Movies Prominently Featuring Boys

Here is my list of boy movies I’ve put together for myself and wish to share with others. I plan on adding to this every so often (you can sort by “Date Added” to see my most recent additions). The list is firstly composed of box office movies (movies which seem to have shown in theaters), and only contains TV (or straight-to-DVD) movies where they are genuinely connected prequels or sequels of other movies on this list (meaning noticeable cast overlap), or when they star a boy elsewhere on the list, and it therefore feels that the TV movie simply belongs on this list (for example PETE’S CHRISTMAS with Zachary Gordon).

This list was borne out of finding these movies to aid in depression in my life; it has since just become a hobby. It can be a wonderful and emotionally therapeutic thing to watch a pretty boy for 2 hours. I encourage whomever you are that might struggle with depression to consider trying these movies as a tool in your toolbox for helping you in that struggle. Note that I’ve gone out of my way to not include any “horror” movies on this list, as I think they ruin the overall vibe of the list. There are some disclaimers specifically aimed at those who might use this list for depression. Ones modified with “disturbing” are ones that I would not want to watch for depression without having seen it and fully knowing what I’m getting into. There are some other disclaimers and notes which might be of help or interest to anyone (such as being wary to watch EARTH TO ECHO with a projector and screen). Furthermore along the lines of depression, when picking a random movie I’d recommend picking one modified with an asterisk (what usually signifies the main character).

I’ve listed out the names of all the boys with larger roles in the movies (their names should be as they appear on their respective IMDb page) and have included my calculations/estimates of their ages during filming. When I have a specific film date I’m using for calculation, I provide it (month/day/year format); otherwise the ages are estimates based on the supposition that filming would have been taking place 6 months before the first release date shown on IMDb (which is the figure I’ve used to calculate their age—specifically 180 days before the first release date). Where I’ve been unable to find birthday information (or some claim of birthday information, or some other information implying their age during filming), I have not assigned them an age. My age criterion for this list is 16 and under (if someone turned 17 during filming, I will still consider him list-worthy). I haven't yet decided on a lower age limit, but I am not including baby movies (for example RAISING ARIZONA has been consciously left off this list).

An asterisk signifies the main character or close to it. (An example of “close to it” would be Jake Austin in HOTEL FOR DOGS who is almost equal in prominence to Emma Roberts, however I think Emma would better fit the label of “main character”; also Thomas Sangster in NANNY MCPHEE, where Colin Firth I think is the main character.) YOSEMITE is an example where the three boys collectively form a conceptual * movie, however none of the three boys appear for more than half of the movie (the one which I see literarily as the main character gets the star). Boys modified with “secondary” fit a concept which I archetypally see with Justin Cooper in LIAR LIAR, where he appears scattered throughout the movie in somewhat regular intervals, and alternatively with Tristan Lake Leabu in SUPERMAN RETURNS, where he appears very prominently in the last 40 minutes or so of the film. “Boys throughout” means that several or more boys collectively follow the secondary concept (I’ve decided to not try to list out names for these; “boys throughout” movies specifically are ones I am likely to miss when scanning plot summaries). Boys not modified with either an asterisk or “secondary” are what I call “primary” boys, and can range anywhere between just above secondary (like Chris Makepeace in MEATBALLS) to being in nearly every scene as the main character (the archetype in my mind being Jonathan Ke Quan in INDIANA JONES AND THE TEMPLE OF DOOM). One-off boys having a smaller than “secondary” role, I call “memorable” boys; movies with “memorable” boys do not make this list. (The memorable boy archetypes in my mind are Evan Brinkman in TRAINWRECK, Marcus Antturi in THE SECRET LIFE OF WALTER MITTY, and Jadon Sand in THE LEGO MOVIE; Fred Savage in THE PRINCESS BRIDE and Cyrus Arnold in ZOOLANDER NO. 2 are examples of large memorable roles.) Movies which are non-obvious sequels (non-obvious from their titles) and which the preceding movie(s) is/are not on the list, I note by saying it is “the nth in a series” (if they are the first in a series, I do not note that). Movies modified with “(+)” are ones which I consider to be among the better movies of the world.