They walk down the school hallway in slow motion, their outfits perfect, their hair billowing in the drafts. No one crosses them, because crossing them would mean certain death – or worse, the death of social status. Everyone hates them. Everyone wants to be them.
The Heathers, The Plastics, you name it: Every generation has a movie dedicated to beautiful, naughty high school girls. They have more bite than snuggly romantic comedies or nostalgia-fueled coming-of-age movies, and often the girls are out for blood, whether through social sabotage or literal murder.
This subgenre plays wickedly with teenage conventions, especially when it comes to design choices. These films are united in an iconic fashion and specific visual palettes that play with the popular aesthetic conventions of their respective time periods. They bring edge and toughness to elements often associated with childhood, whether it’s bold lipstick, pink miniskirts or red scrunchies.
But even more central than the distinct visual motifs are the female relationships at the center of these films. The most catastrophic and disarming relationships these girls have are with each other, and those relationships are both their saving grace and their ultimate downfall. And this thread puts together the most over-the-top elements with grounded relativity – demon-possessed best friends who eat boys aren’t exactly common, but toxic best friends who put others down to escalate them. are.
With its pastel costumes and its accomplice main duo, Netflix Revenge is a worthy entry into the genre. In honor of those dark comedies that aren’t afraid to show the dark side of high school popularity, we’ve picked out a few quintessential classics from the cutthroat teen canon.
Heathers (1988)
The movie that started it all was actually a box office bomb. But although he didn’t even recover half of his budget, Heathers become a cult classic. Writer Daniel Waters wanted the film to satirize the way the media sensationalized teenage suicides and to be a darker counterpart to the often sugary depictions of high school life in the 1980s. (Hello, John Hughes .) And while it may have been controversial — Winona Ryder’s agent begged her not to take the role — it sparked for audiences back home.
Heathers follows Veronica Sawyer (Winona Ryder), the fourth member of a mean and ruthless clique of girls known as the Heathers (since the other three are all named Heather). She is a reluctant follower, as she knows that siding with the Heathers and helping them forge passes and apology notes is better than being their target. But she finds herself drawn to rebellious new student JD (Christian Slater), and after the leader of the Heathers turns on Veronica, she and JD hatch a plan. What was supposed to be a harmless prank turns into murder, and soon Veronica finds herself covering up a series of bodies and disguising them as suicides. JD’s plans grow more sinister, the two remaining Heathers face a power vacuum, and Veronica tries to fix whatever went wrong.
Whereas Heathers absolutely laid the groundwork for this type of film, it’s also notable for being the only instance on our list where a male character plays a significant role in bringing down the clique. Yet the focus shifts back to Veronica, who navigates her way out of the popular clique, then the misanthropic influences of JD, and eventually reaches out to her old friend Martha and the friendlier Heather.
Heathers is available to stream on Tubi and First video.
The Craft (1996)
Technically, The job is a supernatural horror movie, not a black comedy, and technically it’s not about popular girls, but rather mean girls (don’t worry, we’ll get to that mean girls in a moment). But it’s worth including in this list because of the literalness of the word “hell is a teenage girl” and the emphasis on the internal dynamics of the group of friends in question. Plus, it’s not particularly scary.
The job follows a group of teenage witches who unlock powerful magic in order to get revenge on those who have wronged them and get what they want out of life. This magic eventually causes their group of friends to fracture and shatter and eat each other alive. Like many of the other examples on this list, this is a group of four girls – three who already know each other and a new intruder who disrupts the already established dynamic.
As for the iconic and specific visual palette? These are Catholic school uniforms, mixed with traditional Gothic elements. Since Heathers launched this genre by offering a counterculture alternative to the popular teen movies of the 1980s, it’s good to have an entry that actually embraces the counterculture aesthetic.
The job is available to stream on Paramount More.
Jawbreaker (1999)
Jaw-dropping would happen in Heathers if the other Heathers accidentally kill their queen bee and try to hide her. After a prank goes horribly wrong, the popular girls at Reagan High scramble to hide their involvement in Liz Purr’s death. Rose McGowan plays Courtney Shayne, a mean bitch who bribes Fern (Judy Greer) to shut up about manslaughter by giving her an extreme makeover — even changing her name to Vylette — and inducting her in the popular group. Meanwhile, Julie (Rebecca Gayheart), the friendliest of the clique, falls out of favor with them.
With its luminous Y2K colored keys, Jaw-droppingThe visual palette of is bold and over the top, complementing the extravagant actions Courtney takes in order to maintain her status as the most popular girl in school (and blame Liz’s death on someone else). Meanwhile, Julie hatches a plan to expose Courtney’s involvement to the whole school on prom night. (High school dances are another recurring theme in these movies — a queen must have her official plastic crown, after all.)
Jaw-dropping is available for rent on First video and YouTube.
Mean Girls (2004)
Nobody dies in mean girls — but that doesn’t make it any less ruthless. New girl Cady Heron (Lindsay Lohan) finds herself enmeshed in the school’s most popular clique – The Plastics, led by Regina George (Rachel McAdams). Cady’s new friend Janis (Lizzy Caplan) sees this as an opportunity to bring Regina down once and for all, and they hatch a plan to have Cady infiltrate the group and destroy Regina. But the more time Cady spends with Regina, the more she begins to become a certifiable villain herself.
Even without a body count, Mean girls’ complex revenge plot, focus on social status and vicious verbal insults (and also the fact that Regina gets hit by a bus), fits this list. And the filmmakers definitely recognize the greats who came before them, with nods like the ’80s plaid skirt that Regina dispels (a style in vogue during the Heathers era) to the scene where she plants photocopied pages of the Burn Book in the empty school hallways (a similar scene takes place in Jaw-dropping).
mean girls is available to stream on Netflix.
Jennifer’s Body (2009)
Many of these movies flirted with Sapphic subtext, whether it was Fern’s obsession with Liz Purr or Cady’s fixation on Regina George. But Jennifer’s body embraces the inherent homoeroticism of being in love with the most popular and beautiful girl in school – or in this case, also having the hottest girl in love with you.
Studious Needy (Amanda Seyfried) and popular Jennifer (Megan Fox) may not have much in common at first glance, but they’re best friends. One night, after sneaking into a local bar, a sleazy indie group kidnaps Jennifer and uses her as a sacrifice for a demonic ritual – but it doesn’t quite work, and Jennifer wakes up craving flesh.
As Jennifer murders and eats boys, her power grows – and the already toxic friendship between her and Needy begins to disintegrate. There is no middle clique in Jennifer’s body but the focus on Needy and Jennifer’s intense friendship is enough to keep it going. Needy is the only person for whom Jennifer resists her urge to kill, but also the person whose life she most wants to destroy.
Jennifer’s body is available to stream on First video.
They walk down the school hallway in slow motion, their outfits perfect, their hair billowing in the drafts. No one crosses them, because crossing them would mean certain death – or worse, the death of social status. Everyone hates them. Everyone wants to be them.
The Heathers, The Plastics, you name it: Every generation has a movie dedicated to beautiful, naughty high school girls. They have more bite than snuggly romantic comedies or nostalgia-fueled coming-of-age movies, and often the girls are out for blood, whether through social sabotage or literal murder.
This subgenre plays wickedly with teenage conventions, especially when it comes to design choices. These films are united in an iconic fashion and specific visual palettes that play with the popular aesthetic conventions of their respective time periods. They bring edge and toughness to elements often associated with childhood, whether it’s bold lipstick, pink miniskirts or red scrunchies.
But even more central than the distinct visual motifs are the female relationships at the center of these films. The most catastrophic and disarming relationships these girls have are with each other, and those relationships are both their saving grace and their ultimate downfall. And this thread puts together the most over-the-top elements with grounded relativity – demon-possessed best friends who eat boys aren’t exactly common, but toxic best friends who put others down to escalate them. are.
With its pastel costumes and its accomplice main duo, Netflix Revenge is a worthy entry into the genre. In honor of those dark comedies that aren’t afraid to show the dark side of high school popularity, we’ve picked out a few quintessential classics from the cutthroat teen canon.
Heathers (1988)
The movie that started it all was actually a box office bomb. But although he didn’t even recover half of his budget, Heathers become a cult classic. Writer Daniel Waters wanted the film to satirize the way the media sensationalized teenage suicides and to be a darker counterpart to the often sugary depictions of high school life in the 1980s. (Hello, John Hughes .) And while it may have been controversial — Winona Ryder’s agent begged her not to take the role — it sparked for audiences back home.
Heathers follows Veronica Sawyer (Winona Ryder), the fourth member of a mean and ruthless clique of girls known as the Heathers (since the other three are all named Heather). She is a reluctant follower, as she knows that siding with the Heathers and helping them forge passes and apology notes is better than being their target. But she finds herself drawn to rebellious new student JD (Christian Slater), and after the leader of the Heathers turns on Veronica, she and JD hatch a plan. What was supposed to be a harmless prank turns into murder, and soon Veronica finds herself covering up a series of bodies and disguising them as suicides. JD’s plans grow more sinister, the two remaining Heathers face a power vacuum, and Veronica tries to fix whatever went wrong.
Whereas Heathers absolutely laid the groundwork for this type of film, it’s also notable for being the only instance on our list where a male character plays a significant role in bringing down the clique. Yet the focus shifts back to Veronica, who navigates her way out of the popular clique, then the misanthropic influences of JD, and eventually reaches out to her old friend Martha and the friendlier Heather.
Heathers is available to stream on Tubi and First video.
The Craft (1996)
Technically, The job is a supernatural horror movie, not a black comedy, and technically it’s not about popular girls, but rather mean girls (don’t worry, we’ll get to that mean girls in a moment). But it’s worth including in this list because of the literalness of the word “hell is a teenage girl” and the emphasis on the internal dynamics of the group of friends in question. Plus, it’s not particularly scary.
The job follows a group of teenage witches who unlock powerful magic in order to get revenge on those who have wronged them and get what they want out of life. This magic eventually causes their group of friends to fracture and shatter and eat each other alive. Like many of the other examples on this list, this is a group of four girls – three who already know each other and a new intruder who disrupts the already established dynamic.
As for the iconic and specific visual palette? These are Catholic school uniforms, mixed with traditional Gothic elements. Since Heathers launched this genre by offering a counterculture alternative to the popular teen movies of the 1980s, it’s good to have an entry that actually embraces the counterculture aesthetic.
The job is available to stream on Paramount More.
Jawbreaker (1999)
Jaw-dropping would happen in Heathers if the other Heathers accidentally kill their queen bee and try to hide her. After a prank goes horribly wrong, the popular girls at Reagan High scramble to hide their involvement in Liz Purr’s death. Rose McGowan plays Courtney Shayne, a mean bitch who bribes Fern (Judy Greer) to shut up about manslaughter by giving her an extreme makeover — even changing her name to Vylette — and inducting her in the popular group. Meanwhile, Julie (Rebecca Gayheart), the friendliest of the clique, falls out of favor with them.
With its luminous Y2K colored keys, Jaw-droppingThe visual palette of is bold and over the top, complementing the extravagant actions Courtney takes in order to maintain her status as the most popular girl in school (and blame Liz’s death on someone else). Meanwhile, Julie hatches a plan to expose Courtney’s involvement to the whole school on prom night. (High school dances are another recurring theme in these movies — a queen must have her official plastic crown, after all.)
Jaw-dropping is available for rent on First video and YouTube.
Mean Girls (2004)
Nobody dies in mean girls — but that doesn’t make it any less ruthless. New girl Cady Heron (Lindsay Lohan) finds herself enmeshed in the school’s most popular clique – The Plastics, led by Regina George (Rachel McAdams). Cady’s new friend Janis (Lizzy Caplan) sees this as an opportunity to bring Regina down once and for all, and they hatch a plan to have Cady infiltrate the group and destroy Regina. But the more time Cady spends with Regina, the more she begins to become a certifiable villain herself.
Even without a body count, Mean girls’ complex revenge plot, focus on social status and vicious verbal insults (and also the fact that Regina gets hit by a bus), fits this list. And the filmmakers definitely recognize the greats who came before them, with nods like the ’80s plaid skirt that Regina dispels (a style in vogue during the Heathers era) to the scene where she plants photocopied pages of the Burn Book in the empty school hallways (a similar scene takes place in Jaw-dropping).
mean girls is available to stream on Netflix.
Jennifer’s Body (2009)
Many of these movies flirted with Sapphic subtext, whether it was Fern’s obsession with Liz Purr or Cady’s fixation on Regina George. But Jennifer’s body embraces the inherent homoeroticism of being in love with the most popular and beautiful girl in school – or in this case, also having the hottest girl in love with you.
Studious Needy (Amanda Seyfried) and popular Jennifer (Megan Fox) may not have much in common at first glance, but they’re best friends. One night, after sneaking into a local bar, a sleazy indie group kidnaps Jennifer and uses her as a sacrifice for a demonic ritual – but it doesn’t quite work, and Jennifer wakes up craving flesh.
As Jennifer murders and eats boys, her power grows – and the already toxic friendship between her and Needy begins to disintegrate. There is no middle clique in Jennifer’s body but the focus on Needy and Jennifer’s intense friendship is enough to keep it going. Needy is the only person for whom Jennifer resists her urge to kill, but also the person whose life she most wants to destroy.
Jennifer’s body is available to stream on First video.