Men's Health's The 45 Best Teen Movies of All Time
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BY TEMI ADEBOWALE, EVAN ROMANO AND ADRIANNA FREEDMAN
SEP 25, 2020
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.
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1 new
Mean Girls
2004, in 4 top lists Check -
2 new
Say Anything...
1989, in 3 top lists Check -
3 new
American Pie
1999, in 6 top lists Check -
4 new
10 Things I Hate About You
1999, in 2 top lists Check -
5 new
Booksmart
2019, in 3 top lists -
6 new
Napoleon Dynamite
2004, in 4 top lists Check -
7 new
Can't Hardly Wait
1998, in 0 top lists Check -
8 new
House Party
1990, in 2 top lists Check -
9 new
The Breakfast Club
1985, in 10 top lists Check -
10 new
Not Another Teen Movie
2001, in 0 top lists Check -
11 new
Boyz n the Hood
1991, in 9 top lists Check -
12 new
Project X
2012, in 0 top lists Check -
13 new
Love, Simon
2018, in 1 top list -
14 new
Election
1999, in 7 top lists Check -
15 new
Dazed and Confused
1993, in 7 top lists Check -
16 new
Ferris Bueller's Day Off
1986, in 11 top lists Check -
17 new
Heathers
1988, in 7 top lists Check -
18 new
The Edge of Seventeen
2016, in 0 top lists Check -
19 new
Juno
2007, in 12 top lists Check -
20 new
Skate Kitchen
2018, in 0 top lists -
21 new
Scream
1996, in 8 top lists Check -
22 new
Love Don't Cost a Thing
2003, in 0 top lists Check -
23 new
American Pie 2
2001, in 3 top lists Check -
24 new
To All the Boys I've Loved Before
2018, in 1 top list -
25 new
Superbad
2007, in 5 top lists Check -
26 new
Clueless
1995, in 8 top lists Check -
27 new
Twilight
2008, in 2 top lists Check -
28 new
The Virgin Suicides
1999, in 6 top lists Check -
29 new
Fast Times at Ridgemont High
1982, in 8 top lists Check -
30 new
Cruel Intentions
1999, in 0 top lists Check -
31 new
Lady Bird
2017, in 11 top lists Check -
32 new
High School Musical
2006, in 1 top list Check -
33 new
Pretty in Pink
1986, in 2 top lists Check -
34 new
The Princess Diaries
2001, in 2 top lists Check -
35 new
A Walk to Remember
2002, in 0 top lists Check -
36 new
The Craft
1996, in 2 top lists Check -
37 new
Grease
1978, in 12 top lists Check -
38 new
Dope
2015, in 0 top lists Check -
39 new
Carrie
1976, in 11 top lists Check -
40 new
The Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants
2005, in 0 top lists Check -
41 new
The Spectacular Now
2013, in 0 top lists Check -
42 new
Back to the Future
1985, in 25 top lists Check -
43 new
Bring It On
2000, in 0 top lists Check -
44 new
She's the Man
2006, in 0 top lists Check -
45 new
Roll Bounce
2005, in 0 top lists Check
Last updated on Mar 3, 2021; source