Image credit: Paramount Pictures, Rysher Entertainment, Medusa Pictures, New Line Cinema, TriStar Pictures, Universal Pictures, Warner Bros., Suburban Pictures, Miramax, Touchstone Pictures, Muse Productions, United Artists, Searchlight Pictures, Fine Line Features, Columbia Pictures
The 90s didn't just give us dial-up internet and baggy jeans; it also served up a buffet of teen dramas, some of which have been unjustly forgotten like last season's fashion fads.
These 20 movies are the hidden gems in a sea of high school clichés, offering everything from angst and heartache to those oh-so-90s hairdos that we're still trying to forget.
1. "Welcome to the Dollhouse" (1995) Rotten Tomatoes score: 93% A darkly comedic and poignant look at the life of a socially awkward, intelligent middle school girl as she navigates the trials and tribulations of adolescence, family life, and schoolyard bullying.
2. "Election" (1999) Rotten Tomatoes score: 92% A high school teacher's personal life becomes complicated as he works with students during the school elections, particularly with an overachieving student determined to become student body president at any cost.
3. "Go" (1999) Rotten Tomatoes score: 91% This film intertwines three different stories of young Los Angeles residents over the course of a frenetic 24-hour period in the drug-filled underground rave scene, highlighting their misadventures and unexpected encounters.
4. "Rushmore" (1998) Rotten Tomatoes score: 90% An eccentric and ambitious teenage student at Rushmore Academy, who excels at extracurricular activities but struggles academically, becomes embroiled in a complicated love triangle involving a teacher and a wealthy industrialist.
5. "All Over Me" (1997) Rotten Tomatoes score: 87% A teenage girl, Claude, navigates her feelings of love and friendship in the 1990s New York City punk scene, especially after her best friend Ellen starts dating a violent boyfriend, leading to a journey of self-discovery and sexual identity.
6. "Slums of Beverly Hills" (1998) Rotten Tomatoes score: 81% A teenage girl and her family struggle to maintain a facade of wealth while living on the edge of poverty, moving around the fringes of Beverly Hills, leading to comedic and poignant family dynamics and her sexual awakening.
7. "The Virgin Suicides" (1999) Rotten Tomatoes score: 80% Set in the suburbs of 1970s Michigan, this film centers on the enigmatic Lisbon sisters, whose sheltered and strict upbringing by their religious parents leads to tragedy, as narrated from the perspective of the neighborhood boys obsessed with them.
8. "Pump Up the Volume" (1990) Rotten Tomatoes score: 79% A shy high school student starts an anonymous pirate radio station and becomes an underground hero and a voice for his peers, addressing the frustrations and concerns of his generation, leading to a confrontation with the authorities.
9. "10 Things I Hate About You" (1999) Rotten Tomatoes score: 71% A modern adaptation of Shakespeare's "The Taming of the Shrew," set in a high school, where a new student must find a date for the sharp-tongued Kat so he can date her younger sister, leading to unexpected romances and revelations.
10. "Foxfire" (1996) Rotten Tomatoes score: 68% A mysterious drifter forms a bond with four high school girls, leading them to form a tight-knit group that rebels against their oppressive circumstances, culminating in a daring act of revenge and empowerment.
11. "The Craft" (1996) Rotten Tomatoes score: 57% A newcomer at a Catholic high school falls in with a trio of outcast teenage girls who practice witchcraft, leading to them conjuring up various spells and curses against those who anger them, but their powers soon spiral out of control.
12. "Fear" (1996) Rotten Tomatoes score: 46% A teenage girl becomes romantically involved with a charming and mysterious young man, but as his behavior grows increasingly erratic and violent, her family must protect her from his dark and obsessive tendencies.
13. "She's All That" (1999) Rotten Tomatoes score: 41% A popular high school jock accepts a challenge to turn a nerdy, unpopular girl into the prom queen, but as he spends time with her, they develop genuine feelings, complicating their relationship and the bet.
14. "Can't Hardly Wait" (1998) Rotten Tomatoes score: 40% At a high school graduation party, various students navigate love, dreams, and friendships, with the central story focusing on an unpopular boy trying to confess his love to the girl of his dreams before she leaves for college.
15. "Gummo" (1997) Rotten Tomatoes score: 38% Set in a small, tornado-ravaged town in Ohio, the film follows several eccentric, impoverished characters in a series of loosely connected, disturbing, and surreal vignettes that portray the dark underbelly of American life.
16. "Now and Then" (1995) Rotten Tomatoes score: 33% Four childhood friends reunite as adults and reminisce about the magical summer of 1970 that was pivotal in their lives, filled with adventures, discoveries, and the bonds of friendship as they transitioned from childhood to adolescence.
17. "Hackers" (1995) Rotten Tomatoes score: 33% A group of high school hackers becomes involved in a corporate extortion conspiracy, leading to a battle of wits against a security officer and the FBI, as they attempt to clear their names and expose the real villain.
18. "Empire Records" (1995) Rotten Tomatoes score: 31% A day in the life of a group of quirky employees at an independent record store, as they deal with various personal issues, an impending sale of the store to a large chain, and come together to save their beloved workplace.
19. "Threesome" (1994) Rotten Tomatoes score: 28% A college housing mix-up results in a romantically complicated situation as two men and a woman, all friends, end up sharing the same dormitory room, leading to explorations of friendship, love, and sexual identity.
20. "Jawbreaker" (1999) Rotten Tomatoes score: 14% A dark comedy where a prank by a high school clique goes fatally wrong, leading to cover-up attempts, betrayal, and an unexpected twist when a socially awkward student discovers their secret.
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