Entertainment
20 Teen Movies Like ‘Mean Girls’ That Are So Fetch
Mean Girls is among the new millennium’s most influential movies. From the comedic genius of Tina Fey, the film stars a who’s who of future movie stars, including Lindsay Lohan, Rachel McAdams, Amanda Seyfried, and Lizzy Caplan. Especially with the Mean Girls musical reboot, there is no better time than the present to get into the glamorous and cutthroat mood that Mean Girls and other teen films so effectively provide.
Endlessly quotable, hilarious, and infinitely rewatchable, Mean Girls is a generation-defining film and one of the best teen movies in American cinema. Fans of the movie might want to watch other similar films, and, luckily for them, there’s no shortage of options. From films with similar themes to the dark comedies that inspired it, these movies are perfect companions for Mean Girls.
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‘Mean Girls’ (2024)
As far as films that recapture and fully embrace the type of slick, pop energy of Mean Girls, it’s difficult to find something more similar than the musical remake that came out in 2024. Adapted from a stage musical that was adapted from the original 2004 film, this modern interpretation of Mean Girls features a new cast and the same distinct energy and style that made the musical such a hit. It mostly follows the same story and beats as the original film, yet updated for a modern audience.
While it’s easy to be harsh on modern remakes due to usually not being able to compare in quality to the original film, the 2024 Mean Girls‘ musical angle helps distinguish itself as a separate experience from the original film. At the same time, the film features a lot of the same inherent strengths and qualities of the original story, such as the dynamic between Cady and the Plastics and the array of quotable lines.
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‘The Clique’ (2008)
2008’s The Clique is based on the eponymous series of teen novels. The plot concerns Claire Lyons, a young girl who desperately attempts to join the most popular girls in her new school, the Clique, doing increasingly questionable things to sneak into the group. The film’s plot and characters find a great deal of inspiration from films like Mean Girls, but instead of simply attempting a blatant copy of the formula, The Clique has a genuine understanding of the important themes and messaging of Mean Girls.
The Clique might as well be middle-school Mean Girls. The plot is similar, visiting the same themes of the dangers of popularity and sacrificing individuality to fit in with the “cool” crowd. However, The Clique is charming enough to warrant a watch, especially for fashionistas; the film is a worthy heir to the Gossip Girl legacy of stunning preppy fashion.
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‘Legally Blonde’ (2001)
One of the most defining romantic comedies of the era, Legally Blonde follows the story of sorority girl Elle Woods, who in an attempt to win back her ex-boyfriend, plans to follow in his footsteps and attend Harvard Law School. However, she soon finds herself taking a liking to the judicial process and decides to prove to her peers that she goes against the nasty stereotypes surrounding preppy blondes like herself.
While not as directly tied to the trends and cliques of high school as portrayed in Mean Girls, Legally Blonde shares a connection with the film through their shared love and importance placed upon female empowerment. Elle is a character who fits perfectly within the style and world of Mean Girls, almost acting as a kind-hearted, perfect version of a preppy plastic-type, combined with Reese Witherspoon‘s signature performance, making her an incredible main character to watch.
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‘Wild Child’ (2008)
Emma Roberts became a teen icon with her explosive performance in the 2008 comedy Wild Child. The plot centers on Poppy Moore, a wealthy and rebellious girl who gets sent to a prestigious English boarding school to correct her attitude. However, things don’t go as planned when Poppy brings her unique brand of disruptive energy to the school.
Wild Child is a star vehicle for Roberts, who shines in a role similar to her future iconic turns in American Horror Story: Coven and Scream Queens. Wild Child is a great companion for Mean Girls, with both films focusing on young and rebellious girls who learn valuable lessons without sacrificing their individual fabulousness. However, the major difference and focus is the more character study-styled singular focus on Poppy, as opposed to a more generalized story about all of high school.
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‘Plan B’ (2021)
One of the core facets that makes Mean Girls such an effective teen comedy is its focus on female camaraderie and friendship, themes that are greatly felt throughout Plan B. The film follows straight-laced high school student Sunny, who, after a regrettable sexual encounter at a party, finds herself on a wild road trip across the countryside with her best friend Lupe in search of an elusive Plan B pill. Their journey sees them facing off against numerous unexpected hurdles and strange characters as the duo reevaluates their friendship and forms a tight-knit bond in the process.
Plan B features an effective blend of raunchy, R-rated comedy, likable female leads, and effective themes of coming-of-age friendship that are sure to make it a hit with fans of Mean Girls. This film is greatly elevated by its inherent charm and execution, getting a great deal of comedic mileage and earnest emotional moments thanks to the tone and style that it creates for itself. As far as modern teen films go, Plan B is one of the best when it comes to having as much wild fun as it has a great emotional core.
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‘Can’t Hardly Wait’ (1999)
Can’t Hardly Wait follows the stories and events surrounding a massive graduation party, consisting of nearly every student at Huntington Hills High. In each student’s attempt to have the best night of their lives, they each find themselves overcoming a number of unexpected obstacles and changes, resulting in a night that will surely go down in history. While the plot may initially seem completely different, Can’t Hardly Wait shares a lot of DNA with Mean Girls when it comes to its satire and commentary on the trends of then-high school cliques and stereotypes.
Can’t Hardly Wait makes a major effort when it comes to blurring the lines between the archetypes of high school students, with the lines between jocks, nerds, and popular students fading away by the end of the film. It’s also a laugh riot throughout its runtime, as the film’s simple party-centric premise allows for a wide variety of different stories and characters that constantly blend in with one another throughout the runtime. Much like Mean Girls, the film embraces the clichés and trends of the teen movie genre to create its own original story, reflecting upon the clichés themselves.
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‘Election’ (1999)
Teen movies lend themselves perfectly as avenues for greater satires and social examinations of greater societal structures, something that Mean Girls greatly excelled at as one of the defining satires of the early 2000s. However, before Mean Girls took the world by storm, Election would provide a similar level of using high-school drama as an avenue for its adult satire, telling a hilarious story of abuse of power and elections. The film follows the chaos and infighting surrounding a student election, in which bright-eyed Tracy Flick (Reese Witherspoon) is running unopposed, to the major dismay of teacher Jim McAllister (Matthew Broderick).
What makes films like Election and Mean Girls stand out from the variety of other teen movies of the era is their distinct use of cynicism and dark comedy to excel their satirical themes and messaging. This style of humor and storytelling lends itself to the high school setting perfectly, creating an effective balance of petty drama and surprisingly high stakes that makes for highly memorable cinematic experiences. Even 25 years after its release, Election is still widely regarded as one of the best teen movies of the era, in the same vein of legacy and status as Mean Girls.
13
‘Do Revenge’ (2022)
Netflix’s wickedly funny teen comedy Do Revenge stars Camila Mendes and Maya Hawke. Inspired by Alfred Hitchcock‘s classic Strangers on a Train, the plot follows two students at a prestigious Miami school who team up to get revenge against the people who wronged them. However, as several twists and turns come with their newfound popularity, their original plans prove themselves to be falling apart at the seams.
Campy, self-aware, and endlessly funny, Do Revenge is a pastel-colored teen nightmare elevated by a pair of committed performances from Mendes and Hawke. More than simply acting as a modern retread of classic teen movies, the film finds massive inspiration and growth from the original formula, acting as the perfect modernization of this style of film. The film features a genuinely clever twist that separates it from other teen efforts, and its distinctive visual style and intelligent screenplay echo the heights achieved by Mean Girls.
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‘Cruel Intentions’ (1999)
Ryan Phillippe, Sarah Michelle Gellar, and Reese Witherspoon cemented their legacies as ’90s teen icons with 1999’s Cruel Intentions. An updated adaptation of Pierre Choderlos de Laclos’ seminal epistolary novel Les Liaisons Dangereuses, the film follows two scheming step-siblings who make a bet concerning a newly-arrived virginal student.
Cruel Intentions is a sexy and surprisingly witty update to a literary classic. Powered by a wicked turn by a never-better Sarah Michelle Gellar and with a memorable ending that ranks among the all-time best finales in the teen genre, Cruel Intentions is a scandalous thriller that fans of Mean Girls will undoubtedly enjoy.
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’13 Going on 30′ (2004)
One of the quintessential coming-of-age experiences of the early 2000s, 13 Going on 30 stands head and toe alongside Mean Girls as a hilarious examination of teenage life that defined the era. The film follows the story of Jenna, a teenage girl who is tired of the painful social structures of teenage life and wishes that she could simply be an adult and skip these painful teenage years. She suddenly gets her wish when she wakes up as a 30-year-old woman, complete with a stable career and full life, yet it doesn’t take long before Jenna learns that adulthood isn’t what it’s cracked up to be.
13 Going on 30 employs a similar style of coming-of-age comedy and humor as Mean Girls, with its focus simply placed on the contrast between teenage culture and adult life as opposed to entirely focusing on teenage life. Jennifer Garner gives a standout performance throughout the film, having to bring out the inherent optimism and beauty for the world in the eyes of a child, and elevating the entire experience as a result. Even despite there differing plots, there is an undeniable parallel in the tone and execution of Mean Girls and 13 Going on 30 that makes them complement one another perfectly.
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