The 49 best high school movies ever made, according to critics

Jason GuerrasioMay 29, 2020, 03:56 IST

"Mean Girls."Paramount Pictures

High school movies are one of the most popular genres ever created by Hollywood.
But which of them are the most critically-acclaimed?
Using Rotten Tomatoes, we have come up with a ranking of the 49 best high school movies ever.
The top three are "Say Anything...," "Ladybird," and "The Last Picture Show."

Hollywood has always loved to tell stories about high school. And some have turned out to be defining works of a generation.

Whether it's "Fast Times at Ridgemont High" in the 1970s, "The Breakfast Club" in the 1980s, "Clueless" in the 1990s, or "Mean Girls" in the early 2000s, movies about high school have always been there when we need them the most.

We decided to take a deep dive into Rotten Tomatoes to find out what the most critically-acclaimed high school movies of all time are through the use of its aggregation scores.

Here are the 49 best high school movies ever, according to critics:

Note: Titles with the same score are listed alphabetically.

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49. "Grease" (1978)

Olivia Newton-John and John Travolta in "Grease." Paramount Pictures

48. "Better Off Dead" (1985)

John Cusack and Diane Franklin in "Better Off Dead." Warner Bros.

47. "Pretty In Pink" (1986)

Molly Ringwald in "Pretty in Pink." Paramount Pictures

46. "Fast Times at Ridgemont High" (1982)

Sean Penn in "Fast Times at Ridgemont High." Universal Pictures via YouTube

45. "Brick" (2006)

Joseph Gordon-Levitt in "Brick." Focus Features

44. "Clueless" (1995)

(L-R) Stacey Dash and Alicia Silverstone in "Clueless." Paramount Pictures

43. "Ferris Bueller's Day Off" (1986)

(L-R) Mia Sara, Alan Ruck, and Matthew Broderick star in "Ferris Bueller's Day Off." CBS via Getty Images

42. "Better Luck Tomorrow" (2002)

Justin Lin's "Better Luck Tomorrow." Paramount

41. "Friday Night Lights" (2004)

Billy Bob Thornton in "Friday Night Lights." Universal

40. "Me and Earl and the Dying Girl" (2015)

(L-R) RJ Cyler and Thomas Mann in "My and Earl and the Dying Girl." Fox Searchlight/"Me and Earl and the Dying Girl"

39. "Some Kind of Wonderful" (1987)

Eric Stoltz in "Some Kind of Wonderful." Paramount Pictures

38. "My Bodyguard" (1980)

Adam Baldwin in "My Bodyguard." Fox

37. "21 Jump Street" (2012)

(L-R) Channing Tatum and Jonah Hill in "21 Jump Street." Sony Pictures

36. "Fame" (1980)

Alan Parker's "Fame." United Artists

35. "Mean Girls" (2004)

(L-R) Lacy Chabert, Rachel McAdams, Lindsay Lohan, and Amanda Seyfried in "Mean Girls." Paramount Pictures

34. "Rocket Science" (2007)

Reece Thompson and Anna Kendrick in "Rocket Science." HBO Films

33. "Chronicle" (2012)

Dane DeHaan in "Chronicle." Fox via YouTube

32. "Easy A" (2010)

Emma Stone in "Easy A." Screen Gems

31. "Sixteen Candles" (1984)

Molly Ringwald and Michael Schoeffling in "Sixteen Candles." Paramount Pictures

30. "Peggy Sue Got Married" (1986)

Nicolas Cage and Kathleen Turner in "Peggy Sue Got Married." TriStar Pictures

29. "The Perks of Being a Wallflower" (2012)

(L-R) Emma Watson, Logan Lerman, and Ezra Miller in "The Perks of Being a Wallflower." John Bramley/Summit Entertainment)

28. "Donnie Darko" (2001)

Richard Kelly's "Donnie Darko." Pandora Cinema

27. River's Edge" (1987)

Keanu Reeves and Ione Skye in "River's Edge." Island Pictures

26. "Superbad" (2007)

(L-R) Christopher Mintz-Plasse, Jonah Hill, and Michael Cera in "Superbad." Sony Pictures

25. "The Breakfast Club" (1985)

John Hughes' "The Breakfast Club." Universal Pictures

24. "Dope" (2015)

Rick Famuyiwa's "Dope." Sony Pictures via YouTube

23. "Hoosiers" (1986)

Gene Hackman in "Hossiers." Orion

22. "Rushmore" (1998)

Jason Schwartzman in "Rushmore." Buena Vista Pictures

21. "The Spectacular Now" (2013)

Shailene Woodley and Miles Teller in "The Spectacular Now." A24

20. "Carrie" (1976)

Sissy Spacek in "Carrie." United Artists

19. "Dazed and Confused" (1993)

Richard Linklater's "Dazed and Confused." Universal

18. "Election" (1999)

Reese Witherspoon in "Election." Paramount via YouTube

17. "Ghost World" (2001)

(L-R) Scarlett Johansson and Thora Birch in "Ghost World." United Artists

16. "Risky Business" (1983)

Tom Cruise in "Risky Business." The Geffen Company

15. "Spider-Man: Homecoming" (2017)

Tom Holland as Peter Parker in "Spider-Man: Homecoming" Chuck Zlotnick/Sony Pictures Entertainment

14. "Heathers" (1988)

Winona Ryder and Christian Slater in "Heathers." New World Pictures

13. "House Party" (1990)

Reginald Hudlin's "House Party." New Line Cinema

12. "The Edge of Seventeen" (2016)

Hailee Steinfeld in "The Edge of Seventeen." STX Entertainment

11. "Juno" (2007)

Jason Reitman's "Juno." Fox Searchlight Pictures

10. "Sing Street" (2016)

John Carney's "Sing Street." The Weinstein Company

9. "American Graffiti" (1973)

Harrison Ford in "American Graffiti." Universal via YouTube

8. "Back to the Future" (1985)

(L-R) Christopher Lloyd and Michael J. Fox in "Back to the Future." Universal Pictures

7. "Rebel Without a Cause" (1955)

James Dean in "Rebel Without a Cause." Warner Bros.

6. "Booksmart" (2019)

(L-R) Kaitlyn Dever and Beanie Feldstein in "Booksmart." United Artists Releasing

5. "To All the Boys I've Loved Before" (2018)

Noah Centineo and Lana Condor in "To All the Boys I've Loved Before." Netflix

4. "Hairspray" (1988)

John Water's "Hairspray." New Line Cinema

3. "Say Anything..." (1989)

John Cusack in "Say Anything...." 20th Century Fox

2. "Lady Bird" (2017)

Saoirse Ronan in "Lady Bird." A24

1. "The Last Picture Show" (1971)

Cybill Shepherd and Jeff Bridges in "The Last Picture Show." Columbia Pictures

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