessive first sexual experiences. Fat Girl (2001) Maladolescenza is cynical and sharp.
Randal Kleiser Why it fits: This is the PG-rated, Hollywood version of Maladolescenza . Two shipwrecked children (Brooke Shields and Christopher Atkins) grow to adolescence on a tropical island and discover sexuality naturally. The difference is tone: The Blue Lagoon is romantic and soft-focus; Maladolescenza is cynical and sharp.