Means Girls is a teen comedy film that was directed by Mark Waters, and written by Tina Fey. Concepts in the film were inspired by Fey’s own experience at Upper Darby High School. The film grossed $130 million worldwide and has become a cult classic. Lindsay Lohan, Rachel McAdams, Lacey Chabert, and Amanda Seyfried portray “The Plastics,” the A-list girl clique. The supporting cast for the film includes Tina Fey, Tim Meadows, Lizzy Caplan, Jonathan Bennett, Daniel Franzese, Ana Gasteyer, Neil Flynn, and Amy Poehler.
The film centers around Cady Heron (Lindsay Lohan), who was homeschooled by her scientist parents while living in Africa. After her family moves to the suburbs of Illinois, Cady experiences what it’s like to attend public school and unwittingly finds herself invited to sit with “The Plastics” at lunch. After making the mistake of falling for Aaron Samuels (Jonathan Bennett), the ex-boyfriend of the leader, Regina George (Rachel McAdams), outsiders Janis Ian (Lizzy Caplan) and Damian Leigh (Daniel Franzese) persuade Cady to infiltrate against Regina.
Lindsay Lohan was praised for her acting in Mean Girls, earning her several accolades including three Teen Choice Awards and three MTV Movie Awards. In 2021, Lohan was listed as the eleventh-best performance of the 21st century by The New Yorker. Fans who are in the mood for another fetch film, here are 10 2010s movies to watch if you love Mean Girls.
10 The Edge of Seventeen
The Edge of Seventeen is a coming-of-age comedy-drama film written and directed by Kelly Fremon Craig, in her directorial debut. The film stars Hailee Steinfeld, Woody Harrelson, Kyra Sedgwick, and Haley Lu Richardson.
High school junior, Nadine Franklin (Hailee Steinfeld), is at the peak of her awkwardness, and it doesn’t help when her all-star older brother Darian (Blake Jenner) starts dating her best friend Krista (Haley Lu Richardson). Feeling alone more now than ever, Nadine gets a glimmer of hope when she and a thoughtful teen Erwin (Hayden Szeto) grow an unexpected friendship.
9 Booksmart
Booksmart is a comedy film directed by Olivia Wilde, in her feature directorial debut, and was written by Emily Halpern, Sarah Haskins, Susanna Fogel, and Katie Silberman. The film stars Beanie Feldstein and Kaitlyn Dever with a supporting cast including Jessica Williams, Lisa Kudrow, Will Forte, Jason Sudeikis, Billie Lourd, Diana Silvers, Molly Gordon, and Noah Galvin.
High school seniors Amy Antsler (Kaitlyn Dever) and Molly Davidson (Beanie Feldstein) are longtime best friends and accomplished Ivy League-bound students. Despite Molly being class president, they are not popular with their peers. On the eve of graduation, Molly confronts her classmates who are insulting her bookishness, and tells them that she got into Yale. It is quickly revealed that despite her classmate’s partying, they also got into prestigious colleges. Molly is furious and tells Amy that they should have enjoyed their time in high school more, convincing Amy to go to a graduation party.
8 Dumplin’
Dumplin’ is a coming-of-age comedy-drama film that was directed by Anne Fletcher and written by Kristin Hahn. The film is based on the novel of the same name by Julie Murphy and stars Danielle Macdonald, Jennifer Aniston, and Odeya Rush.
Willowdean “Will” Dickson, also known as Dumplin’, sees herself as overweight and unattractive, compounded by her former beauty queen mother, Rosie Dickson (Jennifer Aniston). On the first day of school, Will is suspended for defending another overweight girl, Millie Mitchellchuck (Maddie Baillio), from a bully.
Later, Will accuses Rosie of resenting her for how she looks and is unsettled when Rosie states that Lucy (Hilliary Begley), Will’s deceased aunt, should have taken better care of her health. Willowdean then decides to sign up for her mom’s pageant as a protest, which escalates when other contestants follow in her footsteps.
7 The Outcasts
The Outcasts is a teen comedy film directed by Peter Hutchings and written by Dominique Ferrari and Suzanne Wrubel. The film features an ensemble cast starring Victoria Justice, Eden Sher, Ashley Rickards, Claudia Lee, and Katie Chang. The plot follows a group of misfit teenagers who come together to overthrow the popular clique at their high school.
Best friends Mindy Lipschitz (Eden Sher), a science nerd, and Jodi Schellenberger (Victoria Justice) a music nerd, have suffered years of torment from the school’s mean girls, Whitney Bennett (Claudia Lee) and Mackenzie Smith (Peyton List). When they become a victim of a humiliating prank, the two devise a plan to unite the misfit teenage outcasts of the school to start a social revolution.
6 Love, Simon
Love, Simon is a romantic comedy-drama film directed by Greg Berlanti, and written by Issac Aptaker and Elizabeth Berger. The film stars Nick Robinson, Josh Duhamel, and Jennifer Garner with a supporting cast including Katherine Langford, Alexandra Shipp, Jorge Lendeborg Jr., and Keiynan Lonsdale.
Seventeen-year-old, Simon Spier (Nick Robinson), lives in a suburb of Atlanta, Georgia. Simon hasn’t revealed to his family or his friends that he’s gay, and he doesn’t know the identity of the anonymous classmate that he’s fallen for online. When Martin (Logan Miller) becomes humiliated after learning that Abby (Alexandra Shipp) does not share the same feelings, Martin outs Simon by posting his emails on the school’s gossip site.
5 The Kissing Booth
The Kissing Booth is a teen romantic comedy film, that was written and directed by Vince Marcello. The film is based on the 2012 novel of the same name by Beth Reekles and stars Joey King, Jacob Elordi, and Joel Courtney.
Quirky high school student, Elle Evans (Joey King) and her lifelong best friend Lee Flynn (Joel Courtney) suggest having a kissing booth as a school fundraiser. Elle finds herself face to face with her long-term crush, Lee’s older brother, Noah Flynn (Jacob Elordi), after she signs up to run a kissing booth at the spring carnival.
4 To All the Boys I’ve Loved Before
To All the Boys I’ve Loved Before is a teen romantic comedy film directed by Susan Johnson and written by Sofia Alvarez. The film is the first installment in the To All the Boys film series and stars Lana Condor, Noah Centineo, Janel Parrish, Anna Cathcart, Madeleine Arthur, Emilija Baranac, Israel Broussard and John Corbett.
Shy high school junior, Lara Jean (Lana Condor) writes letters to boys she feels an instance passion for and locks the letters away in her closet. Her little sister Kitty (Anna Cathcart) sneaks into Lara’s room and finds her collection of letters. On Monday at school, Lara Jean is confronted by a former crush, Peter (Noah Centineo) that he received her letter, causing her to faint.
3 Pitch Perfect
Pitch Perfect is a musical comedy film directed by Jason Moore, and written by Kay Cannon. The sleeper hit’s ensemble cast includes Anna Kendrick, Skylar Astin, Rebel Wilson, Adam DeVine, Anna Camp, Brittany Snow, Hana Mae Lee, Alexis Knapp, Ester Dean, Kelley Jakle, Shelley Regner, Wanetah Walmsley, Ben Platt, Utkarsh Ambudkar, John Michael Higgins, and Elizabeth Banks.
College student Beca (Anna Kendrick) doesn’t want to be a part of a clique, however, that is exactly where she finds herself after arriving at her new school. With all the different personalities, including some that are quite mean, Becca finds that the only thing they have in common is how well they all sing together. Barden University’s all-girl a cappella group, the Barden Bellas, compete against another a cappella group from their college to win nationals.
2 The Duff
The Duff is a high school teen comedy film directed by Ari Sandel with a screenplay by Josh Cagan. The film stars Mae Whitman, Robbie Amell, Bella Thorne, Nick Eversman, Skyler Samuels, Bianca Santos, Allison Janney and Ken Jeong.
Bianca (Mae Whitman) reluctantly attends a party hosted by mean girl Madison (Bella Thorne) with her best friends, Casey (Bianca Santos) and Jess (Skyler Samuels), with hopes of talking to her guitar-playing crush, Toby (Nick Eversman). Wesley (Robbie Amell), the captain of the football team was her childhood friend, casually brings to Bianca’s awareness that she is the DUFF of her friend group, an acronym that stands for Designated Ugly Fat Friend.
Bianca is devastated and insulted while Wesley attempts to explain that the DUFF does not necessarily have to be ugly or fat, the person could just be in a social group that is less popular.
1 Easy A
Easy A is a romantic teen comedy film directed by Will Gluck and written by Bert V. Royal. The screenplay was partially inspired by the 1850 novel The Scarlet Letter by Nathaniel Hawthorne. The film stars Emma Stone, Stanley Tucci, Patricia Clarkson, Thomas Haden Church, Dan Byrd, Penn Badgley, Cam Gigandet, Lisa Kudrow, Aly Michalka, Malcolm McDowell, and Amanda Bynes.
Olive Penderghast (Emma Stone) lies to her best friend, Rhiannon Abernathy (Aly Michalka) about going on a date to get out of going camping with Rhiannon’s hippie parents. Instead, she hangs around the house listening to Natasha Bedingfield’s song “Pocketful of Sunshine” from a musical card sent by her grandmother. Rhiannon presses Olive about her date at school and Olive lies about losing her virginity to a college boy.
Marianne Bryant (Amanda Bynes), a devoted Christian whom Olive considers to be prudish, overhears her telling the lie and quickly spreads it throughout the school. Later, after a fight with Rhiannon, Olive decides to wear more provocative clothing and stitches a red “A” onto her clothing.
