The 22 Best Teen Movies of the 21st Century (So Far)

It’s hard to believe, but the concept of the teenager is younger than film as a medium. According to historians, American culture first began thinking of the period of 13 to 19 as a specific bridge between childhood and adulthood in the 1940s, in part due to marketing executives looking to define people in that age range as a new demographic. And shortly afterwards, that demographic became ubiquitous on TV and films.

The first teen films began popping up in earnest during the 1950s, with landmark titles like “The Wild One,” “Blackboard Jungle,” and the enduringly iconic “Rebel Without a Cause.” Each film featured a bonafide screen legend — Marlon Brando in “The Wild One,” Sidney Poitier in “Blackboard Jungle,” and James Dean in his most iconic role in “Rebel Without a Cause” — and established films that took the emotional turmoil of teen life seriously as a vibrant subgenre. Since then, teens have been fixtures of the big screen. They’re go-to protagonists for wacky comedies and scary slashers. And auteurs like John Hughes have turned the teen film into an artform, with classics like “The Breakfast Club” and “Pretty in Pink.”

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In the 21st century, teen movies have had to adapt and grow rapidly to the changing landscape of modern youth culture. Social media has become a necessary fixture of any high school movie, with films like “Eighth Grade” playing out the majority of their drama on phone screens. The teens getting depicted in film look and act different too, with room for high schoolers who aren’t white and straight to lead their casts in movies like “Dope” or “Booksmart.”

In celebration of the theatrical release of “Mean Girls,” a musical remake of one of the most iconic teen films of this decade, IndieWire is looking back at the best teen films of the 21st century, so far. Entries are unranked and listed in chronological order — based off U.S. release dates.

[Editor’s note: This list was originally published in May 2019 and has since been updated.] With editorial contributions from Sarah Shachat and Jude Dry.

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