Admit it: You've never been to a house party as cool as the ones seen in the greatest '90s teen movies. In terms of popular culture, the last decade of the 20th century was marked by an influx of "teen movies" – pictures that capture the spirit of what it means to be young, dumb, and full of hope. But which teen movies of the '90s actually stand the test of time?
Picking up where the 1980s left off, teen flicks in the '90s kept hitting some of the same notes while also playing totally new tunes. Like the '80s, '90s teen movies saw characters fully occupied with taboo topics like sex, drugs, and social pressures. Other films turned down the raunchiness and focused more on matters of the heart; a lot of '90s teen movies explored first loves and heartbreaks, especially through a nostalgic lens. Many teen films during this time also mashed up genres, incorporating horror and action into the mix.
In short, the '90s were a big decade for teens. From their increased spending power to their swift adaptation to the internet, teens held a lot of clout over what was cool. Hollywood was especially addicted to teenagers, which explains why so many of the greatest teen movies ever made can be found in this bygone era – one marked by the last true rock stars and the first PlayStation. So take a trip down memory lane to the cinematic golden age of adolescence,, these are the 32 greatest teen movies of the 1990s.
32. Nowhere
Year: 1997
Director: Gregg Araki
A hazy descent into young adult malaise, Gregg Araki's Nowhere – the final installment of his acclaimed "Teenage Apocalypse" anthology trilogy – follows a day in the life of sexually fluid teenage rebel Dark (James Duval), who is drawn to the presence of a mysterious boy, Montgomery (Nathan Bexton). It's the end of the world in Los Angeles, and Araki's Nowhere chronicles how impending doom compels outsider youths to pursue hedonistic destruction, because at least you still feel something.
31. Idle Hands
Year: 1999
Director: Rodman Flender
The folk saying "Idle hands are the devil's play-thing" becomes a literal (and hysterical) nightmare in Rodman Flender's cult comedy-horror classic Idle Hands. Devon Sawa stars as a lazy suburban teen whose right hand becomes possessed and goes on a killing spree. To stop the handsy reign of terror, he'll get help from his next-door neighbor crush (Jessica Alba) and his zombified best friends (Seth Green and Elden Henson). A killer blend of slapstick chaos, raunchy mischief, and supernatural horror, Idle Hands is a hilarious reminder of the dark side to teenage boredom.
30. Welcome to the Dollhouse
Year: 1995
Director: Todd Solondz
New Jersey adolescent Dawn Wiener (Heather Matarazzo, in the role that launched her career) is just one birthday shy of being a teenager. But her story of isolation and alienation resonates with disaffected teens everywhere. Todd Solondz's sardonic black comedy Welcome to the Dollhouse tells the story of Dawn, a lonely middle schooler eager to win the respect of her peers and the love of her own family. Welcome to the Dollhouse is an understated classic that depicts death by a thousand cuts, where the casual callousness of people piles up until it's too much to bear.
29. Now and Then
Year: 1995
Director: Lesli Linka Glatter
Now and Then isn't an ambitious movie, being yet another instance of adults looking back on one halcyon summer when their lives changed forever. But the sun-drenched Indiana seen in Lesli Linka Glatter's Now and Then is all of our summers, when the days were long and life was full of possibilities. Rosie O'Donnell, Melanie Griffith, Demi Moore, and Rita Wilson play four friends who reunite in 1995 and reminisce about their whirlwind summer of 1970, one marked by the strengthening of friendships and first loves. While critics were unenthused by Now and Then during its release, the movie has survived as a cult classic as a timeless chronicle of girlhood.
28. The Faculty
Year: 1998
Director: Robert Rodriguez
A blend of The Breakfast Club with Invasion of the Body Snatchers, Robert Rodriguez's The Faculty sees a group of high school students – played by Elijah Wood, Jordana Brewster, Clea DuVall, Josh Hartnett, Usher, and more – band together after a parasitic alien life form seizes control of the school's faculty members. Although The Faculty disappointed at the box office, the movie's genre-bending zaniness and ingenious take on teenagers suffering under the thumb of authority make it a cult classic worth making the grade.
27. The Man in the Moon
Year: 1991
Director: Robert Mulligan
Reese Witherspoon's cinematic debut is a heartfelt one, showing a sunkissed story about young love, first heartbreaks, and experiencing the verge of womanhood. Witherspoon stars as 14-year-old tomboy Dani, whose quiet life in rural 1950s Louisiana is interrupted when an older boy (Jason London) moves next door. Under Mulligan's handsome direction, The Man in the Moon is a timeless and tender coming-of-age romance with Witherspoon breaking out as a star in the making.
26. Buffy the Vampire Slayer
Year: 1992
Director: Fran Rubel Kuzui
Not long before the hit era-defining TV phenomenon with Sarah Michelle Gellar, there was Kristy Swanson in Fran Rubel Kuzui's '92 genre-bender Buffy the Vampire Slayer. Conceived and written by Joss Whedon, the teen movie follows a seemingly ordinary California high school cheerleader, Buffy Summers (Swanson), who learns she is destined to become "The Slayer" – mankind's ultimate protector against the forces of darkness. While Buffy the Vampire Slayer is a rare instance where the movie can't live up to its TV counterpart, the film is delirious fun in its dichotomy of John Hughes and Bram Stoker.
25. Can't Hardly Wait
Year: 1998
Directors: Deborah Kaplan and Harry Elfont
Many teen movies are preoccupied with sex, none moreso than Can't Hardly Wait. While marginally tamer than the buckwild American Pie, Can't Hardly Wait flows with as much hormone hysteria in its veins. The movie follows overlooked student Preston (Ethan Embry), who works up the courage to ask out his crush, Amanda Beckett (Jennifer Love Hewitt), on the night of their graduation party. Set over the course of one final night to end all nights, Can't Hardly Wait bottles up all the excitement and uncertainties of young adulthood.
24. The Doom Generation
Year: 1998
Director: Gregg Araki
A teen-oriented spin on Natural Born Killers, Gregg Araki's mystifying and captivating The Doom Generation chronicles the surreal road trip of two teenage lovers (Rose McGowan and James Duval) who pick up a drifter (Jonathon Schaech) as they go on the run after killing a convenience store clerk. Set against miles of hopeless roads, Araki searches for meaning as his characters navigate the underbelly of America, where lost souls wander looking for direction home.
23. Jawbreaker
Year: 1999
Director: Darren Stein
Don't let their sweetness fool you: These girls can break your jaw in half. Loosely inspired by the 1988 classic Heathers, Darren Stein's Jawbreaker follows a high school clique who cover up the accidental murder of their own friend after a birthday prank gone wrong. In doing so, they bring in social outcast Fern (Judy Greer), making her into their own image. Though Jawbreaker was underappreciated during its initial release, the movie now enjoys cult classic status as a precursor to future hits like Mean Girls, Pretty Little Liars, and Euphoria.
22. Never Been Kissed
Year: 1999
Director: Raja Gosnell
Drew Barrymore gets a do-over of high school in Raja Gosnell's delightful rom-com Never Been Kissed. Barrymore stars as Josie, an ambitious copyeditor at the Chicago Sun-Times whose assignment plants her undercover as a "new" student. While the experience reopens old traumas for the once-bullied Josie, she eventually falls for her English teacher. Aside from the fact that no one in their right mind would believe an extremely 25-year-old-looking woman can pass for a high schooler, Never Been Kissed is pleasant in its story about getting a second shot at first love.
21. Dazed and Confused
Year: 1993
Director: Richard Linklater
Alright, alright, alright! Richard Linklater's '93 stoner comedy Dazed and Confused commemorates the nigh endless thrill of living out the last day of school. Linklater's movie, with its large ensemble cast and no plot to speak of, chronicles the aimless misadventures of a bunch of teenagers from a Texas high school who kick off summer in style. A "hang movie" where there isn't exactly a problem to solve or situation to fix, Dazed and Confused instead relishes in the intoxicating summer air when it feels like life itself is just getting started.
20. Pleasantville
Year: 1998
Director: Gary Ross
"Isekai" is a term from the worlds of anime and manga, but it also describes a few American movies pretty well. This includes Pleasantville, Gary Ross' comedy-drama from 1998 about two teenagers (played by Tobey Maguire and Reese Witherspoon) who get magically sucked into the world of an old 1950s TV show called, what else, "Pleasantville." (Think Leave It to Beaver and The Andy Griffith Show.) Over time, the two teens bring a pop of color into a black-and-white world. Pleasantville is quietly hilarious in its clash between modernity and nostalgia. It's easily one of the best teen movies of the decade.
19. Empire Records
Year: 1995
Director: Allan Moyle
Happy Rex Manning Day! Though Empire Records opened to bad reviews and a terrible box office, the movie has since won over generations to become a cult classic. Set over the course of one weird day, the teenage employees of a Delaware record store work overtime to make sure their favorite place doesn't get sold off to a larger chain. From dealing with shoplifters to their romantic entanglements to the whims of a corny and pampered pop star, Empire Records relishes in the fantasy of getting to work next to some of your closest friends. The movie's finely curated soundtrack – which pretty unpredictably captures the mid-'90s zeitgeist – is as memorable as its showcase of future stars like Liv Tyler and Renée Zellweger.
18. Cry-Baby
Year: 1999
Director: John Waters
It's 1954. Eisenhower is President, rock 'n roll is king, and Johnny Depp is Wade "Cry-Baby" Walker, the bad boy of his Baltimore high school. John Waters' Cry-Baby, a mixture of Romeo & Juliet and The Outsiders, sees Cry-Baby (Depp) fall for a normie "square" girl named Allison (Amy Locane) – a violation of social norms among the teenage subcultures of '50s Baltimore. As Allison and Cry-Baby choose love, their worlds turn upside down. With many of the same sensibilities John Waters showed in Hairspray, Cry-Baby affectionately lampoons Americana nostalgia and James Dean-flavored teenage angst with a rollicking doo-wop soundtrack.
17. Fear
Year: 1996
Director: James Foley
Reese Witherspoon falls for Mark Wahlberg, and it's hell on Earth. In James Foley's Fear, an affluent family's idyllic life is thrown into disarray when their teenage daughter (Witherspoon) begins dating an enigmatic young man (Wahlberg) who slowly reveals himself to be a violent sociopath. Young love becomes foreboding in Foley's tense psychological thriller, a kind of "Fatal Attraction for teenagers" that became a breakout project for both Wahlberg – at the time shedding his boy band image – and Witherspoon. You'll never look at rollercoasters the same way again.
16. But I'm a Cheerleader
Year: 1999
Director: Jamie Babbit
The blinding pinks and blues of Jacques Demy meets the scathing humor of John Waters in Jamie Babbit's But I'm a Cheerleader. Natasha Lyonne stars as Megan, a high school teenager who is sent away by her parents to attend a parochial conversion therapy camp to "cure" her budding lesbianism, only for her to get closer to a fellow patient, rebellious Graham (Clea DuVall). A laugh-out-loud lampoon of hetero gender norms with a rather eye-catching production design, But I'm a Cheerleader makes you ra-ra-rage against antiquated thinking and celebrates letting young people figure themselves out for themselves.
15. House Party
Year: 1990
Director: Reginald Hudlin
There are house parties… and there is the teen film House Party. Reginald Hudlin's era-defining hang movie is still the place to be after all these years, with rap duo Kid 'n Play starring as teenage best friends who throw a house party while Peter's (Play) parents are on vacation. Although grounded, Chris (Kid) sneaks out and dodges roadblock after roadblock on the way to the night of his life. House Party kicked off a franchise, but every sequel is only trying to chase the high that was the first one thrown in 1990.
14. Scream
Year: 1996
Director: Wes Craven
What's your favorite scary movie? When the era of the slasher seemed over, horror master Wes Craven introduced a new knife-wielding killer to the canon. The movie follows a group of suburban teenagers whose neighborhood is terrorized by a costumed serial killer. Resilient student Sidney (Neve Campbell), on the anniversary of her mother's murder, becomes the one to confront the terrifying "Ghostface," who is a lot closer to her than she knows. Loaded with explicit references to all the best horror movie cliches, Scream plays with audience expectations to give '90s teens an icon like Michael Myers and Freddy Kruger of their own.
13. The Craft
Year: 1996
Director: Andrew Fleming
A cult classic that's beckoned would-be witches for years, The Craft is the ultimate '90s movie about teenage girls harnessing their inner power even as it begins to warp their friendships and, ultimately, becomes their downfall. Rachel True, Robin Tunney, Neve Campbell, and a standout Fairuza Balk play outcast students at a religious high school who form a coven and become witches, only for their magic and Balk's Nancy Downs to eventually turn on them three-fold. For years, The Craft has enjoyed cult classic status, attracting a dedicated fanbase who resonate with the movie's story about outsiders, the sometimes complicated dynamic of young female friendships, and warnings of playing with fire.
12. Romeo + Juliet
Year: 1996
Director: Baz Luhrmann
The ultimate star-crossed romance from "The Bard" gets a surreal modern makeover (but with Shakespearean dialogue mostly intact) by Baz Luhrmann. The story of Shakespeare's Romeo & Juliet gets transported from Verona to Venice Beach (or something like it), with Leonardo DiCaprio and Claire Danes starring as the young lovers doomed to endure a grisly end. Swords are traded for guns, and horses are traded for low-riders, but the everlasting power of Shakespeare's story remains intact in Luhrmann's lush interpretation.
11. Election
Year: 1999
Director: Alexander Payne
Vote for Flick! Alexander Payne's black comedy Election, based on Tom Perrotta's 1998 novel, follows a petty war waged between overachieving high school student Tracy Flick (Reese Witherspoon) and a social studies teacher (Matthew Broderick), the latter of whom convinces a dimwit jock (Chris Klein) to run against Tracy in a race for student council president. Payne's cynical sense of humor pervades Election, with Tracy herself (who comes alive thanks to Witherspoon's multi-layered performance) attracting both disdain and sympathy in strange doses.
10. Cruel Intentions
Year: 1999
Director: Roger Krumble
When the rich and powerful toy with the innocent, sometimes the innocent bites back. Roger Krumble's Cruel Intentions follows disgustingly rich stepsiblings Sebastian (Ryan Philippe) and Kathryn (Sarah Michelle Gellar), who bet a Jaguar sportscar that Sebastian can sleep with innocent Annette (Reese Witherspoon), an incoming new student who has publicly sworn off sex until marriage. While Sebastian sets out with, ahem, cruel intentions, he soon falls in love with Annette for real. Brimming with eroticism and emotional manipulation, Cruel Intentions feels so right even when things are totally wrong.
9. I Know What You Did Last Summer
Year: 1997
Director: Jim Gillespie
Drawing from urban legends and popular teen horror movie tropes, I Know What You Did Last Summer really hooks you in and never lets go. Jim Gillespie's movie, which crams together some of the greatest teen stars of the '90s, chronicles the nightmare endured by North Carolina teens who are stalked by a hook-wielding killer one year after they covered up a hit-and-run accident that left a stranger dead. Sarah Michelle Gellar, Jennifer Love Hewitt, Freddie Prinze Jr., and Ryan Phillippe take the lead in this era-defining teen horror hit that warns against keeping the worst secrets.
8. Boyz N the Hood
Year: 1991
Director: John Singleton
Amid the booming West Coast rap scene, filmmaker John Singleton made his cinematic debut with the landmark coming-of-age drama Boyz n the Hood. Cuba Gooding Jr. stars as a 17-year-old college hopeful who lives with his father (Laurence Fishburne) in gang-ruled South Central L.A. Surrounded by bad influences, Gooding Jr.'s Tre tries to keep his head on straight and his friends in one piece. A seminal drama that launched the careers of virtually everyone involved, Boyz N the Hood kicked off a number of imitators and likeminded films throughout the '90s, but few came close to keeping it real like Singleton's classic.
7. She's All That
Year: 1999
Director: Robert Iscove
My Fair Lady gets a '90s makeover in She's All That, one of the most popular teen movies of the decade. Freddie Prinze Jr. stars as a recently-dumped high school jock who takes on a friendly challenge: transform an unpopular art student (Rachel Leigh Cook) into a prom queen. Though Zack (Prinze Jr.) isn't serious at first, he starts to develop genuine feelings for Laney (Cook) as Laney begins blossoming out of her protective shell. Inextricably tied to Sixpence None the Richer's charmer of an alt-rock juggernaut, "Kiss Me," She's All That is all that, and a lot more.
6. Varsity Blues
Year: 1999
Director: Brian Robbins
It doesn't play in the same league as Friday Night Lights, but Varsity Blues is still one heck of a movie that takes audiences deep into the pressures of small-town high school Texas football. James Van Der Beek takes a break from Dawson's Creek to star as a backup quarterback of his school football team who is thrust into the spotlight when the school's all-star player (Paul Walker) is sidelined with an injury. While its comic hijinks keeps it from true gridiron glory, Varsity Blues is quintessential '90s goodness that has raw heart under sweaty jerseys.
5. American Pie
Year: 1999
Director: Paul Weitz
One time, at band camp, there was American Pie. A pop culture juggernaut when it was released in 1999, American Pie threw teen audiences back to the days of '80s sex comedies to follow a new generation of degenerate delinquents who only think with their heads… and not the right ones. The movie follows a group of high school seniors who make a vow to lose their virginities before graduation, only for their desperate efforts to lead to places they never expect. From ruined desserts to webcam streams that would get people arrested today, American Pie is a raunchy dish with a warm filling inside.
4. Rushmore
Year: 1998
Director: Wes Anderson
After his directorial debut in Bottle Rocket, Wes Anderson showed a more refined form of his known artistry in the teen comedy Rushmore. Jason Schwartzman stars as an eccentric, over-ambitious, and over-involved 15-year-old student at the prestigious Rushmore Academy. Schwarztman's Max Fischer soon finds his academic life in the balance when he falls for a teacher (Olivia Williams). Deliriously funny, insightful, and clever – not to mention a heck of a way to kick off a prolific, years-long collaboration between Anderson, Schwartzman, and veteran actor Bill Murray – Rushmore gets the highest of marks in the young adult film canon.
3. The Virgin Suicides
Year: 1999
Director: Sofia Coppola
Sofia Coppola's directorial debut chronicles the collapsing lives of five teenage sisters in suburban Detroit circa 1975. When one of the sisters, Cecilia (Hannah Hall), threatens and eventually fulfills an act of suicide, the rest of the family struggles to keep afloat as the other girls find ways to cope, including but not limited to casual sex with boys. With a dreamlike texture that comes off like a fugue state and a grasp on teenagehood that feels wispy without feeling limp, The Virgin Suicides is a rare teen movie where vulnerable girls aren't in need of rescuing – they only want to be heard.
2. 10 Things I Hate About You
Year: 1999
Director: Gil Junger
William Shakespeare's The Taming of the Shrew is retold with millennial verve in 10 Things I Hate About You. Heath Ledger, in a breakout performance, is bad boy Patrick Verona, who is hired to date antisocial Kat (Julia Stiles) by her younger sister Bianca (Larisa Oleynik). But while Patrick is initially in it for the money, he finds real love to be priceless. While a hit at the box office in 1999 – being a direct competitor to the seismic sci-fi The Matrix – 10 Things I Hate About You has slowly but surely drawn acclaim as one of the greatest teen rom-coms of all time.
1. Clueless
Year: 1995
Director: Amy Heckerling
As if! Alicia Silverstone tasted Hollywood fame with Amy Heckerling's landmark '90s hit Clueless, which riffs on Jane Austen's Emma. Silverstone stars as Cher Horowitz, a fashionable, spoiled rich girl with a good heart who enjoys playing romantic matchmaker with those around her. But it's not long until Cher learns she has a thing or two to learn about love herself, especially when Josh Lucas (Paul Rudd) comes to visit. With the grunge scene firmly in place, Clueless turned flannel around and presented a new vibe shift that set the tone for the rest of the decade. A witty script, immaculate direction, and a sense of humor and sincerity that never goes out of fashion, Clueless qualifies as easily one of the greatest '90s teen movies, if not of all time.
