From classics to recent favorites.
Ah , the adolescent age , those glorious daylight when everyone is an immature , hormone - muzzy formal of energy trying to figure out how to be a person in the world , and also how to get to that partyliterallyeveryonewill attend after homecoming . While many picture chronicling this time period of human development are fun and lighthearted , even the bouncy offer a in darkness console reminder : You survived . Put on your varsity jacket , catch your Trapper Keeper , and pour these essential teen movies on Netflix .
ALSO READ : Our lists of thebest adolescent TV shows on Netflixand thebest adolescent picture show on Amazon
All the Bright Places(2020)
Based on the external bestselling unseasoned adult fable novel by Jennifer Niven , All the Bright Placestells the story of high school day student , Violet ( Elle Fanning ) and Theodore , who likes to go by his last name , Finch ( Justice Smith ) , both of whom are suffer from mental malady get by trauma in their pasts . It ’s a tippy honey story , growing from two broken people who , together , get the process of healing . The picture is both aristocratic and grievous , and a rarefied entry in the overabundance of teen Netflix originals that sincerely try on to handle mental wellness with care .
The Amazing Spider-Man(2012)
Coming just five class afterSam Raimi ’s belovedSpider - Mantrilogy ended and right before the MCU plunge its own mega - budget version of the superhero , the Andrew Garfield - starring Spidey movie target by Marc Webb never really build their own unclouded identity . If you realize 2021’sNo Way nursing home , though , you may have found yourself caught up in the charming web that is Garfield ’s take on Peter Parker and realize it ’s about time you looked back on the now - major movie lead ’s performance . What this lack in intriguing villains , it wee-wee up for in Garfield ’s personal magnetism and his alchemy with then - veridical - aliveness lady friend Emma Stone , who work Gwen Tracy . It ’s come - of - age , rom - com take on this amusing - book favorite will swing aright across the Manhattan skyline and into your heart if you lease it .
The Babysitter(2017) &The Babysitter: Killer Queen(2020)
One pre - teen male child ’s ( Judah Lewis ) fantasy about his baby-sitter ( Samara Weaving ) turns into a incubus when it ’s let out she and her hot friends ( which include Bella Thorne as a cheerleader , Upload ’s Robbie Amell as a buff psychopath , and Vine star - turned - actor King Bach ) dabble in human sacrifices . Director McG ’s self - aware spin on the babysitter slasher is more comedy than horror , turn in a crashing merriment time in a stylish and dumb fashion . archetype get turned on their heads , express joy lines emphasize almost every scene , and reality mostly ceases to exist while our Italian sandwich tries to teach some form of lesson . It ’s goofy havoc in all the ripe ways , and ascertain its vox in the 2020 follow - up . If you hit play , please do n’t ruin a good affair by taking it too in earnest .
Brahman Naman(2016)
Truly , nothing can spice up a school quiz tournament like the quest to mislay your virginity . This ' 80s - set Netflix original sends a Bangalore trio of gamy school horndogs to Calcutta to win on both count . aim by Qaushiq Mukherjee and star Shashank Arora as our agonist , Brahman Namanis a uproarious , outside festival hit of a teen film .
Carrie Pilby(2016)
At first , it ’s not so sluttish to like the titular character ( played byDiary of a Teenaged Girl ’s Bel Powley ) in this quaint indie . She ’s only 19 and highly intelligent , having already graduated from Harvard at her age and is privilege enough to already live alone in NYC . She ’s also quite frightened to leave her apartment , though , does n’t jazz how to socialize with others , and is rather lonely , even if she does n’t know it . Based on a to - do list that her therapist ( Nathan Lane ) gives her , the movie adapted from Caren Lissner ’s novel follow her assignment to become as socially intelligent as she is smart as a whip , and in round , a much happier person . It ’s a sweet rom - com helmed byTo All the Boys I ’ve Loved Beforedirector Susan Johnson with its strength lying in subtly being a more drab coming - of - age picture show than it makes itself out to be .
Dear John(2010)
First thing first , Dear Johnis named for a Dear John letter , or what you would send a man to dump his ass , so you’re able to guess that this is one of most treacly of Nicholas Sparks ' oeuvre . The drama hits all of the mark of a stereotypical love affair film , star Channing Tatum as a solider living with his recluse founder ( Richard Jenkins ) while he ’s home from warfare and Amanda Seyfried as the do - gooder college student he falls for under the fond South Carolina sun , but there are enough passionate kiss in the rain to make all the melodrama worth it .
Dumb and Dumber(1994)
As the title suggests , this slapstick ' 90s favorite is incredibly stupid . BUT , it ’s also the funniness that officially turn Jim Carrey into a funniness mega - star . The brother movie about idiotic pal Lloyd ( Carrey ) and Harry ( Jeff Daniels ) on a cross - country adventure remain a classic for its childish bit and oft - quoted lines , so it ’s always worth a re - watch if you want to sense like a dumb teen again .
Edge of Seventeen(1998)
A suburban ' eighty nostalgia misstep , Edge of Seventeenis like a John Hughes motion-picture show if a John Hughes movie were to have ever focus on one of the gay small fry hide in the background knowledge of those teen classics . The amount - of - age news report set in 1984 Ohio focuses on the teen Eric Hunter , who ’s haunt with androgynous star like Annie Lennox and Boy George and still figuring out his identity . A morsel racier than your average stripling dramedy as it delves into how easy it is to confuse sexual urge with true feelings , it ’s an essential film about coming out and the dizzying feeling of intimate first gear .
The Edge of Seventeen(2016)
Fear Streettrilogy (2021)
Netflix ’s challenging serial publication of three interconnected movies based on the classical R.L. Stine books are a gory undecomposed time . All are directed by Leigh Janiak andPart One : 1994 , introduces consultation to the cursed town of Shadyside and the stripling who have been afflict . The second jumps back in time to 1978 where a killer is stalking a camp , and the third , set in 1666 , explains how this all initiate . Drawing from repugnance classics likeScream , theFear Streetmovies integrate gruesome kills with tongue - in - cheek jest , and sport a refreshfully queer point of view .
The Fundamentals of Caring(2016)
People love Paul Rudd ! That belief alone in all probability motivate this paint - by - numbers mid-2000s indie ripoff , which star Rudd as a retire author ( hah ! ) look for his next chapter ( get it ? ) . After resolve to become a health care provider ( yes , this plot is mold up nicely ) , he come a occupation from a char whose teenage son , Trevor , has muscular dystrophy , but also a sarcastic sense of wit . When Rudd and the kid go on a road trip to see noted roadside attractions ( it ’s one of Trevor ’s endearing character quirks that he ’s haunt with roadside draw ) , they get a line plenty about each other , but — spoiler — just as much about themselves . Selena Gomez designate up as a sexual love interest for safe measure , so if you ’re in the mood for an undemanding , treacly teen road - trip movie , The Fundamentals of Caringis your Rudd - okay best wager .
The Girl Next Door(2004)
What happens when you obtain out the girl next door , on whom you ’ve developed an irrepressible crush , is a former porn actress ? Lots of misunderstandings , play , funniness , and hijinks , of course ! Elisha Cuthbert stars as the titular neighbor , who ’s struggling to escape her past tense and wangle her impression for her neighbour ( dally by a young Emile Hirsch ) . It hits a mint of the await notes of a mid-2000s romantic comedy , but the grownup film world backdrop gives it more of an edge than , say , How to Lose a Guy in 10 Clarence Day .
The Half of It(2020)
" This is not a love story , " the heroine , Ellie Chu ( Leah Lewis ) , says at the outset ofThe Half of It , Alice Wu ’s come in - of - eld film . It ’s one of those witty lines that the confidential information in teenager movies tends to say , but this Netflix original is a lot smarter than that first step argumentation — and it ’s more endearing for it . The photographic film follows Ellie , the only mortal of Chinese descent in a tiny town called Squahamish who write her high school classmates ' papers for money . One of those offers comes from a boy named Paul Munsky ( Daniel Diemer ) who wants her help to write a lovemaking letter for a girl nominate Aster Flores ( Alexxis Lemire ) . A conflicted Ellie , who also has a jam on Aster , at first declines but ultimately succumbs to facilitate her family line get by with her side hustle . It sound like the fashioning of a classic read-only memory - com , butThe Half of Itis truly not a love storyas it plays out , which makes it one of Netflix ’s more ripe teen original .
Moxie(2021)
Based on a novel by Jennifer Mathieu , Moxiefollows Vivian ( Hadley Robinson ) , a subdued teen , who , upon come across the gender - establish injustices going on at her school day , decides to start a zine after get word about her mammy ’s ( Amy Poehler , who also directed the motion-picture show ) riot grrrl past . After surreptitiously put her photocopied universe in the girls ' bathroom , she commence a drive aimed at stopping the rampant harassment on campus led by a football game star ( Patrick Schwarzenegger).Moxieis emphatically blemished with its perfunctory nod to intersectionality — that peculiarly ca n’t be disregard considering the underused supporting cast . But , hey , it is an admirable , stirring film with a greatBikini putting to death - infuse soundtrack — so if it get a genesis of fooling Netflix witness into riot grrrl , that ’s a net positive degree .
My Girl(1991)
It ’s been 30 twelvemonth sinceMy girlfriend , and if you do n’t already recognize what happens : Our sincerest apologies , your heart is about to be destroyed . The movie about a girl ( Anna Chlumsky ) turn up in a funeral home with her widowed father ( Dan Aykroyd ) is as odoriferous as a lollipop on a raging summertime day , and a compelling fib about the throes of adolescence . Chlumsky and a teeny , tiny Macaulay Culkin are adorable as Vada Sultenfuss and Thomas J. , and their chemistry as better Friend from down the city block only makes the inevitable tragedy that much more abominable . ( Unless you ’re hardhearted , it ’s impossible not to cry when Vada blackguard , " He ca n’t see without his glasses!")My Girlwill bring you back to those raw , 12 - year - old feelings .
Not Another Teen Movie(2000)
When it come in to parody moving picture , Not Another Teen Movieis not at theScary Movielevels of excellency , but it ’s best than most , for the most part thanks to its capital cast , including a pre - Captain America Chris Evans , Jaime Pressly , and Ron Lester essentially reprising his role fromVarsity Bluesto … make playfulness ofVarsity Blues . Evans really is the all - mavin here as the smarmy jock , and it ’s the gender - flipped lash cream successiveness that will keep you rewatching again and again .
Project X(2012)
There ’s party movies , and then there’sProject X. Nima Nourizadeh’sAnimal Houseof the 2010s exists on a slue graduated table of the absolute freaking sickest company ever and a incubus that ’s no short of hell unleashed — all dependant on what hour of the night it is , how resistant of heinous behaviour you are , and whether you have any pyrophobia . The moving-picture show is unquestionably a time capsule of other 2010s Tumblr aesthetics and sleaziness , but it remains an experience as it pieces together footage from speech sound and camcorder to document one teenager ’s houseparty as it get out of hand .
Scary Stories to Tell in the Dark(2019)
The dear storybooks of our preteen years were finally been ship to the big screen with this 2019 film , and the effect is a good deal of down in the mouth - fundamental , quondam - fashioned , family - friendly , and appreciably creepy fun . Rather than an anthology format , several of the narration found in Alvin Schwartz ’s terrible source material find themselves besprinkle into traditional framework about three adventuresome stripling and one haunted record book . It ’s a teen scream that actually manages to give you the heebie - jeebies , largely due to its nerveless animal issue .
Sierra Burgess Is a Loser(2018)
In this Netflix original film , titular loser Sierra Burgess ( Shannon Purser , AKA Barb fromStranger Things ) engage her high schooling ’s most pop girl Veronica ( Kristine Froseth ) after semi - accidentally falling into catfishing the hot suspensor Jamey ( Noah Centineo , aka Peter Kavinsky fromTo All the Boys I ’ve roll in the hay Before ) who mixed up his phone numbers . The Netflix rom - com is creepy - odoriferous in the way only uneasy high school tales can get away with .
Stand By Me(1986)
Although you may not have been aware thatStand By Meis base on Stephen King ’s novellaThe Body , it ’s undeniably the best King movie there is . Decades after its release , it remains every bit as affecting , heartbreaking , and entertaining . A author recalls a time from his puerility involving his best friend and the rumor of a dead body down by the railroad line tracks , and while the motion picture ’s about the artwork of writing and the importance of retentivity , theater director Rob Reiner bring the characters so absolutely to life sentence that it becomes a beautiful admonisher of our own triumphs and cataclysm from our youth . There ’s a very good chance you ’ll see yourself or someone you eff in this movie , and the memories it dislodges can be unexpected gifts .
To All the Boys I’ve Loved Before(2018)
What if your private letters to your press were n’t individual , but wound up in the hands of aforementioned jam ? It ’s a stripling ’s nightmare ! But peradventure — just maybe!—this story , which is ground on Jenny Han ’s well - sell YA novel of the same name , will sour out to have a happy ending . With inviolable performance from young leave Lana Condor and Noah Centineo , To All the son I ’ve Loved Beforeis the rare Netflix original motion picture with enough nerve and sincerity to overwhelm its flaw .
Unfriended(2014)
The Blair Witch Projectpopularized the get - footage genre , andUnfriendedwas the first to tap into the even more recession subset of the repugnance manner — social medium / computer cover ground - footage . The first of its kind , the moving picture from Blumhouse is n’t always a master of its craft and can experience more like being forced into peer at a concealment from over someone ’s shoulder like you ’re waiting for your sib ’s allotted silver screen time to wrap up , and is sometimes flat - out dizzy , but since we ’re addicted to being on-line , it is hard to look aside . It follow a group of teenagers whose chat room seem to be haunted by their champion who was recently bullied and died by suicide . Even when the scare are flashy , it ’s an interesting experiment that ’s worth log into .
Yes, God, Yes(2020)
Yes , God , Yesis a hysterical , modest indie of divine interposition . The movie from Karen Maine is a teenaged raunch drollery that ’s completely unlike other adolescent raunch clowning , following a high school female child ( Stranger thing ' Natalia Dyer ) as she wrestles with newfound intimate urges while on a repressing , conservative church building retirement . Dyer is utterly charming in the role as a unenlightened but defiant young woman plough off by her peer ' holier than thou attitudes , and the motion picture ’s circumstance in the early ' 00s featuring snotty-nosed phones and scandalous AIM confabulate room take it all the more laughable . It ’s a rare sex comedy that has as much to say about the embarrassment of get - of - long time as it does about self - righteousness , and for that it feels like a teen movie send down from the Heaven .
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