Man + Girl Movies
Sometimes wholesome, sometimes well past "creepy", the unlikely pairing of an adult man with a young girl is a strangely common trope in film- Far more common than "Woman + Boy" pairings, and probably even more common than "Man + Boy/Woman + Girl".
Sometimes it's a father/daughter relationship (either literally, or symbolically), sometimes it's an overtly sexual thing, and sometimes (MOST times, tbh) it's a weird, uncomfortable mix of the two...
Sometimes it's a father/daughter relationship (either literally, or symbolically), sometimes it's an overtly sexual thing, and sometimes (MOST times, tbh) it's a weird, uncomfortable mix of the two...
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- DirectorLuc BessonStarsJean RenoGary OldmanNatalie PortmanAn Italian hit man protects a New York orphan.Leon and Mathilda.
(solid Yikes-actor) - DirectorPeter BogdanovichStarsRyan O'NealTatum O'NealMadeline KahnDuring the Great Depression, a con man finds himself saddled with a young girl who may or may not be his daughter, and the two forge an unlikely partnership.Moses and Addie.
(mid-tier Yikes-factor) - DirectorMartin ScorseseStarsRobert De NiroJodie FosterCybill ShepherdA mentally unstable veteran works as a nighttime taxi driver in New York City, where the perceived decadence and sleaze fuels his urge for violent action.Travis and Iris.
(solid Yikes-factor) - DirectorMatthew VaughnStarsAaron Taylor-JohnsonNicolas CageChloë Grace MoretzDave Lizewski is an unnoticed high school student and comic book fan who one day decides to become a superhero, even though he has no powers, training or meaningful reason to do so.Damon/'Big Daddy' and Mindy/'Hit-Girl'.
(mid-tier Yikes-factor) - DirectorLouis MalleStarsBrooke ShieldsKeith CarradineSusan SarandonA preteen girl lives as a prostitute in New Orleans in 1917.Bellocq and Violet.
(Yikes-factor="OK, time to call the cops") - DirectorAdrian LyneStarsJeremy IronsDominique SwainMelanie GriffithAn English professor falls for a minor, and has to face the consequences of his actions.Humbert and Dolores.
(Yikes-factor="OK, time to call the cops") - DirectorStanley KubrickStarsJames MasonShelley WintersSue LyonA middle-aged college professor becomes infatuated with a 14-year-old girl.Humbert and Dolores.
(Yikes-factor="OK, time to call the cops") - DirectorTerry GilliamStarsJeff BridgesJennifer TillyJodelle FerlandBecause of the actions of her irresponsible parents, a young girl is left alone on a decrepit country estate and survives inside her fantastic imagination.Jeliza-Rose, and first Noah, then Dickens
(Yikes-factor="OK, time to call the cops") - DirectorClint EastwoodStarsWilliam HoldenKay LenzRoger C. CarmelA young girl runs away from home and meets a grouchy older man who reluctantly takes her in. Eventually they develop a romantic and affectionate relationship.Frank and Breezy.
(Yikes-factor="possibly technically legal, but still creepy af") - DirectorJohn HustonStarsAileen QuinnAlbert FinneyCarol BurnettA spunky young orphan is taken in by a rich eccentric, much to the chagrin of the cantankerous woman who runs the orphanage.Daddy Warbucks and Annie.
(Pretty mild Yikes-factor) - DirectorSam MendesStarsKevin SpaceyAnnette BeningThora BirchA sexually frustrated suburban father has a mid-life crisis after becoming infatuated with his daughter's best friend.Lester and Angela.
(Yikes-factor="possibly technically legal, but still creepy af") - DirectorWilliam FriedkinStarsEllen BurstynMax von SydowLinda BlairWhen a mysterious entity possesses a young girl, her mother seeks the help of two Catholic priests to save her life.Father Merrin and Regan.
(Pretty mild Yikes-factor) - DirectorHenry HathawayStarsJohn WayneKim DarbyGlen CampbellA drunken, hard-nosed U.S. Marshal and a Texas Ranger help a stubborn teenager track down her father's murderer in the old American West.Rooster and Mattie.
(Pretty mild Yikes-factor) - DirectorsEthan CoenJoel CoenStarsJeff BridgesMatt DamonHailee SteinfeldA stubborn teenager enlists the help of a tough U.S. Marshal to track down her father's murderer.Rooster and Mattie.
(Pretty mild Yikes-factor) - DirectorSteven SpielbergStarsTom CruiseDakota FanningTim RobbinsAn alien invasion threatens the future of humanity. The catastrophic nightmare is depicted through the eyes of one American family fighting for survival.Ray and Rachel.
(Pretty wholesome, but fits the pattern) - DirectorRobert MulliganStarsGregory PeckJohn MegnaFrank OvertonA widowed lawyer in Depression-era Alabama defends a black man against a false rape charge while teaching his young children about the sad reality of prejudice.Atticus and Scout.
(Pretty wholesome, but fits the pattern) - DirectorChristopher NolanStarsMatthew McConaugheyAnne HathawayJessica ChastainWhen Earth becomes uninhabitable in the future, a farmer and ex-NASA pilot, Joseph Cooper, is tasked to pilot a spacecraft, along with a team of researchers, to find a new planet for humans.Coooper and Murph.
(Pretty wholesome, but fits the pattern) - DirectorJessie NelsonStarsSean PennMichelle PfeifferDakota FanningAn intellectually disabled man fights for custody of his 7-year-old daughter and in the process teaches his cold-hearted lawyer the value of love and family.Sam and Lucy.
(Who even knows, with this one?) - DirectorRidley ScottStarsNicolas CageAlison LohmanSam RockwellA phobic con artist and his protégé are on the verge of pulling off a lucrative swindle when the former's teenage daughter arrives unexpectedly.Roy and Angela.
(mid-tier Yikes-factor) - DirectorGeorge ClooneyStarsGeorge ClooneyFelicity JonesDavid OyelowoThis post-apocalyptic tale follows Augustine, a lonely scientist in the Arctic, as he races to stop Sully and her fellow astronauts from returning home to a mysterious global catastrophe.Augustine and Iris
(Pretty mild Yikes-factor) - DirectorRebecca MillerStarsDaniel Day-LewisCatherine KeenerCamilla BelleA father and daughter isolated on an island off the East Coast and living on a once-thriving commune grapple with the limits of family and sexuality.Jack and Rose.
- DirectorBertrand BlierStarsPatrick DewaereAriel BesseMaurice RonetAfter her mother dies, fourteen-year-old Marion falls in love with her stepfather, Remy.Remi and Marion.
- DirectorsJonathan DaytonValerie FarisStarsSteve CarellToni ColletteGreg KinnearA family determined to get their young daughter into the finals of a beauty pageant take a cross-country trip in their VW bus.Frank and Olive.
(Mid-tier Yikes-factor) - DirectorDavid ButlerStarsShirley TempleLionel BarrymoreEvelyn VenableIn the post-Civil war south, a darling little girl attempts to restore the peace between her parents and her plantation owner grandfather.Virtually EVERY Shirley Temple movie, really.
- DirectorIrving CummingsStarsShirley TempleJohn BolesRochelle HudsonWealthy Edward Morgan becomes charmed with a curly-haired orphan and her pretty older sister Mary and arranges to adopt both under the alias of "Mr. Jones." As he spends more time with them, he soon finds himself falling in love with Mary.
