Edge of Seventeen – Best Teen Girl Movies

Inspired by the release of the Edge of Seventeen this week, we thought we’d have a look at the unusually rich genre of Teen Girl movies. We’re restricting ourselves to American releases with a female protagonist, for no apparent reason other than there would be too many to choose from otherwise. There really are some gems in this genre, films that are funny, sweet and ever so odd. You can see our choices below.

While the Edge of Seventeen doesn’t quite make the list, there are some enjoyable down to earth characters, with Woody Harrelson stealing many scenes. Main actress Hailee Steinfeld continues to impress after her performance in True Grit  in 2010, when she was only 14. You can enter our competition to win some fine merchandise here.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EB6Gecy6IP8

First off, I was told I had to give Twilight a mention. I was told this during my vast research on the topic (Whatsapp Group discussion that really sparked to life!). The first Twilight movie was directed by Catherine Hardwicke and was quite good. I even seem to remember a four star Guardian review, that they’d probably quite like to forget. The rest of the franchise got steadily worse and left a bad taste in the mouth!

Other films that were considered but didn’t cut the mustard include Adventures in Baby Sitting, The Craft, Grease 2 and even Dirty Dancing! Anything with Zac Efron in it was also excluded on the basis that it had Zac Efron in it.

10. Legally Blonde – Reese Witherspoon stars in this one “When a blonde sorority queen is dumped by her boyfriend, she decides to follow him to law school to get him back and, once there, learns she has more legal savvy than she ever imagined.”

9. Bring it On – Kirsten Dunst stars in this story of “A champion high school cheerleading squad discovers its previous captain stole all their best routines from an inner-city school and must scramble to compete at this year’s championships. ”

8. Diary of a Teenage Girl – This is a much under rated film from last year (2015) that has some really impressive animated scenes. Director Marielle Heller deserved much more praise for this one than it received. It’s about “A teen artist living in 1970s San Francisco enters into an affair with her mother’s boyfriend.”

7. Mean Girls – Another film on the list that helped launch the career of some aspiring actresses, in Lindsay Lohan and Rachel McAdams. It’s about “Cady Heron is a hit with The Plastics, the A-list girl clique at her new school, until she makes the mistake of falling for Aaron Samuels, the ex-boyfriend of alpha Plastic Regina George.”

6. Ginger Snaps – Did you think we’d make it to number 1 without a horror film? This Canadian horror film from the year 2000 was directed by John Fawcett. “Two death-obsessed sisters, outcasts in their suburban neighborhood, must deal with the tragic consequences when one of them is bitten by a deadly werewolf.”

5. Kids – Larry Clarke’s 1995 film helped launch the career of Chloë Sevigny and is one of the most gritty and real films on the topic. “A day in the life of a group of teens as they travel around New York City skating, drinking, smoking, and deflowering virgins.”

4. Pretty in Pink – There was also no way we could go all the way to number one without mentioning a giant of genre in John Hughes. While Hughes only wrote this film, with Howard Deutch directing, Hughes dominated films about teenagers during the 80s with classics such as the Breakfast Club and Ferris Bueller’s Day Off. We love them all! In this one, Molly Ringwald must “choose between the affections of her doting childhood sweetheart and a rich but sensitive playboy.”

3. Clueless – Clueless is now actually 21 years old, having been released in 1995. It was written and directed by Amy Heckerling and helped launch the career of Alicia Silverstone. The film was based on the Jane Austen book Emma and tells the story of “A rich high school student tries to boost a new pupil’s popularity, but reckons without affairs of the heart getting in the way”.

2. Ghost World – This 2001 American black comedy was directed by the hugely underrated Terry Zwigoff, who also directed the original Bad Santa and Crumb. It is based on the Daniel Clowes graphic novel of the same name and does a great job of capturing the same touch of madness. It has an amazing soundtrack also. It stars Thora Birch and an unknown actress by the name of Scarlett Johansson.

“With only the plan of moving in together after high school, two unusually devious friends seek direction in life. As a mere gag, they respond to a man’s newspaper ad for a date, only to find it will greatly complicate their lives.”

1. Heathers – In my mind this stands as one of the best films in any list! It’s a nicely twisted story of teen suicide. Pity we never got to see the real ending, but it rarely puts a foot wrong. Winona Ryder, Christian Slater and Shannen Doherty star in this one. “In order to get out of the snobby clique that is destroying her good-girl reputation, an intelligent teen teams up with a dark sociopath in a plot to kill the cool kids. ”

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CTmpKgocyYg