When looking back at the best movies of the 1990s, so many of them were set in the halls of high schools. Whether we’re talking about a slasher as iconic as Scream, the endlessly quotable dialogue of Cher Horowitz in Clueless or the all-time great ensemble of Boyz n the Hood, there’s a lot to love about ‘90s teen movies.
These days there’s no need to go to your local Blockbuster to grab these titles, you can stream them all at home! Here are our must-watch picks and how to watch them.
Scream (1996)
Do you like scary movies? If so, it’s always a good time to revisit one of the best horror movies of all time, Wes Craven’s Scream. The slasher saw the debut of one of the genre’s most popular icons, Ghostface, as high schoolers living in the town of Woodsboro become the mysterious murderer’s target for brutal murders. Neve Campbell leads the cast as Sidney Prescott in a final girl origin story that would inspire tons of sequels in the ongoing franchise. She’s joined by Courtney Cox, David Arquette, Matthew Lillard, Rose McGowan, Skeet Ulrich and Drew Barrymore in the unforgettable opening sequence.
Stream Scream on Max.
Rent/Buy Scream on Amazon.
10 Things I Hate About You (1999)
Shakespeare’s hold on storytelling has remained evident in modern cinema, as filmmakers find fun ways to retell his famous stories. 1999’s 10 Things I Hate About You is a new take on The Taming Of The Shrew which places the general premise in a high school setting. It stars Julia Stiles’ Kat Stratford, a black sheep of a teen girl who is the obstacle in the way of her more popular sister Bianca (Larisa Oleynik) dating, since their father will only allow one to date if they both do. So, Joseph Gordon-Levitt’s Cameron pays Heath Ledger’s high school burn out, Patrick, to romance Kat so he can pursue Bianca.
Stream 10 Things I Hate About You on Disney+.
Stream 10 Things I Hate About You on Hulu.
Rent/Buy 10 Things I Hate About You on Amazon.
Election (1999)
Alexander Payne’s high school comedy, Election, is another classic teen comedy from the ‘90s that we nominate for addition to your watchlist. The movie stars Ferris Bueller’s Day Off icon Matthew Broderick (back in high school after being in one of the best 80s movies of the genre) as Jim McAllister, a social studies teacher who sabotages the candidacy of Reese Witherspoon’s Tracy Flick when she runs for student body president.
Stream Election on Paramount+.
Stream Election for free on PlutoTV.
Rent/Buy Election on Amazon.
Clueless (1995)
A ‘90s teen movie list without Clueless? As if!! This is one of those movies that first comes to the mind when we think of this era of high school comedies, and for a good reason: it’s just that good. The movie follows Alicia Silverstone’s iconic Cher Horowitz as a popular and privileged teen living in Beverly Hills who makes a new student (Brittany Murphy) her makeover project for the semester, as unexpected feelings and realizations come up for Cher regarding love and romance.
Stream Clueless on Paramount+.
Rent/Buy Clueless on Amazon.
But I’m A Cheerleader (1999)
Back in 1999, Natasha Lyonne starred in the high school satire But I’m A Cheerleader alongside Clea DuVall, Melanie Lynskey and RuPaul. The movie follows Megan, a high-performing student in class and cheerleader who gets sent off to a boot camp meant to make her straight when her parents think she’s gay. It’s an iconic queer high school movie of the ‘90s.
Stream But I’m A Cheerleader for free on Tubi.
Stream/Rent/Buy But I’m A Cheerleader on Amazon.
Dazed & Confused (1993)
Another ‘90s go-to movie about teens is Richard Linklater’s Dazed & Confused, which had Matthew McConaughey uttering “alright, alright, alright” in his first movie ever. The movie follows numerous high schoolers across different social groups celebrating their final day of high school in Austin, Texas in 1976. The movie also features Ben Affleck, Milla Jovovich, Parker Posey and Renée Zellweger before the were famous.
Rent/Buy Dazed & Confused on Amazon.
The Virgin Suicides (1999)
Sofia Coppola’s directorial debut, The Virgin Suicides, is based on the ‘90s novel of the same name about the story of the five Lisbon sisters, who lived in Detroit in 1975, as told through a group of neighborhood boys years later. Coppola’s dreamlike direction (which benefitted from Kirsten Dunst’s performance) would later lead into her other works, such as Lost In Translation, Marie Antoinette, The Bling Ring and Priscilla. In Virgin Suicides, she comments on the teenage experience, discussing topics like repression, sex, death and longing through its narrative.
Stream The Virgin Suicides on Paramount+.
Rent/Buy The Virgin Suicides on Amazon.
Boyz N The Hood (1991)
Similar to The Virgin Suicides, Boyz n the Hood is not a comedy about a group of teens, but rather a drama set on the streets of South Central Los Angeles in the ‘90s. John Singleton’s coming-of-age film is so well-renowned it was chosen for the National Film Registry and nominated for two Oscars. The movie is about Tre (Cuba Gooding Jr.) and what happens when his friends Doughboy (Ice Cube) and Ricky (Morris Chestnut) get drawn into the neighborhood’s gang and drug culture.
Stream Boyz n the Hood on Netflix.
Rent/Buy Boyz n the Hood on Amazon.
Varsity Blues (1999)
What’s a list about high school movies without talking about the varsity football team? The sport is an essential part of so many American high school experiences, and in 1999’s Varsity Blues, James Van Der Beek had audiences swooning over his character of Mox as he goes from being the team’s benchwarmer to its star quarterback because of their ruthless coach (Jon Voight), after the team’s star athlete (Paul Walker) gets injured.
Stream Varsity Blues for free with ads on PlutoTV.
Rent/Buy Varsity Blues on Amazon.
William Shakespeare’s Romeo + Juliet (1996)
One year before Leonardo DiCaprio became the ‘90s No. 1 crush with Titanic, the actor starred in Baz Luhrmann’s stylish take on William Shakespeare’s teen romance gone wrong. The movie is unique in terms of the dialogue remaining in Shakespearean English but taking place in modern times in Verona Beach, with the Capulets and Montagues being rival gangs. DiCaprio stars as Romeo and Claire Danes as Juliet in this essentially ‘90s take on perhaps the most well-known teen love story ever told.
Rent/Buy Romeo + Juliet on Amazon.
Cruel Intentions (1999)
Back in 1999, director Roger Kumble put together a rather iconic cast for a modern retelling of the 1782 French novel, Les Liaisons dangereuses, in a way that centers the storyline on well-off high school students. Among the leading cast is Ryan Phillippe, who becomes the center of a game of seduction that Reese Witherspoon, Sarah Michelle Gellar and Selma Blair are part of. While the movie was made on a small budget, it became a huge hit when it came out, even leading to multiple follow ups and a musical inspired by it.
Stream/Rent/Buy Cruel Intentions on Amazon.
Empire Records (1995)
Remember record stores? Sure, they still definitely exist and have their collectors, but there’s something about being an employee at a record store in the ‘90s, before MP3 players or music streaming services existed. This 1995 movie is about the teen employees of an independent Delaware record store that is set to become sold to a national chain. The clerks take it into upon themselves to keep the store independent, with mixed results.
Rent/Buy Empire Records on Amazon.
She’s All That (1999)
She’s All That is the ultimate high school fantasy in a lot of ways. It’s about the most popular kid in school, Zack (Freddie Prinze Jr.), who makes a bet that he can make any girl in school popular after his girlfriend dumps him. His sights are set on Rachael Leigh Cook’s Laney, an awkward art student, who he romances in the weeks leading up to prom. As real feelings begin to emerge, Zack and Laney prove that social divides between students can be overcome.
Stream She's All That on Paramount+.
Stream She's All That for free with ads on PlutoTV.
Rent/Buy She’s All That on Amazon.
American Pie (1999)
Then there’s 1999’s American Pie, which is about five high school seniors who pledge to each other that they will all have lost their virginity by graduation. With that premise in mind, American Pie becomes a raunchy and rather funny sex comedy about doing the deed, an act that is often thought of as a rite of passage among teens. The movie is flooded with stars in the comedy space, with Jason Biggs, Alyson Hannigan, Natasha Lyonne, Tara Reid, Seann William Scott, Eugene Levy and Jennifer Coolidge.
Rent/Buy American Pie on Amazon.
Happy streaming for all of these great '90s teen movies!
