Ask HN: What is the best JavaScript framework for a multipage application?

Disclaimer: I am not a professional web developer. I have never seriously done front-end work.

I am writing an web application in Elixir/Phoenix. It is an app with many categories that does not fit the single-page application model.

That being said, I want it to look and feel like a modern web application by 2017's standards. Ideally, I could use a lean JavaScript framework for interactive UI elements, validation, assorted bells and whistles, etc.

Everything I've come across seems like absolute overkill for my needs. It's also hard to find a framework that isn't tightly coupled with the SPA label. I do not want to work around an SPA framework, nor do I wish to force my app to be an SPA.