Deeply rooted in Australia's construction as a young nation 'coming of age' has been the
defining narrative of Australia's national cinema. This book provides the first study which
systematically explores the 'coming of age' theme in Australian feature films produced since
the turn of the millennium foregrounding how films use a range of diverse (his)stories to
respond to the centrality of this theme. Rather than focussing on 'coming of age' mainly in its
portrayal of a (successful) maturation process this study explores the possibilities inherent
in what is conceived of as a 'permanently' transitional 'coming of age' process providing a
crucial starting point for the re-definition of national fictions. A range of cinematic genres
including the road movie crime film sport film romance and musical is used to challenge and
(to varying degrees) destabilise the national myth of Australia as a youthful egalitarian
society with a chance and 'fair go' for everyone.
