Léon: The Professional

A few weekends ago I went to a Los Angeles Angel City F.C. game (they won). Angel City, the women’s soccer team founded and owned by high-profile women, including Natalie Portman, got me thinking about Natalie and how impressed I am by her and her incredible career, starting with her film debut at age 13 opposite Jean Reno, in director Luc Besson’s Léon:The Professional. Released in 1994, it’s set in a crowded yet cavernous New York apartment building where Mathilda (Portman) lives with her dysfunctional family. She returns one afternoon to find her whole family murdered as a result of her dad’s criminal associations, and seeks safety with Léon (Reno), a reluctant neighbor, who also happens to be a hitman. It’s an action-packed, often violent film with a corrupt D.E.A. agent, played brilliantly by Gary Oldman, at its center. Mathilda flourishes under the wing of Léon, and as he teaches her his trade, she teaches him how to read, and they both learn lessons about trust and caring for another person. It’s hard not to be bowled over by the charm and wisdom of this tough little girl. Léon: The Professional also features the best cameo ever by a houseplant in a film. In the end, Mathilda, and the plant, find their way back to school and the promise of a more typical education. The film holds up well and it’s a must-see if you haven’t already.

— Krista Smith

HOMECOMING: A film by Beyoncé

Without having to survive the rigorous admissions process and struggle through a dreaded rush week, Beyoncé enrolled all of Coachella at an H.B.C.U. (Historically Black College and University) when she staged HOMECOMING. Through the distinct lens of the Black college experience, we witness the pomp and pageantry of homecoming weekends — the high-energy steppers who stomp the yard, the sauntering majorettes who amp the crowd, and the swaggering marching band that serves as both orchestra and high-kicking dance ensemble at once. The 2019 documentary charts the musical and production journey of Bey and her team of elite creative collaborators from casting call to final performance, with painstaking detail of the long nights and tiresome days that it took to pull it off.  

The flawless performance footage is spliced with black-and-white interviews with a handful of dancers, musicians, and steppers, recounting their own H.B.C.U. experiences and what it means to be rendering their southern academic traditions on the global stage. It’s a masterclass in contrasting the maximalist effect of a Beyoncé show with the intimacy and fanfare that make homecoming weekends a familiar place to return again and again.

—Deidre Dyer

Mean Girls

To anyone who has ever moved over summer — and also (somehow) hasn’t seen Mean Girls, arguably the most iconic and classic representation of high school in cinema today — please stop reading and go watch immediately. This film has changed my life (for better or worse, depending on who you ask) due to its authentic storytelling of how brutal teens can be. In the beginning, Cady (pronounced Katie, played by Lindsay Lohan) is the “new girl from Africa” trying to absorb all she can from the outcast crowd who lay the land of the school from geeks to elites and everyone in between. The “Plastics” who run the school quickly take Cady under their wing for a full high school experience, from boys, to parties, to skipping class, and most importantly treating everyone who’s not a Plastic as less-than. Though there are a few scenes that take the animalistic nature of high school pretty literally, overall this film isn’t as far off from reality as people (parents) might think. So, when you watch Mean Girls (or rewatch it for the 12th time) remember three things: 1) You’re either a have or have not, but both have consequences, 2) literally everyone is insecure and doing what they can to survive the high school hallways, and most importantly 3) On Wednesdays we wear pink.

—Alyssa Hillman

Never Have I Ever

Never Have I Ever loved a show about high school more. Created by Mindy Kaling and Lang Fisher, the series follows Devi Vishwakumar (Maitreyi Ramakrishnan) who, on the cusp of her sophomore year, is anticipating a new start that blooms with possibility, reinvention, excitement, and a crush on the hottest boy in the school, Paxton Hall-Yoshida. What could go wrong? As anybody who has experienced high school would know, almost everything does. But Devi and her one-of-a-kind best friends make you want to relive every awkward moment, every pop quiz you were unprepared for, and every unfortunately decorated high school dance. Sherman Oaks High is a picture-perfect vessel for teenage nostalgia, complete with teachers who try to be cool by using “hip” lingo, extracurriculars that serve as an excuse to hang out with friends after hours, and an overachieving nemesis who might be more than that. The series, whose third season premiered on Netflix earlier this month, will conclude with a fourth and final season, a perfect high-school length run.

—Jenny Changnon

Boo, Bitch

Did you ever have that moment in high school where you made the leap from invisible nerd to talk of the town? A party or a prank or a talent show that put you on the map? No? Well, me neither, but that doesn’t have to stop us from relating to Erika, played by Lana Condor, and Gia, played by Zoe Margaret Colletti, in the hauntingly hilarious Boo, Bitch. When Erika and Gia are faced with the existential-crises-inducing end of high school without having secured their own rung on the social ladder, Erika decides that she’s had enough. After an epic display of beginner’s luck in a house party beer pong tournament, and finally catching the eye of her teenage crush, Erika’s social relevance is finally in sight. But the next morning, Erika and Gia discover Erika’s dead body pinned under the carcass of a moose. Somehow, everyone can still see and interact with Erika, and in this limbo state of existence, Erika leans into the literal death of her former self and embraces the biggest, shiniest, most outrageous version of herself she’s been dreaming of. So if you find yourself on the precipice of a life change, tune in to Boo, Bitch and take a few notes from Erika and Gia to help guide you along the way.

—Ryan Smith

Stranger Things 4

What’s more frightening? Facing off against the Mind Flayer or a high school bully? For Jane (Eleven) Hopper, it turns out monsters from the Upside Down have nothing on Angela, the queen of mean at Lenora Hills High, who takes it upon herself to terrorize Millie Bobby Brown’s well-meaning freshman at the outset of Stranger Things 4. Played by Elodie Grace Orkin, Angela joins the show’s ranks of memorable human villains, with the ultra-popular blonde encouraging her gang of cronies to humiliate Eleven at the local roller skating rink. Even though her psychic powers are M.I.A., El still manages to pay Angela back for her vicious antics. It’s a good reminder that high school can be trying for almost anyone — what helps is to have great friends by your side.

—Gina McIntyre

Heartbreak High

Heartbreak High, the upcoming Australian teen drama (don’t worry, it’s filled with loads of comedy, too) is a reboot of a popular show from the 90s and reminds us that being a teenager is messy and complicated and oh so fun, no matter the decade. The new series, set at Hartley High in Sydney, updates the original for the Gen-Z student body and centers around a class of misfits and popular kids, all wearing clothes not too dissimilar from the wardrobe of the 90s cast. Heartbreak High will break your heart and stitch it back together . . . over and over again, sometimes multiple times in the same scene. It will make you dread the days of curfew and cringey sex ed teachers and cutting your own bangs, but it will also bring you back to the electric ecstasy of crushes on basketball players and finding your people (who will help you fix those bangs). Plan a slumber party for September 14th; you’ll want to be up all night watching every episode with your besties.

— Madeleine Saaf Welsh

Fate: The Winx Saga

Growing up, the late-summer back-to-school campaign always brought me great dread and worry. In the classroom, I studied math and science, but at home, I escaped into supernatural dramas like Charmed, Buffy, and Angel. That may not have been the case if I lived within the fictional world of Fate: The Winx Saga and attended Alfea, a magical boarding school of fairies and specialists, non-magical warriors. In Season 2 of Fate: The Winx Saga, fire fairy Bloom returns to Alfea for another school year of magic, chaos, and more. Like the fairies of Alfea, and students in the real world, I too will be returning to a familiar, fantastical place this fall: To my 12-year-old self who dreamed of enchanting tales to escape the world.

— Chris McPherson

Sex Education

Moordale High School — otherwise known as “the sex school” — does its best to steer its roster of chaotic and curious students in the right direction, but it’s pretty clear that the most significant learning happens outside the school’s walls (and more often in their bedrooms under the noses of unsuspecting parents). The latest season brought further barriers to enlightenment, in the form of a cruel new headmistress (Jemima Kirke), drab school uniforms, and stricter rules. Our unruly favorites learned a lot all the same, culminating in an inspired short film complete with sexual disclosures on cardboard signs, genitalia costumes, and most importantly, a rejection of shame. Revisit all of Season 3’s uplifting life lessons to prepare for all that’s to come with Season 4, including new opportunities for learning for Maeve in the form of famous author Thomas Molloy, played by the one-and-only Dan Levy.

— Brookie McIlvaine

Heartstopper

High school is all about learning how to deal with life’s difficult decisions. For shy British teen Charlie Spring, who’s starting to fall for rugby star Nick Nelson while also in a secret relationship with another less savory fellow, things are quickly getting complicated. Heartstopper brings to life the electricity and angst of high school crushes, the fear of being left behind by your closest friends, and the magic of those fleeting moments where everything seems to be coming together. If the thought of revisiting your adolescence makes you shudder a little, this series will remind you of how hard those years were, but also how formative. With Heartstopper’s second season already on the way, feel free to fall all the way in love.

—Miranda Tsang

Moxie

Everyone remembers their first “teen activism” moment — when the rose-colored glasses are removed and they realized how inequitable the world is. Moxie is a starter-feminist film combining all things angsty and activist. The movie follows Vivian Carter (played by Hadley Robinson) as she discovers how sexism impacts her peers’ experiences and compromises their emotional and physical safety in high school. When Vivian finds her mom’s feminist zines from the Riot Grrrl days, she’s inspired to start a feminist movement of her own — through an anonymous zine titled “Moxie” that calls out how women are marginalized and other discrimination often overlooked in Rockford High School’s hallways. Moxie addresses bullying, harassment, and assault with resistance and optimism. The film also stars Amy Poehler (who also directed), who plays a high-contrast depiction of a mom from her role in Mean Girls.

—Morgan Johnson

Ferris Bueller's Day Off

As opposed to extolling the virtues of going to school, Ferris Bueller’s Day Off, directed by late teen film legend John Hughes, really puts a shine on truancy. There’s this one famous line from the film about ditching school that gets thrown around all the time. Matthew Broderick, in the titular role of Ferris, delivers it twice in the film: “Life moves pretty fast. If you don’t stop and look around once in a while, you could miss it.” Full transparency, I put it on my high school yearbook page. But nowadays I think the most important life message of the film is delivered by the great Charlie Sheen. While Ferris is cutting class, galavanting around town with his buddies in a stolen vehicle (note: we didn’t talk about privilege much in 1986), Ferris’s sister, Jeanie, played by Jennifer Grey, lands herself in a police station talking to a kindhearted delinquent played by Sheen. While Jeanie laments that her n’er-do-well, lucky A.F. brother is getting away with murder, Sheen calmly looks at her and explains that the problem is not Ferris, but her. “You oughta spend a little more time dealing with yourself, a little less time worrying about what your brother does.” So listen to Charlie Sheen. And let people live.

—Blaine Zuckerman