When done correctly, a teen movie can make you feel as if you and your experiences are completely represented on the big screen, as if the writers and director understand high school. When done poorly, as most teen movies are, the flicks just feel like a big budget production company threw a bunch of old men in a writing room and forced them to think about how Jessica would react if Brad didn’t ask her to the prom.

Most modern teen movies have been the latter. Whenever a new Netflix original film advertised for teens is announced I can’t help but feel an enormous sense of dread for the emotionless attempt this new movie will be. That’s why, in my opinion, Mean Girls sticks out in my head as the perfect teen movie.
Call me basic, but Mean Girls takes the outline of one of these aforementioned dry and detached teen flicks and pairs it with Tina Fey’s incredible sense of humor to create a relatable and hilarious film. Mean Girls uses every single trope in the book: the new girl, the 3 popular girls, the queen bee, the dumb blonde, the cynical best friend and the quirky teacher. Even with all these tropes, the film is able to pull off the cheesiness of a teen flick and pair it with that raw and relatable emotion that makes a perfect teen movie.

Not only that, but Mean Girls has withstood time, and still remains relevant today. Everyone knows the iconic quotes from “We should all just stab Caesar!” to “Its like I have ESPN or something” to everyone’s favorite “She doesn’t even go here!”. Every once in a while I find myself or my friends quoting this movie that’s almost as old as I am, which shows just how long and impactful Mean Girls has been in the world of teen movies. Hopefully in the future these big budget production companies will realize how impactful a quality teen flick can actually be.

4 out of 4 stars