The 19 movies you need to see before you graduate high school

High school can be either the best time, or the worst time in your life. Sometimes, it can be both. Either way, movies will help you get through it.

High school movies are a unique genre. They can't just have a teenage character; they have to really explore what it's like to be in high school, between the cliques and the bullying and the slow phase of growing up. Some movies set in high school explore social hierarchies. Others can feel like political thrillers. The ones you know best are likely the funniest and most earnest ones where the biggest problem is outrunning the cops who break up a house party.

With school starting around the country, we decided to compile the best high school movies of all time. We hope these movies are there for you like they were there for us.