Ah, young love; there’s nothing quite like it – especially in the movies. Among the best romantic comedies of all time, many of the best films from the genre have been about the sweet meet-cutes, awkward antics and the entertaining circumstances that can arise from falling head-over-heels before adulthood strikes. If you’re looking to watch the best rom-coms for teens, we’re your hookup!
There are a ton of great romantic comedies geared toward and about teenagers to check out at home. Here are our favorites and where to watch them:
A Cinderella Story (2004)
It seems like every few years, Hollywood tries to modernize another fairytale in a new and refreshing way, but in the case of 2004’s A Cinderella Story, they actually hit a home run. The movie stars Hilary Duff as Sam Montgomery, a high school student who has to juggle diner waitressing with her aspirations to attend Princeton, thanks to her evil stepmother (Jennifer Coolidge). When she finds out that her longtime online pal is the most popular guy in school, Austin Ames (Chad Michael Murray), a newly beloved version of the classic tale plays out.
Rent/Buy A Cinderella Story on Amazon.
Clueless (1995)
As if we would leave Clueless off the list!! Not only is it a great romantic comedy set in high school, it’s one of the best movies from the 1990s. The now-classic film follows Alicia Silverstone as Cher, a shallow and socially-astute high schooler living in Beverly Hills, who realizes she has her priorities all in shambles after taking in a new student named Tai (Brittany Murphy) as her pet project.
Stream Clueless with on Paramount+.
Rent/Buy Clueless on Amazon.
To All The Boys I’ve Loved Before (2018)
One of the best teen romantic comedies to come out in the past decade is an adaptation of Jenny Han’s bestselling book, To All The Boys I’ve Loved Before. The movie stars Lana Condor as Lara Jean, who’s life gets turned upside down when her little sister, Kitty, decides to give secret letters she wrote about each of the crushes in her life to their subject. With those major crushes of hers now very much aware of her feelings toward them, Lara Jean ends up “fake dating” one of them, Peter Kavinsky (Noah Centineo), before more legitimate feelings surface.
Stream To All The Boys I’ve Loved Before on Netflix.
She’s The Man (2006)
A big part of the high school experience is the extracurricular activities, and in the instance of She’s The Man, Amanda Bynes’ Viola Hastings decides to crash her twin brother’s boarding school by pretending to be him in order to play on the boys’ soccer team. The 2006 comedy makes for some hilarious moments as Bynes’ tries to fit in as the opposite sex. It becomes a rather unique rom-com when she starts to develop feelings with her roommate/teammate, Duke (Channing Tatum).
Stream She’s The Man on Paramount+.
Stream She’s The Man for Free (with Ads) on The Roku Channel.
Rent/Buy She’s The Man on Amazon.
13 Going On 30 (2004)
Sometimes being a teenager means wishing you were all grown up. That is the innermost wish of a 13-year-old Jenna Rink during her birthday party that comes true. When she wakes up as a full-grown adult (Jennifer Garner) who's a writer at a magazine, being “thirty, flirty and thriving” isn’t what she thought it would be, especially when she finds out her and her childhood best friend, Matty (Mark Ruffalo), are estranged as adults.
Stream 13 Going On 30 on Netflix.
Rent/Buy 13 Going on 30 on Amazon.
The Half Of It (2020)
2020 surprised us with a lot of great romantic comedies, among them Netflix’s The Half Of It. The movie follows a shy teen named Ellie (Leah Lewis) who is approached to write love letters to the object of desire for her football playing-classmate, Paul Munsky (Daniel Diemer). Little does he know that the woman he aims to woo, Aster, is also a crush of Ellie's as well. It’s a sweet and endearing romantic comedy that discusses bisexuality within its fun rom-com premise.
Stream The Half Of It on Netflix.
She’s All That (1999)
Starring a classic cast full of ‘90s stars that are still famous today, She’s All That asks the question whether a high school jock and nerdy outcast can fall in love. The 1999 movie centers around the school’s most popular guy, Zach (Freddie Prinze Jr), making a bet that he can turn Laney Boggs (Rachael Leigh Cook) into the school’s next prom queen.
Stream She’s All That on Paramount+.
Stream She’s All That (for free) on PlutoTV.
Rent/Buy She’s All That on Amazon.
Love, Simon (2018)
In 2018, 20th Century Fox gave us the first mainstream Hollywood film to centrally deliver a queer romantic-comedy with Love, Simon. The movie is based on the novel Simon vs. The Homo Sapiens Agenda, and follows Simon (Nick Robinson), a closeted gay teen who begins to see sparks fly in an online romance when he starts corresponding with an unknown student only known as “Blue.” When another student finds his emails and blackmails him, Simon is forced to come to terms with his secret.
Stream Love, Simon on Hulu.
Rent/Buy Love, Simon on Amazon.
10 Things I Hate About You (1999)
Often having a sibling you go to high school with means that one of them is on another rung of the social ladder than the other. That just seems to be how things tend to shake out! So, in 10 Things I Hate About You, when two boys want to date Bianca (Larisa Oleynik), but are blocked by the rule in her household that says she can only go out with a boy if her social outcast sister, Kat (Julia Stiles), gets a date too, and they take things in their own hands. How? They bribe Heath Ledger’s Patrick to romance Kat.
Stream 10 Things I Hate About You on Hulu.
Stream 10 Things I Hate About You on Disney+.
Rent/Buy 10 Things I Hate About You on Amazon.
Easy A (2010)
Emma Stone's breakthrough role was 2010’s Easy A, where she plays a high-schooler who becomes a victim of a white lie of hers getting blown up to crazy proportions. When Olive (Stone) decides to make up a story about losing her virginity, it snowballs into her being named the school’s harlot, even wearing an “A” around like in The Scarlet Letter.
Rye Lane (2023)
One gem of a romantic comedy to come out in the past year is Rye Lane. Even though the movie technically takes place after high school and is rated-R, the more mature flick shouldn’t be missed for those who love these types of movies. It’s about two twenty-somethings, Yas (Vivian Oparah) and Dom (David Jonsson), who connect across a single day in South London following both of them dealing with some rough breakups.
High School Musical (2006)
Last but not least, you can relive one of the most iconic modern romances by singing and dancing through High School Musical. The movie stars two high schoolers, Troy (Zac Efron) and Gabriella (Vanessa Hudgens), who connect during a New Year’s Eve party when they sing karaoke together. Once school starts up again, Troy, who is also the school’s star basketball player, causes an uproar in the school when he nabs the lead in the high school play, which he auditions for to spend more time with his newfound crush.
Stream High School Musical on Disney+.
Rent/Buy High School Musical on Amazon.
There’s so many solid options if you’re looking to venture back to high school for a couple of hours for some young romance and laughs. Happy streaming!
