Top 5 High School Movies You Must Watch
Ah, high school movies. Of all the great transitional periods in our lives, few have been milked for such uproarious onscreen entertainment. Of course, it isn’t all fun and games for those four years: the specters of bullies, heavy-handed teachers, and the sheer gravity of every teenager’s realization that life isn’t all fun and games must be acknowledged by even the funniest high school movies as well as the most somber. With the summer near its end, here are the five high school movies that everyone must put on their back-to-school lists.
Top 5 High School Movies
1. Back to the Future (1985)
This time-travel comedy is almost by definition the strangest film on this list of high school movies, but at the core of all of Back to the Future’s wildly entertaining history-bending hijinks lies a sincere appreciation of how pivotal this part of one’s life truly is. The film follows Marty McFly (Michael J. Fox), a high school boy from the ’80s, who journeys thirty years back to the time when his parents were his age. After a chance meeting causes his mother to fall for him instead of his would-be father, he realizes that the stage has been set for his own existential erasure.
This is all great fun, and hilarious to behold, particularly in that one iconic moment when Marty’s existence is at its most precarious. That’s an inspiring moment too, as we realize that, while our lives may be ruled so often by chance, we can have control over them as well. And in high school, we reach the point where we must gather the courage to try.
2. Clueless (1995)
Easily one of the definitive high school movies of the 1990s, this latter-day adaptation of Jane Austen’s Emma derives its unparalleled humor and heart from its protagonist’s complex relationship with the titular word. Cher (Alicia Silverstone) is the popular girl at her Beverly Hills high school. She prides herself on the slick, stylish academic life that passes in her mind for being a successful student, and she’s all too happy to “help” the new girl whose every word and fashion choice screams “clueless.”
Cher radiates such well-meaning earnestness that she wins us over right away, even as it’s immediately clear that her approach to life is completely… well, you get the idea. We love to laugh at her, but her journey towards valuing substance over style is truly heartening. Clueless remains a yardstick for balancing comedy and well-earned adolescent growth.
3. Ferris Bueller’s Day Off (1986)
Okay. It’s safe to say that healthy teenage lessons have gone out the window with this one. As its inspired tagline proclaims, Ferris Bueller’s Day Off tells the outrageous tale of “one man’s struggle to take it easy.”
As a well-known truant, Ferris Bueller (Matthew Broderick) will indeed face a struggle in his quest to take one more day off before the school year is out. But he’s not just undeterred: he’s determined to have the most exciting day imaginable with his reluctant best buddy and girlfriend at his side. Together, they tour the city of Chicago while thwarting the best efforts of their school’s vindictive dean to catch them. It’s a story told with such wit and infectious enthusiasm that it’s the best film on this list for any bad mood.
4. Carrie (1976)
As I said above, high school life can certainly carry its share of hardships, and few students have it worse than Carrie White (Sissy Spacek). Abused at home by her fanatically religious mother and at school by her meanest classmates, the titular protagonist is a profoundly disturbed girl whose telekinetic powers make her anguish into a ticking time-bomb. Spacek’s performance is spellbinding, powerfully driving home Carrie’s portrait of adolescent trauma, and the movie’s third act uncompromisingly establishes this Stephen King adaptation as the definitive high school movie from hell.
5. Fast Times at Ridgemont High (1982)
Clueless director Amy Heckerling first came onto the scene with this very different flavor of Valley high-school comedy – and she’s far from the only up-and-comer. Stacked against Clueless, it comes off as a bit uneven – its abundant raunch sometimes ventures into poor taste – but it’s still blessed with the burgeoning talents of Jennifer Jason Leigh, Judge Reinhold, and an indelibly hilarious Sean Penn.
