The Perks Of Being A Wallflower is turning ten years old this September. The book and the film show the rich inner world of the titular 'wallflower', Charlie, and it made a lasting impression on many introverts. Introverted people tend to prefer their own company, often daydreaming, and can be more interested in their inner thoughts than outer stimulation.
Some of this time alone may be used to watch movies, and these are some which are relatable to the introverted experience, as expressed by s on Reddit.
The Perks Of Being A Wallflower (2012)
Being an introvert can feel especially isolating as a teenager, and The Perks Of Being A Wallflower encapsulates this perfectly. Logan Lerman stars as the isolated Charlie who befriends outspoken siblings, Sam and Patrick, after the suicide of his only childhood companion.
"Wallflower" is a synonym for an introvert, referring to those who prefer to stay at the periphery of a room during social gatherings. generic_name_here likes the film as Charlie "still recognizes he is an introvert even after he begins making friends." This is a rarity in films featuring introverted characters, as many feature a central thread of them transcending their introverted status by the end.
The Station Agent (2003)
In this sweet film, , after losing his only friend, moves to rural New Jersey to live a secluded new life, and develops an introverted personality. However, in meeting his fellow townsfolk and having varied conversations with them, he slowly realizes that spending time with other people needn't be unpleasant.
The Station Agent came up a lot on Reddit, with TepidHalibut commenting that it is a "fine movie" and that Dinklage gives "such a measured performance." His approach to an introverted character is worthy of note and is aided by Tom McCarthy's excellent script that won a BAFTA for Best Original Screenplay.
(500) Days Of Summer (2009)
(500) Days Of Summer stars Joseph Gordon Levitt as Tom and Zooey Deschanel as Summer in a cautionary tale for introverts looking for love. The film shows their relationship from beginning to end, in non-sequential order, after Tom is dumped and heartbroken.
It's clear that, as an introvert, Tom spends too much time crafting an ideal image of Summer in his head that is at odds with who she actually is. This causes him to be a bit of a bad boyfriend by the end, lacking interest in the real world, and the real Summer. FROMtheASHES984 says that the scene in which Tom's fantasy and reality are shown side by side is "a gut punch every single time."
Amelie (2001)
Amelie is about the titular quiet girl that works in a cafe in Paris and attempts to make the lives of those around her happier while refraining from talking to anyone. In dreamy elements, she fantasizes about the lives and experiences she may have. But when love is at her doorstep, she must reconcile her shyness with her desire for romance.
ProudFunction writes that the film has a great message for introverts, "It’s easy to live in your own head forever and to live through others, but that’s not truly all life is." Although Amelie stays an introvert, she learns to live for herself as well as to assist in the happiness of those around her.
Punch Drunk Love (2002)
Paul Thomas Anderson writes and directs Adam Sandler in a role opposed to his usual bombastic, extroverted characters as Barry Eagan in Punch Drunk Love. He stars as a lonely, quiet man who falls in love with his sister's co-worker. It's insinuated that his introversion is a result of having seven loud, overbearing sisters.
OldBirdWatcher is very enthusiastic about this recommendation, adding that "it's also an accurate portrayal of social anxiety." After a complicated scenario involving a phone-sex line, Barry battles his social anxiety to pursue love. The film intricately shows how introversion can blend with social anxiety, and how something as strong as true love is required to help Barry break out of the cycle.
Me And Earl And The Dying Girl (2015)
Written and adapted from his debut novel by Jesse Andrews, Me and Earl And The Dying Girl features Thomas Mann as the 'Me'. After his mother encourages him to hang out with Olivia Cooke's Rachel (The Dying Girl), they strike up a friendship. Earl is his 'co-worker' who assists him in the making of goofy short films.
One Redditor recommends the film, but with a cost. They warn, "be prepared to weep." Ultimately, it's a film about friendship, with a protagonist that seems to think that he doesn't need it.
Call Me By Your Name (2017)
The Luca Guadagnino-directed film depicts the crush and subsequent love affair of introspective Elio and the very American Oliver, in the summer of 1986 somewhere in Northern Italy. In a quiet and intimate film, they fall for one another as Elio comes of age and comes to with his newfound sexuality.
Call Me By Your Name is a film that does an excellent job at interpreting the complex inner thoughts of its main character when each one is detailed so thoroughly in the Andre Aciman novel on which it is based.
Adaptation (2002)
Written by self-professed introvert Charlie Kaufman, this meta film stars Nicolas Cage as 'Kaufman', a screenwriter with writer's block. The comedy-drama is about his struggle to adapt Susan Orlean's 'The Orchid Thief' for a movie adaptation. The character is socially awkward, and at one point gets his confident twin brother Donald to interview the author instead of himself.
Redditor ZorroMeansFox says this is the main crux of Adaptation, "How 'Charlie Kaufman' is tortured by being locked inside his own head so much, while his twin brother Donald, the extrovert, is much happier free of that intellectual maze-of-self-reflection-and-apprehension." It surely shows how difficult an introvert can be in the wider social discourse.
The Way Way Back (2013)
Another coming-of-age flick, The Way Way Back centers on shy fourteen-year-old Duncan. He reluctantly goes on vacation with his mother (Toni Collette) and her loud boyfriend (Steve Carell) and finds himself surrounded by extroverts. Over the summer, he comes into his own with the help of the manager of a water park, Owen, played by Sam Rockwell.
coming-of-age films are often good at representing introverts, and recommends this as a "good recent example." In addition, the film's writer-directors Nat Faxon and Jim Rash were praised for their debut film, with critics calling it funny, witty, and heartwarming.
The Secret Life Of Walter Mitty (2013)
Ben Stiller stars as the titular chronic daydreamer, in a film based on James Thurber's 1939 short story of the same name. He works for a magazine called Life, and after finding a key photograph missing for their last issue, goes on a life-affirming treasure hunt to find it. The journey takes him all the way to Greenland, Iceland, and Afghanistan as he rediscovers his teenage hopes.
The Secret Life of Walter Mitty received mixed reviews on release, and a since-deleted explains why they think this might be, "Ben Stiller and his team made a movie that did not speak the language of the extrovert. It did things that an extrovert will never catch." Therefore, it is a true introvert film and viewers must have that particular filter in order to truly appreciate it.
