I have had to work hard to find movies that are appropriate for tweens/teens yet also interesting—both for teens and adults!
One that we saw recently at the movie theater (and has been completely underrated) was Peanut Butter Falcon starring Shia LaBeouf and Zack Gottsagen (a man with Down’s syndrome). Other than some cursing and a little violence, it was a great family movie with a wonderful theme.
I remembered a couple of books I read in childhood and found the movies after we read the books:
Where the Lillies Bloom (G-rated Americana) found it on YouTube. The book is wonderful, and a little better than the movie, but both are great.
The Good Earth (book by Pearl S. Buck) Old black and white movie found on YouTube. The movie is G-rated but the book is more PG13. Both are excellent. She grew up in China in the late 1800s and wrote this wonderful novel about a Chinese family and their travails. The book became the first of a trilogy, I believe.
This is a book we recently read and then found the (animated) movie on Netflix. Don’t be put off by the animation, though. It’s worth seeing even without kids:
The Breadwinner. It’s about a girl in Afghanistan after the Taliban takes over.
My daughter loved all of these movies, and so did my hubby!