100 Good Movies to Watch With Your Teen or College Student (2024)

Thanks to the oral surgeon who extracted four wisdom teeth from my college student’s mouth and the 20-minutes-on-20-minutes-off ice pack schedule, we were tethered to our TV. I hovered and pampered, thrilled to have the chance to dote on my nearly-grown teen.

Armed with meds, smoothies, and Netflix, we whiled away the day looking for the best teen movies to watch together. Here are the top 100 movies (from the 1980s and beyond) to watch with your teen or young adult. From teen angst to classics, we’ve got you covered with this list of movies that are appropriate and fun to watch with your family.

Good movies to watch with your older son or daughter

Academy award-winning good

  1. Forrest Gump (1994)

In terms of award winners, this title on my best teen movies list has the most accolades earning Best Picture, Director, Actor (Tom Hanks), Adapted Screenplay, Visual Effects, and Film Editing.

Based on the novel with the same name by Winston Groom, the story is about intellectually challenged and incredibly sweet Forrest Gump who manages to be on the scene in memorable moments of American history (1944 -1982). Bonus is watching gorgeous Robin Wright, way before her Claire Underwood/House of Cards days.

2. Good Will Hunting (1997)

The movie that put the careers of Ben Affleck and Matt Damon (Academy Award, Best Actor and Best Original Screenplay with Affleck) on the map also stars Robin Williams (Academy Award, Best Supporting Actor). Damon plays a brilliant but misguided dropout working as a janitor at MIT and Williams is the therapist who works hard to reach his troubled patient.

To watch now-superstars Damon and Affleck acting in their mid-twenties in this excellent movie is a thrill. Boston lovers will soak up the scenery and the accents.

3. Moneyball (2011)

We love every word that writer Michael Lewis has put on paper and highly recommend Moneyball: The Art of Winning an Unfair Game. The movie, based on his book, was nominated for six Academy Awards including Best Picture. Brad Pitt played Billy Bean, general manager of the Oakland A’s, and Jonah Hill portrayed Ivy-league stats-smart Assistant General Manager Peter Brand. These two actors were nominated for Best Male Actor and Best Supporting Actor, respectively.

This true story of how an underfunded baseball team could win 20 consecutive games, an American League record, by inventing a radical approach to scouting talent is remarkable and the movie, unforgettable.

4. Saving Private Ryan (1998)

The great tragedy and extreme violence of war that Academy Award-winning director Steven Spielberg created here is a graphic view of the battlefield. For an older kid who has studied WWII, this movie will vividly bring to life classroom lessons. Set during the Invasion of Normandy, it depicts the search for a paratrooper, Private Ryan (Matt Damon) who is the surviving brother of four servicemen. The movie won four additional awards.

5. Clueless (1995)

Clueless won 6 awards. Cher Horowitz (Alicia Silverstone) is a high school student in Beverly Hills who struggles to navigate adolescence. At first glance, she appears to be completely vapid but all is not what it seems as she helps the new girl Tai. The movie is worth a watch if you are a Paul Rudd fan, and to be honest, who isn’t?

6. Barbie (2023)
The Barbie movie is heartfelt, inspiring, and truly makes you reflect on motherhood. Barbie and Ken are living an ideal life in Barbie Land. However, when they get a chance to go to the real world, they find out the joys and perils of living among humans.

7. Inside Out (2015)
Inside Out is an animated comedy about a girl named Riley, who is uprooted from her life in the Midwest when her family moves to San Francisco. Riley feels many emotions along the journey of being in a new location and each emotion is shown as an actual character. This movie delves deep into each emotion we experience as humans. ​​

8. Mr. Holland’s Opus (1995)
Composer Glenn Holland believes that he’ll eventually write a great piece of music, but currently, he’s taken a job at an Oregon high school. Though at first, the job frustrates him, Mr. Holland grows to love his students as the “temporary” position stretches decades long. In the end, his students show how much they love him.

9. The Sandlot  (1993)
When Scottie Smalls moves to a new neighborhood, he makes friends with the kids who play baseball at the sandlot and they go on a series of funny adventures.

10. McFarland, USA (2015)
Track coach Jim White is new to a predominantly Latino high school in California’s Central Valley. Coach White and his students find that they have a lot to learn about one another.

On the edge of your seat good movies

11. The Giver (2014)
This young adult dystopian book was amazing and so is the movie. This one is sure to keep you glued.

12. Shawshank Redemption (1994)

Tim Robbins and Morgan Freeman play the roles of prison inmates at Shawshank State Penitentiary in Maine. Robbins plays Andy Dufresne, a banker wrongly convicted of murdering his wife and her lover, who was sent to jail for two life sentences in 1947. While there he meets Red (Morgan Freeman) who excels at importing contraband into the prison from the outside world. Over time, their fortunes rise and fall within the prison but their friendship holds steady. It should come as no surprise that the movie is filled with suspense, given that it is based on a novella by Stephen King, “Rita Hayworth and Shawshank Redemption.”

13. Divergent (2014)
In this sci-fi movie, the world is divided based on virtues, and Tris learns she’s Divergent and won’t fit in. When she discovers there is a plot to get rid of Divergents, Tris and the other Four need to discover what makes Divergents dangerous before it’s too late.

14. North Face (2008)
North Face is an adventure film, based on a true story, about a competition to climb the most dangerous rock face in the Alps.

Our favorite teen movies

15. Eighth Grade (2018)
If you’re having trouble remembering what it’s like to be in eighth grade, here you go. Kayla is so shy that she mostly connects through social media. It’s Kayla’s final week in the eighth grade and she vows to make it as great as possible before she moves on to high school.

16. Legally Blonde (2001)

I love Reese Witherspoon’s depiction of Elle Wood, a shopping-focused, pink-clad coed whose determination to prove her intelligence to her ex-boyfriend leads her to a spot in his same class at Harvard Law School. Improbable? Of course! But who cares as we watch Elle overcome prejudice and sexism and transform into a legal star while still maintaining her values, loyalty, and sense of style. What’s not to love about a young woman managing all that?

17. Men in Black (1997)

I am not sure if there’s ever been a better comedic duo than Tommy Lee Jones and Will Smith in Men in Black. Described on Wikipedia as a “science fiction buddy cop action comedy,” the fusion of genres and abundance of talent in the lead roles makes me want to watch this one over and over.

Two agents (Jones and Smith) supervise extraterrestrial life on Earth and basically try to save the world, looking very cool in their dark sunglasses while doing so. If you and your teen are loving this one, take the plunge and watch the two sequels, MIB2 and MIB3.

18. 13 Going on 30 (2004)

Jennifer Garner and Mark Ruffalo star in this rom-com fantasy where they are irresistibly adorable as grown-up versions of their 13-year-old selves. Portraying next-door neighbors and best friends, Jenna Rink (Garner) and Matt Flamhaff (Ruffalo) weather the trials of middle school together until Jenna’s 13th birthday when she is humiliated by the mean, cool kids she invited to her party.

In the next scene, she emerges as a 30-year-old, confused about how she got there and why her life is so very different than the one she dreamed of. The movie’s soundtrack includes hit songs from the 1980s-2000s, in particular, “Thriller” by Michael Jackson, the tune featured during my favorite scene of the entire movie.

On a personal note, Legally Blonde and 13 Going on 30 were two of my daughter’s favorites growing up and we watched them over and over during her middle school years. Since she is temporarily grounded from her life as a college student, we have the chance to curl up together and watch these favorites from her childhood. While these moments come with some discomfort for her (hoping that will pass soon) for me, it doesn’t get much better than this.

19. Perks of Being a Wallflower (2012)
Socially awkward teen Charlie (Logan Lerman) is watching life from the sidelines when free-spirited Sam (Emma Watson) and her stepbrother Patrick (Ezra Miller) help Charlie discover the joys of friendship, first love, music and more.

20. Dumplin’ (2018)
In a small Texas town, a plus-size teen, the daughter of a former beauty queen, signs up for a beauty pageant to spite her mom — and ends up inspiring others to try out as well.

21. Sierra Burgess Is A Loser (2018)
A modern take on Cyrano De Bergerac.

22. Tall Girl (2019)
This movie centers around the tallest girl in high school who is 6’1”, who falls for a handsome foreign exchange student. But, she finds herself caught in a love triangle and realizes she’s more than her insecurities about being so tall.

23. You Are So Not Invited to My Bat Mitzvah (2013)
Stacy and Lydia are best friends who’ve dreamed about having amazing bat mitzvahs. However, things start to go comically wrong when a boy and middle school drama threatens their friendship.

24. Prom Pact (2023)
It is the height of prom season, but high school senior Mandy has her sights set on attending Harvard. When she gets deferred, she is determined to get herself off the waitlist, even if that means asking for help from all-star jock Graham, whose father is a powerful senator and Harvard alum.

25. #REALITYHIGH (2017)
Dani does well in school, volunteers at the animal clinic, and is focused on getting into college, but is befriended by Alexa, the popular girl. Dani enjoys the attention. However, Alexa cannot be trusted. The movie centers around reflections on staying true to yourself, taking the moral high ground, and the shallowness of popularity.

26. The DUFF (2015)
High-school senior Bianca learns that her classmates secretly know her as the DUFF – designated ugly fat friend — to her prettier and more popular friends. Bianca becomes eager to reinvent herself and gets help from Wesley, a charming jock.

27. Can’t Buy Me Love (1987)
Cheerleader Cindy Mancini (Amanda Peterson) accidentally destroys her mother’s designer clothes. However, nerdy Ronald agrees to pay for the $1,000 outfit on one condition: that she will act as though they’re a couple for an entire month. However, Cindy begins enjoying spending time with Ronald, making him popular. The overall message is about how social success isn’t everything.

28. Bring it On (2000)
The Toro cheerleading squad is ready to win the national championship trophy for the sixth year in a row. But the Toros’ road to total cheer glory takes a turn when it’s discovered that their routines were stolen from another team.

29. 17 Again (2009)
Mike O’Donnell (Matthew Perry) was a high-school basketball star, but he threw it away to marry his girlfriend and raise their child. Almost 20 years later, Mike’s marriage has failed and his kids think he’s a loser. However, he gets a chance to correct the mistakes of his past and change his life when he is miraculously transformed into a teenager (Zac Efron).

30. Easy A (2010)
Prompted by her popular best friend to spill details of her weekend, Olive (Emma Stone), a clean-cut teen, lies about losing her virginity. When the high-school busybody (Amanda Bynes) overhears the conversation and spreads this information, Olive becomes notorious for the wrong reasons.

31. The Last Song (2011)
Unruly New York teen Ronnie learns that she and her younger brother Jonah have to go stay with their father for the summer. Ronnie does not want to spend time away from her friends.

32. 16 Candles (1984)
Samantha faces her 16th birthday with typical adolescent dread. Samantha likes an older boy, Jake, but worries her chastity will get in the way. Meanwhile, nerdy Ted is the one who likes Samantha.

Romance is never a bad choice

33. The Perfect Date (2019)
A fun rom-com: See what happens when a high school student played by Noah Centineo creates an app to offer his services as a fake date to make money for college. Of course, nothing goes as planned.

34. To All the Boys I’ve Loved Before (2018)
In this Netflix original movie, we are presented with every high schoolers nightmare when a teenage girl’s secret love letters are exposed and wreak havoc on her love life. This is the original of the To All the Boys franchise of America including three feature films and a spin-off television series starring Lana Condor as Lara Jean and Noah Centineo as Peter Kavinsky.

35. Love, Simon (2018)
Another teen rom-com starring Evan Goldberg a high school student who falls in love with an anonymous classmate via email. Another student finds the emails and Simon must face the truth about his identity.

36. The Kissing Booth (2018)
The film follows Elle (King), a quirky, late-blooming teenager whose budding romance with bad boy Noah (Elordi) puts her lifelong friendship with Noah’s younger brother Lee (Courtney) in jeopardy.

37. La La Land (2016)
This is just a fun movie — the colors, the songs, and the relationship between Ryan Gosling and Emma Stone.

38. (500) Days of Summer (2009)
Tom Hansen reflects on his relationship with the girlfriend who has just dumped him. He tries to figure out where things went wrong and how he can win her back.

39. 10 Things I Hate About You (1999)
Based on Shakespeare’s The Taming of the Shrew, this one stars the late Heath Ledger.

40. You’ve Got Mail (1998)
Remember when you’d dial into your modem and hear, “You’ve got mail.” I’ve seen this film at least 20 times but would watch it again anytime, anywhere. Tom Hanks and Meg Ryan fall in love in a wonderful, fun, romantic way.

41. Paper Towns (2015)
Margo, the most popular student, recruits young and shy Quentin, to help her prank the friends who betrayed her. The day after, Margo disappears. With help from a few friends and clues Margo left behind, Quentin makes it his goal to find the girl who stole his heart.

42. Everything, Everything (2018)
The unlikely love story of Maddy, an 18-year-old who cannot leave the house due to an illness, and Olly, the boy next door.

43. Me and Earl and The Dying Girl (2015)
A teen who enjoys making parodies of movies befriends a classmate who has just been diagnosed with leukemia and his entire outlook on life changes.

If you and your teen need a good cry 

44. The Edge of Seventeen (2016)
Described as funny, touching, and poignant, Hailee Steinfeld’s acting gets rave reviews. This film tells the story of Nadine who is a troubled teen struggling because her only friend has started a relationship with her brother.

45. The Fault in Our Stars (2014)
A coming-of-age romance between two young cancer patients. Bring the tissues, a whole box will be needed.

46. Wonder (2017)
Auggie Pullman, a boy with facial differences, stops being homeschooled and starts the 5th grade with other kids for the first time. As his community struggles with compassion and acceptance, Auggie’s journey unites them and proves that you cannot blend in when you were born to stand out.

47. If You Could See What I Hear (1982)
Based on a true story, blind composer, Tom Sullivan goes from college to Cape Cod and falls in love.

Classics you should NOT miss

48. Lady Bird (2017)
A deep, thoughtful dive into mother/daughter relationships is so worth watching if only for the excellent acting of star Saoirse Ronan. Makes you laugh and cry all at once.

49. Pitch Perfect (2012)
This movie is just plain fun. Okay, fine it’s a little hokey, but so much fun watching Anna Kendrick do her thing and that thing is fabulous acapella.

50. Superbad (2007)
A coming-of-age comedy produced by the amazing Judd Apatow. The film’s stars Seth Rogen and Evan Goldberg are about to graduate from high school but before graduating, the boys have plans.

51. Mean Girls (2004)
Starring Tina Fey, this comedy tackles high school drama, bullying, and romance.

52. Ferris Bueller’s Day Off (1986)
And there can be no list that doesn’t feature this John Hughes classic starring Matthew Broderick who spends the day playing hockey in Chicago.

53. The Breakfast Club (1985)
Yes, you’ve seen it a thousand times but watching it with your teen is a whole different experience and a great opportunity to discuss what high school was like back in the day. A group of five high school students spend the day in detention learning a lot about themselves and each other. The five actors who became known at the Brat Pack are Molly Ringwald, Emilio Estevez, Judd Nelson, Ally Sheedy, and Anthony Michael Hall.

54. Fast Times at Ridgemont High (1982)
A coming-of-age comedy-drama film based on the book Fast Times at Ridgemont High: A True Story. The author went undercover at Clairemont High School in San Diego and wrote about his experiences. The film chronicles a school year in the lives of high school sophomores and their older friends.

55. Rebel Without A Cause (1955)
If you want to see the OG of coming-of-age dramas, this is it. The more things change the more they stay the same. This movie is as iconic as the acting of its star the legendary James Dean.

56. Are You There God? It’s Me, Margaret. (2023)
This movie is based on a novel by Judy Blume, published in 1970. The movie is about Margaret Simon, a sixth-grader who grows up without a religious affiliation because of her parents’ interfaith marriage, and portrays relatable struggles many young girls face.

57. The Secret Life of Walter Mitty (2013)
To escape the tedium of working at Life Magazine, Walter inhabits a world of exciting daydreams in which he is the hero. Walter would like to date another employee named Cheryl, but he feels unworthy. However, Life’s new owners send him to obtain the perfect photo for the final print issue and he goes on an adventure.

Who doesn’t love a comedy?

58. Booksmart (2019)
This is a coming-of-age comedy starring Beanie Feldstein and Kaitlyn Dever as graduating high school girls who set out to finally break the rules and party on their last day of classes.

59. John Tucker Must Die (2006)
A teen romantic comedy in which three girls learn that high school basketball star John Tucker is simultaneously dating all of them. Hilarity ensues.

60. Napoleon Dynamite (2004)
You need to watch this movie with your teen. Our family quotes lines from this movie every day. It’s laugh-out-loud funny but also poignant. The characters in this movie are quirky, none more so than Napoleon’s friend Pedro and his bizarre older brother Kip.

61. Heathers (1988)
A dark comedy starring Winona Ryder as Veronica Sawyer ends up embroiled in a series of violent deaths.

62. Chef (2014)
Chef Carl Casper (Jon Favreau) quits his position at a prestigious Los Angeles restaurant. As he tries to figure out his next step, he finds himself in Miami. Carl joins forces with his ex-wife (Sofía Vergara), best friend (John Leguizamo) and son (Emjay Anthony) to launch a food truck business.

63. Love Rosie (2014)
Best friends Rosie and Alex are suddenly separated when Alex and his family move from Dublin to America. Watch to find out if their friendship survives years and distance.

64. Senior Year (2022)
In this comedy, a high-school cheerleader falls into a coma right before the biggest night of her senior year: prom. Twenty years later, she awakens from her coma and decides to finish her high school education to be crowned prom queen.

65. She’s The Man (2006)

After being ditched by her brother, Viola heads to his elite boarding school, disguised as him.

For the sports lovers

66. Friday Night Lights (2004)
This movie is remarkable in its depiction of high school sports, friendships, and the families that are woven into the community’s fabric. Based on the book, Friday Night Lights: A Town, a Team and a Dream by H.G. Bissinger, the movie later spawned a TV series so if you get hooked on the movie and need more material, check out the show, also starring Connie Britton.

67. Glory Road (2006)
After being appointed the new coach of the 1966 Texas Miners, Don Haskins (Josh Lucas) builds a team based on talent instead of on race. The conservative townsfolk balk at the diverse lineup even though the team is winning.

68. When the Game Stands Tall (2014)
In 2003, high-school football coach Bob Ladouceur (Jim Caviezel) and the team completed an incredible 151 consecutive victories and 12-straight state championships. However, the coach has a brush with calamity, while the Spartans have a challenging season.

69. Hoosiers (1986)
A failed college coach has the opportunity to redeem himself when he is hired to direct a high school basketball program. After a teacher persuades the star player to quit and focus on academics, Dale struggles to develop a winning team in the face of community criticism for his temper and choice of assistant coach: Shooter, a notorious alcoholic.

70. Draft Day (2014)
Sonny Weaver Jr. is the general manager of the Cleveland Browns. One of pro football’s most important days, NFL draft day is coming up, but Sonny is worried about the fact that his partner is pregnant, and the team’s owner wants to fire him. After Sonny accepts a deal with Seattle, he ponders if he has made the correct choice.

71. Perfect Game (2009)
In Monterrey, Mexico, a group of boys discovers the joys of sandlot baseball. Armed with a dream of playing in the Little League, the boys defy the odds, setting off on an unprecedented winning streak.

72. Miracle on Ice (1981)
The inspiring true story of Herb Brooks (Karl Malden) and the 1980 U.S. men’s Olympic hockey team, took home the gold medal after defeating the heavily favored Soviet team.

73. Eddie the Eagle (2016)
Eddie’s never-say-die attitude takes him all the way to the 1988 Winter Olympics in Calgary, Alberta, despite an entire nation counting him out.

74. Forever Strong (​​2008)
A troubled rugby player Rick Penning is sent to a juvenile detention centre, where he plays for the prison team — his former rivals.

75. Million Dollar Arm (2014)
Sports agent J.B. Bernstein heads to India to find a cricket player whom he can nurture into a major league star. With the help of a scout, J.B. finds teens Dinesh and Rinku who come to adjust to American life and learn valuable lessons about teamwork and family.

More captivating movies

76. 5 People You Meet in Heaven (2004)
Aging handyman Eddie (Jon Voight) dies saving a small child from death and enters the pearly gates and is reunited with a quintet of people who played important roles in his life.

77. The Emperor’s Club (2002)
A classics professor devoted his life to teaching. However, a new student joins his class and inexorably alters Mr. Hundert’s life.

78. Invictus (2009)
After his 27-year imprisonment and election as President of South Africa, Nelson Mandela faces the task of unifying a country divided by race.

79. St Vincent (2014)
A struggling single woman moves to Brooklyn with her 12-year-old son, Oliver. Having to work very long hours, she leaves her son with a neighbor, Vincent, who takes Oliver along on his trips to the strip club and dive bar, and an unlikely friendship is born. The man is a mentor to the boy, and Oliver sees the good in Vincent that no one else can.

80. The Power of One (1992)
It’s the 1930s, and young South African P.K. bonds with much older Doc (Armin Mueller-Stahl). But Doc is detained when World War II starts. As he travels to different bouts, the adult P.K. forges relationships that anger the state’s government, but his reunion with his one-time schoolyard nemesis may be his biggest challenge.

81. October Sky (1999)
A West Virginia coal miner who loves his job expects his sons to follow in his footsteps. But Jim gets a football scholarship, and Homer becomes interested in rocket science after seeing Sputnik 1 crossing the sky.

82. Cinema Paradiso (1988)
Young Salvatore Di Vita finds an escape from life in his war-torn Sicilian village: the Cinema Paradiso movie house. When Salvatore grows up, he falls in love with a beautiful local girl and takes over as the Paradiso’s projectionist.

83. Pay it Forward (2000)
A social studies teacher gives a project to think of an idea to change the world for the better, then put it into action. One student creates a plan for “paying forward” favors, setting up an unprecedented wave of human kindness.

84. Woodlawn (2015)
After government-mandated desegregation in 1973, Tony Nathan joins fellow African-American students at Woodlawn High School in Birmingham, Alabama. As hostility begins in the city, the Woodlawn football coach has an outsider speak to the players, with a message of hope and love that leads to a spiritual awakening.

85. The Good Lie (2014)
After their village is destroyed and their parents killed, Sudanese orphans Theo, his siblings and other survivors go to a refugee camp in Kenya. Thirteen years later, they  settle in Kansas and meet Carrie Davis (Reese Witherspoon), who helps get them jobs. However, seeing how adrift they are in 20th-century America, Carrie helps them rebuild their lives.

86. The Impossible (2012)
In December 2004, a family is on vacation in Thailand when the day after Christmas, their holiday turns into a nightmare when the terrifying tsunami hits. In their darkest time, unexpected displays of kindness and courage ameliorate their terror.

87. Little Boy (2015)
When an auto mechanic is sent to fight during World War II, he leaves behind his family. His son Pepper feels his father’s absence the most. However, an encounter with a magician and advice from a priest convinces Pepper he may be able to bring his dad back safely himself.

88. Begin Again (2013)
Gretta (Keira Knightley) and her songwriting partner Dave (Adam Levine) head for New York when he gets a record deal. Gretta is left on her own when Dave gives in to temptations. Then a disgraced record executive, discovers Gretta performing in a club which changes her life.

89. Annie (2014)
Based on the classic musical, Annie, this new version follows the plotline of a foster kid living with her mean foster mom. Her life completely changes when New York City mayoral candidate Will Stacks makes a campaign move and takes her in.

90. Life of Pi (2012)
Santosh and Gita Patel take a freighter with their sons and a few remaining animals after they sell their zoo in India. An awful storm sinks the ship, leaving the Patels’ teenage son, Pi, as the only human survivor, along with a fearsome Bengal tiger that also found refuge aboard the lifeboat.

91. The Ultimate Gift (2006)
Jason Stevens lives a life of wealth and privilege and expects to receive a hefty inheritance when his grandfather passes. However, to earn the true gift his grandfather meant for him, Jason has to go on a journey of self-discovery.

92. The Ultimate Life (2013)
A billionaire has trouble making his girlfriend a priority. To learn some wise advice, he reads his grandfather’s journal.

93. The Rookie (2018)
After a life-altering incident, John Nolan wants to be an LAPD officer. He is the oldest rookie, and others are skeptical because if he can’t keep up with the criminals, he’ll be risking lives. However, if his determination and sense of humor give him an edge, he may become successful.

94. Bridge of Spies (2015)
In the Cold War, the Soviet Union captures U.S. pilot Francis Gary Powers. Sentenced to 10 years in prison, Powers’ only hope is a New York lawyer, who will negotiate his release.

95. About Time (2013)
When Tim Lake is 21, his father tells him that the men in their family have the ability to time travel. Tim time travels and decides to improve his life by getting a girlfriend. But, Tim realizes that this power cannot shield him and those he loves from the problems of ordinary life.

96. Yes Day (2021)
Allison and Carlos give their kids a “Yes Day,” and the kids have 24 hours to make the rules.

97. The Way, Way Back (2013)
An awkward teen spends summer at a beach house with his mother, her boyfriend, Trent, and Trent’s obnoxious daughter. Trent badgers Duncan, he goes to a water park and gets a job there and finds a father figure in wisecracking park manager Owen.

98. Victory (1981)
Soccer enthusiast Karl von Steiner creates a match between Nazi players and their Allied captives.

99. Akeelah and the Bee (2006)
11-year-old Akeelah discovers her talent for spelling, hoping to go to the National Spelling Bee. Despite her mother’s objections, Akeelah finds help from a teacher and overwhelming support from her community.

100. Boyhood (2014)
Everything about growing up is seen through the eyes of a child named Mason, and his parents and sister. Over 12 years, this movie was filmed with the same cast and depicts family meals, road trips, birthday parties, graduations and other important milestones.

More great reads:

23 Best Christmas Movies to Watch With Your Teens

About Helene Wingens

Helene Wingens has always been passionate about painting pictures with words. She graduated from Brandeis University with a degree in psychology and three years later from Boston University School of Law with a Juris Doctor. In a year long clerkship for an appellate judge Helene honed her writing skills by drafting weekly appellate memoranda. She practiced law until she practically perfected it and after taking a brief twenty year hiatus to raise her three children she began writing a personal blog Her essays have been published in: Scary Mommy, Kveller, The Forward, and Grown and Flown where she is Managing Editor. You can visit Helene's website here

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