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We’ve compiled a list of the best teen movies of all time for those of you who fit into that age range or for the rest of us who are still young at heart! Whether you’re a teen now, or your teenage years are long past you, teen movies have no age limit on who can have fun and be entertained by them.
After all, many of the best teen movies talk about problems and topics we all deal with like young love, loss, sex, and the power of friendships.
And, over the years, the list of great teen movies has only gotten longer and longer. Sure, some ’80s teen movies like The Breakfast Club and Ferris Bueller’s Day Off will always be classics, but many new ones have made the list too. After all, it wasn’t too long ago when we were all raving about Olivia Wilde’s Booksmart or Ayo Ederibi and Rachel Sennott in Bottoms.
So, with so many teen movies to choose from, we’ve compiled a list of 50 movies that are some of our favorites. From Grease and 10 Things I Hate About You to 17 Again and Do Revenge, check out all the teen movies we think should feature in your weekend movie night (and where to watch them) below!
Best Teen Movies of All Time
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‘Booksmart’
Image Credit: Everett Collection / Everett Collection Starring Beanie Feldstein and Kaitlyn Dever, Booksmart is a hilarious Olivia Wilde-directed movie about two academic geniuses who realize they’ve never truly experienced high school. Before their time ends, the two commit to cramming the ultimate “high school experience” all into one night.
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’10 Things I Hate About You’
Image Credit: ©Buena Vista Pictures/courtesy Everet / Everett Collection In this teen movie classic, 10 Things I Hate About You follows an outgoing younger sister Bianca as she’s prohibited by her parents from going to prom unless her older sister Kat attends. What ensues is a master plan from Bianca and her crush to convince Kat to go to prom (with the so charming Patrick, played by the late Heath Ledger).
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‘The Breakfast Club’
Image Credit: ©Universal/courtesy Everett / Everett Collection 1985’s The Breakfast Club follows a disconnected group of high schoolers as they’re stuck in Saturday detention together with no choice but to bond, share and find their middle ground.
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‘The Edge of Seventeen’
Image Credit: Murray Close /© STX Entertainment /Courtesy Everett Collection Starring Hailee Steinfeld, The Edge of Seventeen follows a lost high school junior as she feels like her world is crumbling down around her. Of course, that all started when her best friend started dating her all-star older brother Darian.
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‘To All the Boys I’ve Loved Before’
Image Credit: Masha Weisberg/© Netflix /Courtesy Everett Collection Starring Noah Centineo and Lana Condor, To All the Boys I’ve Loved Before follows the embarrassing yet eye-opening story that follows when a high schooler’s love letters to her crushes get sent out to them.
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‘The Half of It’
Image Credit: KC Bailey / © Netflix / Courtesy Everett Collection In the Half of It, the ever-so-studious Ellie is dared to write a love letter to a jock, but they end up having more in common than they ever realized.
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‘The Hate U Give’
Image Credit: Erika Doss /TM & copyright © Twentieth Century Fox Film Corp. All rights reserved. /Courtesy Everett Collection With Amandla Stenberg front and center, The Hate U Give follows a high schooler living in two worlds: the black neighborhood where she lives and the wealthy white prep school that she attends. Then, when her best friend is killed at the hands of a police officer, her two realities turn upside down.
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‘Dope’
Image Credit: ©Open Road Films/Courtesy Everett Collection In a movie that’s part drama, part romance, Dope follows three high school seniors as they do their best to get away from trouble after a chance encounter with a drug dealer named Dom.
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‘Pretty in Pink’
Image Credit: ©Paramount/Courtesy Everett Collection In Pretty in Pink, Molly Ringwald’s character Andie attempts to answer a highly debated question: Is it better to date a popular bad boy or the sweet nerd?
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‘Ferris Bueller’s Day Off’
Image Credit: ©Paramount/Courtesy Everett Collection As the title suggests, the teen classic Ferris Bueller’s Day Off tells the story of popular high school senior Ferris Bueller as he sneaks out one last time for an epic day off.
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‘Grease’
Image Credit: ©Paramount/Courtesy Everett Collection It doesn’t get more classic than this! In the movie musical Grease, the charming Danny Zuko meets the naïve and utterly sweet Sandy, a woman who might be just what he and his friends need to change their ways.
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‘Back to the Future’
Image Credit: ©Universal/Courtesy Everett Collection What would you do if you time-traveled back to the past when you’re parents were just teenagers? In Back to the Future, Marty McFly (Michael J. Fox) has to figure that out, one way or another.
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‘Heathers’
Image Credit: ©New World Pictures/Courtesy Everett Col / Everett Collection In Heathers, Veronica (Winona Ryder) learns just how dangerous it is to confront the most popular girls in school, and how some men just never deserve to be trusted…
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‘Dazed and Confused’
Image Credit: Gabor Szitanyi / ©Gramercy Pictures / Courtesy Everett Collection In the iconic 90s hit teen movie, Dazed and Confused, so many up-and-coming stars like Matthew McConaughey and Ben Affleck star as seniors trying to make the most of their last day of high school.
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‘Bring It On’
Image Credit: ©Universal/Courtesy Everett Collection Bring It On is the epitome of a teen cheerleading movie. The film follows the Toro cheerleading squad as they scramble to redo their routine after their former cheer captain (Gabrielle Union) steals their routine for the Clovers, a hip-hop squad from East Compton.
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‘Lady Bird’
Image Credit: ©A24/courtesy Everett Collection Directed by Greta Gerwig, Lady Bird follows a lost yet opinionated high-schooler (Saoirse Ronan) as she navigates relationships, school and her rocky relationship with her mother (Laurie Metcalf).
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‘High School Musical’
Image Credit: Fred Hayes / © Disney Channel / Everett Collection In a movie that shaped so many generations, High School Musical follows basketball star Troy Bolton (Zac Efron) and straight-A student Gabriella Montez (Vanessa Hudgens) as they fall in love with singing (& each other).
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‘Clueless’
Image Credit: ©Paramount/Courtesy Everett Collection In this 90’s classic, Clueless follows the superficial and highly popular Cher (Alicia Silverstone) as she sets up two professors, brings an outcast into her clique and takes a dip into dating for the first time.
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‘Mean Girls’
Image Credit: ©Paramount/Courtesy Everett Collection Starring Rachel McAdams, Lindsay Lohan, Amanda Seyfried and Lacey Chabert, Mean Girls follows a recent transfer (Lohan) as she bonds with high school outcasts and plans to infiltrate the popular girls (aka the Plastics) to take them down.
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‘The Princess Diaries’
Image Credit: ©Walt Disney Co./Courtesy Everett Collection No matter what age you are, finding out you’re royalty to a country you’ve never even heard of before must be some daunting news. For Mia in The Princess Diaries, being a high schooler at the same time only made it more complicated.
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‘Easy A’
Image Credit: Adam Taylor/©Screen Gems/Courtesy Everett Collection While she’s an Oscar winner now, Emma Stone absolutely commanded the screen in 2010’s Easy A. In the film, Stone’s character Olive finds herself in a complicated web of lies after lying to her best friend about losing her virginity.
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‘Love, Simon’
Image Credit: Ben Rothstein /TM & copyright © Twentieth Century Fox Film Corp. All rights reserved. /Courtesy Everett Collection In the heartfelt movie Love, Simon, Nick Robinson’s character Simon sparks an unlikely connection with someone online who recently came out as gay, something he’s been trying to do for a long time. As they get closer, their secrets begin to surface.
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‘Superbad’
Image Credit: ©Columbia Pictures/Courtesy Everett Collection Starring Jonah Hill and Michael Cera, Superbad tells the story of two best friends who become determined to lose their virginities at the last party in high school. Of course, nothing in their mission goes according to plan.
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‘Fast Times at Ridgemont High’
Image Credit: ©Universal/Courtesy Everett Collection In a movie that shows what the ’80s were all about, Fast Times at Ridgemont High tells the story of a high school’s most interesting characters, from the popular girl Linda Barrett (Phoebe Cates) to the always stoned Jeff Spicoli (Sean Penn).
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‘American Pie’
Image Credit: ©Universal/Courtesy Everett Collection American Pie, starring Jason Biggs, Alyson Hannigan, Chris Klein, Natasha Lyonne, and many more, tells the story of how teenagers, whether we like it or not, are just raging with hormones.
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‘Prom Dates’
Image Credit: Brett Roedel / © Hulu / Courtesy Everett Collection In one of the most recent additions to this list, Prom Dates follows two best friends as they have two breakups right before prom and begin a mission to find a prom date before the big night rolls around.
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‘Election’
Image Credit: ©Paramount/Courtesy Everett Collection In Election, follow a young Reese Witherspoon as her high school’s biggest overachiever and her teacher (Matthew Broderick) who becomes determined to derail her chances as class president.
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‘Prom Pact’
Image Credit: Kailey Schwerman / © Disney+ / Courtesy Everett Collection In another recent addition, Prom Pact follows two best friends (Milo Manheim and Peyton Elizabeth Lee) as they promise to make the most out of their last weeks of high school while promising to be each other’s dates for prom. Of course, that makes waaay harder than they expect.
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‘She’s the Man’
Image Credit: ©DreamWorks/Courtesy Everett Collection In a movie too hilarious not to rewatch over and over again, She’s the Man follows soccer star Viola (Amanda Bynes) as she pretends to be her twin brother, Sebastian, in his new boarding school.
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‘Bottoms’
Image Credit: Patti Perret / © United Artists / courtesy Everett Collection Starring Ayo Edebiri and Rachel Sennott, the raunchy comedy Bottoms follows two unpopular girls as they start a fight club in hopes to hook up with their cheerleader crushes.
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‘Napoleon Dynamite’
Image Credit: ©Fox Searchlight/Courtesy Everett Collection The cult classic Napoleon Dynamite follows awkward teen Napoleon Dynamite (Jon Heder) as he befriends the new kid, Pedro (Efren Ramirez) and together they launch a campaign to run for class president.
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‘Do Revenge’
Image Credit: Kim Simms /© Netflix /Courtesy Everett Collection As the title suggests, the 2022 teen movie Do Revenge is all about the unlikely duo Drea and Eleanor getting their sweet vindication against each other’s enemies.
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‘The Fallout’
Image Credit: ©Warner Bros/Courtesy Everett Collection Changing gears to a not-so-cheerful teen movie, The Fallout follows two high schoolers who become closer after a school shooting leaves them questioning everything about love, life, and everything in between.
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‘First Match’
Image Credit: ©Netflix/Courtesy Everett Collection / Everett Collection In another touching movie, First Match tells the story of a young girl (Elvire Emanuelle) who joins her school’s all-boys wrestling team in the hopes of reconnecting with her estranged father.
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‘A Cinderella Story’
Image Credit: ©Warner Bros/Courtesy Everett Collection After first connecting over text, then at a masquerade party, social recluse Sam (Hilary Duff) finds out she’s falling for none other than the most popular guy in school (Chad Michael Murray).
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‘The Fault in our Stars’
Image Credit: James Bridges/TM and ©Fox 2000 Pictures. All rights reserved./Courtesy Everett Collection In another tear-jerking movie, The Fault in Our Stars follows cancer patients Hazel (Shailene Woodley) and Gus (Ansel Elgort) as they find each other and support each other during their toughest times.
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‘The Spectular Now’
Image Credit: A24/Courtesy Everett Collection Interested in a Shailene Woodley double feature? The actress also stars in The Spectacular Now, a touching romance between the most popular guy in school (Miles Teller) and their high school’s nerdy introvert (Woodley).
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‘The Kissing Booth’
Image Credit: Marcos Cruz /© Netflix /Courtesy Everett Collection In a tale as old as time, The Kissing Booth follows innocent Elle (Joey King) and kisses and falls for one of the hottest guys in school (Jacob Elordi), who just happens to be her best friend’s brother.
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‘The Duff’
Image Credit: Guy D. Alema/©Lionsgate/Courtesy Everett Collection After finding out she’s her friend group’s DUFF, aka the designated ugly fat friend, Bianca (Mae Whitman) asks for help from Wesley (Robbie Amell), a charming jock who’s surprisingly eager to help. Of course, they end up doing much more than a makeover (although that happens too).
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‘John Tucker Must Die’
Image Credit: ©20thCentFox/Courtesy Everett Collection After finding out they’re all dating the same guy, John Tucker (Jesse Metcalfe), three girls join forces to enact their revenge.
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‘Aquamarine’
Image Credit: ©20thCentFox/Courtesy Everett Collection In a teen movie with a touch of fantasy, Aquamarine follows two best friends (Jojo and Emma Roberts) as they spark a friendship with a mermaid (Sara Paxton) who’s on a mission to prove that true love exists.
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‘School of Rock’
Image Credit: ©Paramount/Courtesy Everett Collection In a teen/tween movie that will make anyone laugh and sing, School of Rock follows failed musician Dewey (Jack Black) as he pretends to be a substitute teacher and teaches his students all about music and rock to enlist them at a local Battle of the Bands.
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‘The Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants’
Image Credit: ©Warner Bros/Courtesy Everett Collection After finding a pair of pants that fits all four best friends, The Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants follows all four of them (Amber Tamblyn, Blake Lively, America Ferrera and Alexis Bledel) on their adventures during their first summer apart.
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‘What a Girl Wants’
Image Credit: ©Warner Bros/Courtesy Everett Collection Starring Amanda Bynes, What a Girl Wants tells the story of a fearless teen (Amanda Bynes) who travels all the way to London to find her birth father (Colin Firth). But, as it turns out, he’s Lord Henry Dashwood, a member of the British upper class, and is running for political office.
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‘Sixteen Candles’
Image Credit: ©MCA/Courtesy Everett Collection Starring Molly Ringwald, Sixteen Candles follows an angsty teen who’s navigating the chaos of teenagehood and early dating when her family completely forgets her milestone birthday.
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‘Freaky Friday’
Image Credit: ©Buena Vista Pictures/Courtesy Everett Collection In the midst of a rough patch between mother (Jamie Lee Curtis) and daughter (Lindsay Lohan), a curse switches their bodies and changes their lives, and their perspectives of each other, upside down.
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’17 Again’
Image Credit: ©New Line Cinema/Courtesy Everett Collection In another curse magic movie, 17 Again follows Mike O’Donnell (Matthew Perry) as he’s thrust back in time and becomes his 17-year-old self (Zac Efron). Of course, going back to high school is no easy task, especially when your kids become your new classmates.
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‘Confessions of a Teenage Drama Queen’
Image Credit: ©Buena Vista Pictures/Courtesy Everett Collection Confessions of a Teenage Drama Queen follows aspiring actress Lola (Lindsay Lohan) as she brings her best friend to an adventure in New York City to meet her celebrity crush, Stu.
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‘Wild Child’
Image Credit: ©Universal/Courtesy Everett Collection Wild Child, starring Emma Roberts, tells the story of a spoiled Beverly Hills teen who gets one hell of a wakeup call when she’s shipped to a boarding school in England.
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‘New York Minute’
Image Credit: ©Warner Bros/Courtesy Everett Collection New York Minute, starring Mary-Kate and Ashley Olsen, tells the story of two Long Island teens who get wrapped up in a series of misadventures as they take a day off of school to go to New York City.
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