The 50 Best Teen Movies
by sashabmurray | created - 25 Jan 2014 | updated - 07 Feb 2014 | PublicA mix of the good and the purely mindless! Purposely have excluded foreign films here although there are many great ones
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1. Cruel Intentions (1999)
R | 97 min | Drama, Romance
Two vicious step-siblings of an elite Manhattan prep school make a wager: to deflower the new headmaster's daughter before the start of term.
Director: Roger Kumble | Stars: Sarah Michelle Gellar, Ryan Phillippe, Reese Witherspoon, Selma Blair
Votes: 205,244 | Gross: $38.77M
2. Ghost World (2001)
R | 111 min | Comedy, Drama
Two eccentric best friends graduate high school and respond to a man's romance-seeking newspaper ad as a gag, only to find their lives becoming increasingly complicated.
Director: Terry Zwigoff | Stars: Steve Buscemi, Thora Birch, Scarlett Johansson, Brad Renfro
Votes: 126,855 | Gross: $6.22M
3. The Breakfast Club (1985)
R | 97 min | Comedy, Drama
Five high school students meet in Saturday detention and discover how they have a great deal more in common than they thought.
Director: John Hughes | Stars: Emilio Estevez, Judd Nelson, Molly Ringwald, Ally Sheedy
Votes: 436,723 | Gross: $45.88M
4. The Virgin Suicides (1999)
R | 97 min | Drama, Romance
A group of male friends become obsessed with five mysterious sisters who are sheltered by their strict, religious parents in suburban Detroit in the mid 1970s.
Director: Sofia Coppola | Stars: Kirsten Dunst, Josh Hartnett, James Woods, Kathleen Turner
Votes: 169,290 | Gross: $4.86M
5. She's All That (1999)
PG-13 | 95 min | Comedy, Romance
A high school jock makes a bet that he can turn an unattractive girl into the school's prom queen.
Director: Robert Iscove | Stars: Freddie Prinze Jr., Rachael Leigh Cook, Matthew Lillard, Paul Walker
Votes: 103,856 | Gross: $63.37M
6. Clueless (1995)
PG-13 | 97 min | Comedy, Romance
Shallow, rich and socially successful Cher is at the top of her Beverly Hills high school's pecking scale. Seeing herself as a matchmaker, Cher first coaxes two teachers into dating each other.
Director: Amy Heckerling | Stars: Alicia Silverstone, Stacey Dash, Brittany Murphy, Paul Rudd
Votes: 246,028 | Gross: $56.63M
7. 10 Things I Hate About You (1999)
PG-13 | 97 min | Comedy, Drama, Romance
A high-school boy, Cameron, cannot date Bianca until her anti-social older sister, Kat, has a boyfriend. So, Cameron pays a mysterious boy, Patrick, to charm Kat.
Director: Gil Junger | Stars: Heath Ledger, Julia Stiles, Joseph Gordon-Levitt, Larisa Oleynik
Votes: 385,574 | Gross: $38.18M
8. The Basketball Diaries (1995)
R | 102 min | Biography, Crime, Drama
A teenager finds his dreams of becoming a basketball star threatened after he free falls into the harrowing world of drug addiction.
Director: Scott Kalvert | Stars: Leonardo DiCaprio, Lorraine Bracco, Marilyn Sokol, James Madio
Votes: 121,082 | Gross: $2.42M
9. American Pie (1999)
R | 95 min | Comedy
Four teenage boys enter a pact to lose their virginity by prom night.
Directors: Paul Weitz, Chris Weitz | Stars: Jason Biggs, Chris Klein, Thomas Ian Nicholas, Jennifer Coolidge
Votes: 433,946 | Gross: $102.56M
Along with American Pie 2 and American Wedding, of course!
10. The Perks of Being a Wallflower (2012)
PG-13 | 103 min | Drama
Charlie, a 15-year-old introvert, enters high school and is nervous about his new life. When he befriends his seniors, he learns to cope with his friend's suicide and his tumultuous past.
Director: Stephen Chbosky | Stars: Logan Lerman, Emma Watson, Ezra Miller, Paul Rudd
Votes: 548,203 | Gross: $17.74M
11. Juno (2007)
PG-13 | 96 min | Comedy, Drama
Faced with an unplanned pregnancy, an offbeat young woman makes a selfless decision regarding the unborn child.
Director: Jason Reitman | Stars: Elliot Page, Michael Cera, Jennifer Garner, Jason Bateman
Votes: 549,374 | Gross: $143.50M
12. Almost Famous (2000)
R | 122 min | Adventure, Comedy, Drama
A high-school boy in the early 1970s is given the chance to write a story for Rolling Stone magazine about an up-and-coming rock band as he accompanies them on their concert tour.
Director: Cameron Crowe | Stars: Billy Crudup, Patrick Fugit, Kate Hudson, Frances McDormand
Votes: 293,526 | Gross: $32.53M
13. Pretty in Pink (1986)
PG-13 | 97 min | Comedy, Drama, Romance
A poor girl must choose between the affections of dating her childhood sweetheart or a rich but sensitive playboy.
Director: Howard Deutch | Stars: Molly Ringwald, Jon Cryer, Harry Dean Stanton, Annie Potts
Votes: 88,615 | Gross: $40.47M
14. Rebel Without a Cause (1955)
PG-13 | 111 min | Drama
A rebellious young man with a troubled past comes to a new town, finding friends and enemies.
Director: Nicholas Ray | Stars: James Dean, Natalie Wood, Sal Mineo, Jim Backus
Votes: 97,983
15. It's Kind of a Funny Story (2010)
PG-13 | 101 min | Comedy, Drama, Romance
A clinically-depressed teenager gets a new start after he checks himself into an adult psychiatric ward.
Directors: Anna Boden, Ryan Fleck | Stars: Keir Gilchrist, Zach Galifianakis, Emma Roberts, Dana DeVestern
Votes: 148,238 | Gross: $6.35M
16. Romeo + Juliet (1996)
PG-13 | 120 min | Drama, Romance
Shakespeare's famous play is updated to the hip modern suburb of Verona still retaining its original dialogue.
Director: Baz Luhrmann | Stars: Leonardo DiCaprio, Claire Danes, John Leguizamo, Harold Perrineau
Votes: 244,868 | Gross: $46.35M
17. Ferris Bueller's Day Off (1986)
PG-13 | 103 min | Comedy
A popular high school student, admired by his peers, decides to take a day off from school and goes to extreme lengths to pull it off, to the chagrin of his Dean, who'll do anything to stop him.
Director: John Hughes | Stars: Matthew Broderick, Alan Ruck, Mia Sara, Jeffrey Jones
Votes: 386,631 | Gross: $70.14M
18. Heathers (1988)
R | 103 min | Comedy, Crime
At Westerburg High where cliques rule, jocks dominate and all the popular girls are named Heather, it's going to take a Veronica and mysterious new kid to give teen angst a body count.
Director: Michael Lehmann | Stars: Winona Ryder, Christian Slater, Shannen Doherty, Lisanne Falk
Votes: 115,921 | Gross: $1.11M
19. Bring It On (2000)
PG-13 | 98 min | Comedy, Romance, Sport
A champion high school cheerleading squad discovers its previous captain stole all their best routines from an inner-city school and must scramble to compete at this year's championships.
Director: Peyton Reed | Stars: Kirsten Dunst, Eliza Dushku, Jesse Bradford, Gabrielle Union
Votes: 105,807 | Gross: $68.38M
20. Empire Records (1995)
PG-13 | 90 min | Comedy, Drama, Music
Twenty-four hours in the lives of the young employees at Empire Records when they all grow up and become young adults thanks to each other and the manager. They all face the store joining a chain store with strict rules.
Director: Allan Moyle | Stars: Anthony LaPaglia, Debi Mazar, Maxwell Caulfield, Rory Cochrane
Votes: 61,908 | Gross: $0.30M
21. Drop Dead Gorgeous (1999)
PG-13 | 97 min | Comedy, Romance, Thriller
A small-town beauty pageant turns deadly as it becomes clear that someone will go to any lengths to win.
Director: Michael Patrick Jann | Stars: Kirsten Dunst, Denise Richards, Ellen Barkin, Allison Janney
Votes: 40,831 | Gross: $10.56M
22. Superbad (2007)
R | 113 min | Comedy
Two co-dependent high school seniors are forced to deal with separation anxiety after their plan to stage a booze-soaked party goes awry.
Director: Greg Mottola | Stars: Michael Cera, Jonah Hill, Christopher Mintz-Plasse, Bill Hader
Votes: 633,051 | Gross: $121.46M
23. Thirteen (2003)
R | 100 min | Drama
A thirteen-year-old girl's relationship with her mother is put to the test as she discovers drugs, sex, and petty crime in the company of her cool but troubled best friend.
Director: Catherine Hardwicke | Stars: Evan Rachel Wood, Holly Hunter, Nikki Reed, Vanessa Hudgens
Votes: 98,063 | Gross: $4.60M
24. Easy A (2010)
PG-13 | 92 min | Comedy, Drama, Romance
When Olive lies to her best friend about losing her virginity to one of the college boys, a girl overhears their conversation. Soon, her story spreads across the entire school like wildfire.
Director: Will Gluck | Stars: Emma Stone, Amanda Bynes, Penn Badgley, Dan Byrd
Votes: 418,159 | Gross: $58.40M
25. Sixteen Candles (1984)
PG | 93 min | Comedy, Romance
A girl's "sweet" sixteenth birthday is anything but special: her family forgets about it, and she suffers from every embarrassment possible.
Director: John Hughes | Stars: Molly Ringwald, Anthony Michael Hall, Justin Henry, Michael Schoeffling
Votes: 126,409 | Gross: $23.69M
26. Mean Girls (2004)
PG-13 | 97 min | Comedy
Cady Heron is a hit with The Plastics, the A-list girl clique at her new school, until she makes the mistake of falling for Aaron Samuels, the ex-boyfriend of alpha Plastic Regina George.
Director: Mark Waters | Stars: Lindsay Lohan, Jonathan Bennett, Rachel McAdams, Tina Fey
Votes: 435,387 | Gross: $86.06M
27. Kids (1995)
Unrated | 91 min | Drama
A day in the life of a group of teens as they travel around New York City skating, drinking, smoking and deflowering virgins.
Director: Larry Clark | Stars: Leo Fitzpatrick, Justin Pierce, Chloë Sevigny, Sarah Henderson
Votes: 84,676 | Gross: $7.42M
28. Say Anything (1989)
PG-13 | 100 min | Comedy, Drama, Romance
A noble underachiever and a beautiful valedictorian fall in love the summer before she goes off to college.
Director: Cameron Crowe | Stars: John Cusack, Ione Skye, John Mahoney, Lili Taylor
Votes: 95,969 | Gross: $20.78M
29. Napoleon Dynamite (2004)
PG | 96 min | Comedy
A listless and alienated teenager decides to help his new friend win the class presidency in their small western high school, while he must deal with his bizarre family life back home.
Director: Jared Hess | Stars: Jon Heder, Efren Ramirez, Jon Gries, Aaron Ruell
Votes: 237,870 | Gross: $44.54M
30. Drive Me Crazy (1999)
PG-13 | 91 min | Comedy, Drama, Romance
Nicole and Chase used to be BFFs, then junior high happened. The high school centennial dance is coming but Nicole gets dumped. So does Chase. They stage a relationship to get at their exes. They visit each other's worlds. Love in the air?
Director: John Schultz | Stars: Melissa Joan Hart, Adrian Grenier, Stephen Collins, Mark Metcalf
Votes: 21,300 | Gross: $17.85M
31. Reality Bites (1994)
PG-13 | 99 min | Comedy, Drama, Romance
A documentary filmmaker and her fellow Generation X graduates face life after college, looking for work and love in Houston.
Director: Ben Stiller | Stars: Winona Ryder, Ethan Hawke, Janeane Garofalo, Steve Zahn
Votes: 53,653 | Gross: $20.98M
32. What's Eating Gilbert Grape (1993)
PG-13 | 118 min | Drama
A young man in a small Midwestern town struggles to care for his mentally-disabled younger brother and morbidly obese mother while attempting to pursue his own happiness.
Director: Lasse Hallström | Stars: Johnny Depp, Leonardo DiCaprio, Juliette Lewis, Mary Steenburgen
Votes: 254,166 | Gross: $9.17M
33. Strike! (1998)
PG-13 | 97 min | Comedy
In the 1960s, a group of friends at an all girls school learn that their school is going to be combined with a nearby all boys school. They concoct a plan to save their school while dealing with everyday problems along the way.
Director: Sarah Kernochan | Stars: Kirsten Dunst, Lynn Redgrave, Gaby Hoffmann, Rachael Leigh Cook
Votes: 7,603 | Gross: $0.97M
34. Blue Is the Warmest Colour (2013)
NC-17 | 180 min | Drama, Romance
Adèle's life is changed when she meets Emma, a young woman with blue hair, who will allow her to discover desire and to assert herself as a woman and as an adult. In front of others, Adèle grows, seeks herself, loses herself, and ultimately finds herself through love and loss.
Director: Abdellatif Kechiche | Stars: Léa Seydoux, Adèle Exarchopoulos, Salim Kechiouche, Aurélien Recoing
Votes: 163,113 | Gross: $2.20M
35. Gossip (I) (2000)
R | 90 min | Drama, Mystery, Thriller
Three college students base their class project around gossip and how fast it spreads, which soon spirals out of control.
Director: Davis Guggenheim | Stars: James Marsden, Lena Headey, Norman Reedus, Kate Hudson
Votes: 17,556 | Gross: $5.11M
36. Jawbreaker (1999)
R | 86 min | Comedy, Crime, Thriller
Three of the most popular girls at Reagan High accidentally kill the prom queen with a jawbreaker when a kidnapping goes horribly wrong.
Director: Darren Stein | Stars: Rose McGowan, Rebecca Gayheart, Julie Benz, Alexandra Adi
Votes: 28,956 | Gross: $3.07M
37. Sugar & Spice (2001)
PG-13 | 81 min | Comedy, Crime
A popular high-school cheerleader becomes pregnant by the star quarterback and turns to crime to support her desired lifestyle.
Director: Francine McDougall | Stars: Marla Sokoloff, Marley Shelton, Melissa George, Mena Suvari
Votes: 15,333 | Gross: $13.28M
38. John Tucker Must Die (2006)
PG-13 | 89 min | Comedy, Romance
Three ex-girlfriends of a serial cheater set up their former lover to fall for the new girl in town so they can watch him get his heart broken.
Director: Betty Thomas | Stars: Jesse Metcalfe, Ashanti, Arielle Kebbel, Sophia Bush
Votes: 88,140 | Gross: $41.01M
39. Stick It (2006)
PG-13 | 103 min | Comedy, Drama, Sport
After a run-in with the law, Haley is forced to return to the world from which she fled years ago. Enrolled in an elite gymnastics program run by the legendary Burt Vickerman, Haley's rebellious attitude slowly gives way to a team spirit.
Director: Jessica Bendinger | Stars: Missy Peregrym, Jeff Bridges, Vanessa Lengies, Nikki SooHoo
Votes: 30,438 | Gross: $26.87M
40. Fast Times at Ridgemont High (1982)
R | 90 min | Comedy, Drama
A group of Southern California high school students are enjoying their most important subjects: sex, drugs and rock n' roll.
Director: Amy Heckerling | Stars: Sean Penn, Jennifer Jason Leigh, Judge Reinhold, Robert Romanus
Votes: 115,810 | Gross: $27.09M
41. Whatever It Takes (2000)
PG-13 | 94 min | Comedy, Drama, Romance
A modern-day remake of the Cyrano DeBergerac tale.
Director: David Raynr | Stars: Shane West, Marla Sokoloff, Jodi Lyn O'Keefe, Manu Intiraymi
Votes: 12,002 | Gross: $8.74M
42. Cry-Baby (1990)
PG-13 | 85 min | Comedy, Musical
In 1950s Baltimore, a bad boy with a heart of gold wins the love of a good girl, whose boyfriend sets out for revenge.
Director: John Waters | Stars: Johnny Depp, Ricki Lake, Amy Locane, Susan Tyrrell
Votes: 64,845 | Gross: $8.27M
43. Footloose (1984)
PG | 107 min | Drama, Music, Romance
A city teenager moves to a small town where rock music and dancing have been banned, and his rebellious spirit shakes up the populace.
Director: Herbert Ross | Stars: Kevin Bacon, Lori Singer, John Lithgow, Dianne Wiest
Votes: 92,386 | Gross: $80.04M
44. Crazy/Beautiful (2001)
PG-13 | 99 min | Drama, Romance
At Pacific Palisades High, a poor Latino falls hard for a troubled girl from an affluent neighborhood.
Director: John Stockwell | Stars: Kirsten Dunst, Jay Hernandez, Bruce Davison, Herman Osorio
Votes: 25,575 | Gross: $16.93M
45. A Walk to Remember (2002)
PG | 101 min | Drama, Romance
Two North Carolina teens, Landon Carter and Jamie Sullivan, are thrown together after Landon gets into trouble and is sentenced to perform community service.
Director: Adam Shankman | Stars: Mandy Moore, Shane West, Peter Coyote, Daryl Hannah
Votes: 221,421 | Gross: $41.28M
46. Fear (1996)
R | 97 min | Drama, Thriller
When Nicole met David; handsome, charming, affectionate, he was everything. It seemed perfect, but soon she sees that David has a darker side. And his adoration turns to obsession, their dream into a nightmare, and her love into fear.
Director: James Foley | Stars: Mark Wahlberg, Reese Witherspoon, William Petersen, Amy Brenneman
Votes: 54,919 | Gross: $20.75M
47. Wild Things (1998)
R | 108 min | Crime, Drama, Mystery
A police detective uncovers a conspiracy behind a case involving a high-school guidance counselor when accusations of rape are made against him by two female students.
Director: John McNaughton | Stars: Kevin Bacon, Neve Campbell, Matt Dillon, Denise Richards
Votes: 130,826 | Gross: $29.75M
48. Pleasantville (1998)
PG-13 | 124 min | Comedy, Drama, Fantasy
Two 1990s teenage siblings find themselves transported to a 1950s sitcom where their influence begins to profoundly change that colorless, complacent world.
Director: Gary Ross | Stars: Tobey Maguire, Jeff Daniels, Joan Allen, William H. Macy
Votes: 136,348 | Gross: $40.57M
49. Election (1999)
R | 103 min | Comedy, Romance
A high school teacher meets his match in an over-achieving student politician.
Director: Alexander Payne | Stars: Matthew Broderick, Reese Witherspoon, Loren Nelson, Chris Klein
Votes: 104,571 | Gross: $14.88M
50. Dead Poets Society (1989)
PG | 128 min | Comedy, Drama
Maverick teacher John Keating returns in 1959 to the prestigious New England boys' boarding school where he was once a star student, using poetry to embolden his pupils to new heights of self-expression.
Director: Peter Weir | Stars: Robin Williams, Robert Sean Leonard, Ethan Hawke, Josh Charles
Votes: 546,452 | Gross: $95.86M
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