Best Teen Movies
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Best Teen Movies
Updated February 9, 2021 505.5k votes 71.2k voters 2.5m views 324 items
List Rules Vote up and add all of your favorite movies that are geared towards and feature teenagers.
Need great teen movies to watch? Here's a list of the best teen movies and films about teenagers, adolescence, and high school. What are the best teen movies of all time? Teenagers and young people have long been an ideal target market for film producers. They have more free time than adults, but can get themselves around and choose their own entertainment more easily than children. As well, they have disposable income, and typically spend more of their money on entertainment than their adult counterparts. What's the best teen movie ever? As this has steadily been true for several decades, it has led to a glut of films designed with teenagers in mind during that time.
Though there is no set definition on what makes a film a "teen movie," other than featuring teenagers (or at the very least, teenaged character) in significant roles, the genre has developed some defining features and common motifs over the years. Often, popular teen movies will explore high school as an environment, and specifically the high school community and the social cliques that form therein is a constant source of interest and observation. Much of the time, this is done with a snarky or cynical worldview, attempting to reflect the way that jaded teens often see the world of adults. Overwhelmingly popular recent entries in the high school movie sub-genre include Easy A and Mean Girls, while cult films such as Donnie Darko and Pump Up the Volume explore the same issues with an even darker or more subversive outlook. Some of these movies can even be considered teen adventure movies . With that being said, it's easy to see that this is far more that just a top 10 teenage movies list but all of them can be considered a must watch teen movie.
Teens are also frequently cast as the leads in horror films, particularly the sub-genre known as "slasher films." In these films, attractive young people are typically placed in precarious situations with serial murderers, and audiences can then delight in seeing them ripped apart.
The top teen movies on this list span all of these sub-genres and more, including genre mash-ups combining several different storytelling modes into one film (such as the horror-comedy Scream franchise.) It's an open list, so after you're done voting, if you see any good teen movies that aren't on here, add them at the bottom of the page.
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Teen movies are great because while the category can definitely stand on its own, teen movies can also easily fall into other genres—horror, comedy, romance, drama—and the best teen movies combine elements of several genres. There's also something about watching a coming of age film that is all too relatable, from the social insecurity to the butting of heads with parents who just don't understand.
In 2019, TV psychologist Honey Langcaster-James talked to Refinery 29 about the allure of teen movies: "One of the things that we do with entertainment is we gain mastery over potentially difficult emotions. Some people wonder why anybody would ever want to watch a horror movie or a thriller. Why would you want to sit and be scared? But there is an element of reassurance in being able to experience those emotions from a removed perspective and I wonder if the same can be said for teen fiction. Through the processes of empathy with the character, you're experiencing those emotions that were challenging. But now, from this more mature perspective, you're gaining an opportunity to master those emotions that you once felt so consumed by and now can have a more detached and bemused look upon that time in your life."
To celebrate the genre, three of our editors came together make a list of our favorite teen films. This list can't cover every single teen movie, but we hope it contains some of your favorites, as well as some new picks for you to check out. So without further ado, here are the 45 best teen films of all time.
The amount of quotable lines from this movie are far too many to list here, and the super talented cast includes young actors like Lindsday Lohan and Rachel McAdams alongside SNL vets Tina Fey, Amy Poehler, Tim Meadows, and Ana Gasteyer. Almost makes you want to grab a Kalteen bar and sit down for a rewatch. - Temi Adebowale
The plot of Say Anything follows the romance between Lloyd, an average student, and Diane, the class valedictorian, but the only thing anyone remembers from the film is the scene where Lloyd plays "In Your Eyes" on a boombox under Diane's bedroom window. ~swoon~ - TA
Perhaps the most vital teen movie of the ‘90s. Let’s be clear: this isn’t really a “touching” or “nice” story; it’s mostly about some horny dudes, and is filled with humor that’s really quite lewd. But nonetheless… it works. Seann William Scott as Stifler is one of the all-time on-screen comedy douchebags, Eugene Levy is perfection, and the soundtrack is pop-punk royalty. - Evan Romano
Based on Shakespeare’s The Taming of the Shrew, fans didn’t have a difficult time becoming entranced with the storyline. And if you can’t necessarily remember the classic poem recited at the end of the film, it’s alright—because you definitely were busy staring at a group of young Hollywood heavyweights in the making. Can we serve you a teenage Joseph Gordon-Levitt and a singing Heath Ledger? - Adrianna Freedman
When the two of the smartest girls in the senior class—played by Beanie Feldstein and Kaitlyn Dever—realize that their rule-breaking, hard-partying classmates also got into great schools, they decide to let loose at a graduation party. Booksmart marked Olivia Wilde’s directorial debut, and Lisa Kudrow, Will Forte, Jessica Williams, and Jason Sudeikis also make appearances. - TA
Also known as the movie that launched the very trendy “Vote for Pedro” shirts, the cult classic focuses on a high schooler named Napoleon and his eccentric family, along with his efforts to help his buddy Pedro win their high school's race for class president. - TA
You know how the best part of every teen movie is the party scene? The people who made Can’t Hardly Wait knew that, which is why they decided to make a movie where basically the entire movie is party scenes. The movie has plenty of what you’d think of as “stock” teen movie characters: the jock, the nerd, the ridiculous white boy who thinks he’s Black (played wonderfully by an early-career Seth Green), but they’re all played to such perfection. The movie is so charming, and so enjoyable, and obviously has a soundtrack that includes The Replacements’ song that inspired the title . I can’t hardly wait...to watch this movie again. -ER
House Party has just about everything you need in a teen movie: strict parents, close best friends, a raging party, and romantic pursuits, and that’s in addition to the great soundtrack and impressive dance battle in the middle of the film. - TA
Often called the most influential teen movie of all time, John Hughes’ 1985 coming-of-age film stars Molly Ringwald, Emilio Estevez, Anthony Michael Hall, Judd Nelson, and Ally Sheedy as teenagers from different cliques who spend a Saturday in detention together at their high school. - TA
Spoofs done well are always fun, but they’re at there very best when they’re not only funny and pointed, but function as an effective piece of the genre that’s being spoofed. That’s exactly the case with Not Another Teen Movie, where every single character is a hilarious take on another ‘90s or 2000s teen movie, and they still manage to work in a delightful and hysterically over-the-top genre fashion. Bonus points for 19-year-old Chris Evans as the jock with a heart of gold, and a very off the wall Randy Quaid. Gold. - ER
This coming of age film follows a young man named Tre over the course of a few years after he's sent to live in Crenshaw with his father. Boyz n the Hood also marked John Singleton's directorial debut. - TA
The premise is simple: three best friends, an empty house, and a plan to have an epic party. But in this movie, the party goes almost too well—let's just say when a SWAT team is called to disperse your party, you've done a good job. Extra points if anyone in your town tried to throw their own Project X party. - TA
An adorable Nick Robinson stars in this new-age romcom about a closeted gay high school student finding love via emails. It’s a fresh take on the teen love story, and the fact it’s the first big-budget film that solely focuses on LGBTQ+ relationships makes it all the more innovative. You just watch and see—you’ll be rooting for young love all over again in no time. - AF
Reese Witherspoon and Matthew Broderick were formidable foes in this black comedy, with Witherspoon starring as overachiever Tracy Flick and Broderick playing history teacher Jim McAllister. The plot revolves around their high school’s election for student body president, and it satirizes both politics and high school life. - TA
Oh man. There are a lot of subgenres on this list, and Dazed and Confused absolutely owns the “Last Day of School” subgenre. There’s a whole self-defiance/live-your-dreams plotline going here, but we’ve got to also focus on the plethora of before-they-were-stars roles. Ben Affleck! Parker Posey! But most importantly, obviously, is the role that spurred a lifelong catchphrase: Matthew McConaughey as Wooderson. Alright, alright, alright. - ER
It’s the 80’s film which inspired all us young slackers to take a break once in a while. While it shouldn’t necessarily be an everyday thing, like Matthew Broderick’s character seems to have an affinity for, life does come at you fast. As Ferris says, “If you don’t stop and look around once in a while, you could miss it.” (This does apply to all of us, btw.) - AF
Well f*** me gently with a chainsaw, because Heathers is a masterpiece. From the very ‘80s wardrobe and classic one-liners to Winona Ryder and Christian Slater’s dangerous charisma, the film is meant to be a darker foil to the squeaky clean movies of the era. - TA
Hailee Steinfeld is one of our most talented young multi-hyphenates, and you can see what’s probably her best acting in The Edge of Seventeen (which is saying quite a lot, considering she burst onto the scene with a role in The Coen Brothers’ True Grit). What The Edge of Seventeen does better than every other teen movie is portray a sense of anxiety that we all either curently live with or have certainly felt in the past. Steinfeld sells it like the seasoned veteran she is. If you needed any other excuse to check this one out...Woody Harrelson plays her teacher. Don’t skip it! - ER
Juno gave us Ellen Page, and for that we will be forever grateful. Page plays a 16-year-old that faces an unplanned pregnancy after losing her virginity to her friend Paulie (played by Michael Cera). She decides to give the baby up for adoption, but there are plenty of obstacles along the way. - TA
This movie makes you feel cool just by watching it, and the teen drama follows Long Island teenager Camille after she befriends a group of female skateboarders in NYC. The film is actually inspired by the real Skate Kitchen group of skaters, and it features the group's members playing fictionalized versions of themselves. - TA
Scream fits just about everywhere. It’s a horror. It’s a slasher. It’s a comedy. It’s meta. But maybe more than any of those, it’s definitely a teen movie. Throughout the movie we follow Sidney Prescott as the ghostface killer threatens her whole neighborhood—and all of her friends. Skeet Ulrich has a total we-couldn’t-get-Johnny-Depp vibe going, and Matthew Lillard as his friend is a classic laughing goofy idiot. We somehow made it through this whole blurb without spoiling the movie, so if you somehow haven’t seen it, can you do us a solid and watch it please? - ER
A remake of the 1987 film Can’t Buy Me Love , this 2003 classic stars Christina Milian and Nick Cannon as Paris and Alvin, two high schoolers that strike up a deal for Paris to give Alvin a makeover and help him become cool in exchange for Alvin fixing Paris’ mother’s car after she crashes it. - TA
If you liked American Pie , just wait until you catch up with the gang a full year later when they’re coming home from their first year of college. This time the guys are spending the summer at a lake house, and, as you can imagine, hijinx ensue. More great music—including a phenomenal use of “Everywhere” by Michelle Branch—and more of the same characters that we can’t tell exactly why, but we start to really just enjoy their on-screen shenanigans. - ER
Based on Jenny Han's 2014 novel of the same name, this Netflix pick is largely credited with helping to re-ignite the teen romance genre, and Lara Jean and Peter’s sweet romance will melt even the coldest of hearts. - TA
Where to begin! Superbad came out in 2007, but still feels as of-the-present as any movie on this list (outside of, like, Booksmart, which literally came out last year). Seth Rogen and Evan Goldberg famously started to write this script—with lead characters, named Seth (Jonah Hill) and Evan (Michael Cera) based on themselves—when they were just 13. Add super comedy producer Judd Apatow to the mix, along with Rogen and Bill Hader as a pair of the funniest on-screen cops in history (it works, we swear), and a dude named McLovin, and you’ve got a genre masterpiece. We named it Rogen’s best movie ever , and for good reason. - ER
The '90s clothes, quotes (as if!), cute romances and strong friendships in this 1995 movie make it a classic, and the cast features faces that we still love to this day—Alicia Silverstone, Donald Faison, Brittany Murphy, Wallace Shawn, and of course, Paul Rudd. - TA
Based on the book series by Stephanie Meyer, Twilight started a vampire renaissance of sorts, and fans still love to watch (and sometimes hate watch) the movie that launched Robert Pattinson and Kristen Stewart’s career. - TA
While most of the movies on this list are lighthearted, Sofia Coppola’s 1999 directorial debut is a lot darker than most teen movies. Based on the best-selling novel of the same name by Jeffrey Eugenides, the film follows the lives of five teenage sisters in the late 1970s as they’re isolated in their home after their youngest sister attempts suicide. - TA
Is this...the best teen movie of all time? It might be. The story is thin—it’s basically just a year in the life of a regular high school, based on a real account from Rolling Stone reporter and Almost Famous director Cameron Crowe going undercover at a high school (the book is extremely hard to find). But everything just works; from young Jennifer Jason Leigh, to Judge Reinhold reading as a Jason Segel-James Spader hybrid, to an absolutely iconic Sean Penn, it’s just good. That’s the only way to describe Fast Times At Ridgemont High. It’s just good. If you’re looking for a companion piece, don’t miss the recent celebrity table read , featuring Morgan Freeman, Matthew McConaughey, Shia LaBeouf as Spicoli, and a very flirty Brad Pitt and Jennifer Aniston. - ER
Based on the 1782 novel Les Liaisons dangereuses by Pierre Choderlos de Laclos, the 1999 film involves step siblings, a twisted bet, and has a heartbreaking ending. The movie is also notable for its extremely talented cast, which included Sarah Michelle Gellar, Ryan Phillippe, Reese Witherspoon, Selma Blair. - TA
Lady Bird was Greta Gerwig’s directorial debut, and the movie follows high school senior Christine McPherson (played by Saoirse Ronan) as she longs to leave her hometown of Sacramento for a larger city and butts heads with her traditionalist mother. - TA
Anyone who grew up in the early aughts remembers the iconic songs and dance moves the students of East High performed with ease. The Disney Channel classic changed the way teen musicals filmed in the 21st century, and let’s be honest—you definitely got your head in the game the minute an unknown actor named Zac Efron graced your TV screen for the first time. - AF
John Hughes continued his ‘80s reign with Pretty in Pink , which followed working class teenager Andie and her best friend Duckie as they struggled to fit in at their suburban Chicago area high school. - TA
Anne Hathaway and Julie Andrews star in this early aughts teen romcom, telling the story of a young girl who discovers she is princess to a small, fictional principality. While fans don’t get introduced to a dashingly young Chris Pine until its sequel, it’s still fun to watch Hathaway’s character stumble her way through princess lessons, paparazzi blunders, and crushing on her best friend’s music-slack brother. And let’s face it—we all can quote some iconic lines which are now part of the pop culture lexicon. - AF
A young Mandy Moore and Shane West star in this teen classic about young love laced with terminal illness. I don’t know what’s more endearing about this film—watching Mandy Moore angelically sing “Only Hope” or see two teenagers innocently fall in love. Then again, Moore did say she fell in love with her co-star while on set, and vice versa with West. Maybe the chemistry was real the entire time... - AF
How would I describe The Craft ? Imagine Mean Girls—but if the girls were all witches. This movie is a darker entry into the teen movie world, and the film deals with racism, class differences, and slut shaming in a way that most films of the time wouldn't. - TA
Grease follows the story of two teens from different worlds that fall in love, and the movie spawned a sequel, a prequel, and a whole new generation of women that want to be Pink Ladies. - TA
Malcolm is a geek trying to survive in a tough neighborhood, but his luck changes when he's invited to an underground party that gives him and his friends the adventure of a lifetime. The film's accompanying soundtrack is also out of this world. - TA
While the 1976 version of the movie got a remake in 2013, the original will always be near and dear to our hearts. Sissy Spacek plays Carrie White, a teenager who is bullied at school—but what her peers don't know is that she has telekinetic powers. And of course, the movie is responsible for the the iconic image of Carrie standing onstage, absolutely covered in pig blood.
Who would’ve ever thought that one pair of pants would bring the adventure of a lifetime for four teenagers? Although it’s definitely a cheesy film, I think we’d all love to be like the pants and travel all over the world, from Greece to Mexico. Besides the obvious, it also stars Alexis Bledel and Blake Lively, aka America’s teen sweethearts of the early 2000’s. Think it’s time to rewatch Gilmore Girls after this movie - AF
In this pick, Shailene Woodley and Miles Teller artfully play Aimee and Sutter, two teens with completely opposite personalities—he's super outgoing, she's more introverted—who fall in love despite the odds stacked against them. However, Sutter's demons threaten to derail their relationship. - TA
Back to the Future is such a classic. Such a goddamn classic. Damn. God damn. OK, where was I? Look, the story here isn’t anything too crazy—teen Marty McFly (Michael J. Fox) just is helping his old kook scientist friend, Doc Brown (Christopher Lloyd) with his latest invention, which just happens to be a time machine, which just happens to throw him back in time to when his parents were his age. And his mom might be in love with him, and his dad might be a fairly hopeless loser. And his neighbor is a huge bully/ass hole. And “The Power of Love,” by Huey Lewis, plays throughout. Soundtrack classic. Movie classic. It’s all classic. - ER
Many of us can still recite the opening cheer from Bring it On by heart, and the movie combined the fascinating world of cheerleading with the darker world of theft and erasure of Black cheerleaders. Welcome to the cheer-ocracy - TA.
We all have different reasons for watching the film (hello, shirtless Channing Tatum !), but this re-imagining of a Shakespeare comedy is full of hijinks and borderline inappropriate jokes strewn throughout. And if that’s not enough, be prepared for the ultimate poorly-written song to be stuck in your head once the credits begin rolling. Though it might have you stalking your teen crush outside of their window soon after. - AF
Set in 1978 Chicago, this feel-good movie follows a group of teens as they enter a roller disco contest. The stacked cast includes Bow Wow, Nick Cannon, Meagan Good, Mike Epps, Brandon T. Jackson, and Jurnee Smollett. - TA
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