Funny movies for teens: 20 comedies they'll actually laugh at

Finding a comedy a teenager will sit through is harder than it sounds. Too young and it's cringe, too crude and it's awkward with the family in the room. These 20 picks land in between: sharp, quotable and mostly rated PG-13.

They're grouped by the kind of funny, from high-school comedies to big action-comedy crowd-pleasers, so you can pick by mood instead of scrolling for half an hour.

High-school comedies

Smart, quotable and about the stuff teens actually deal with.

  • Still from Mean Girls (2004)1
    • Drama
    • Comedy

    Mean Girls

    7.2 TMDB rating20041h 37mRated PG-13

    A comedy about high-school cliques that most teens can quote.

  • Still from Clueless (1995)2
    • Comedy
    • Romance

    Clueless

    7.2 TMDB rating19951h 37mRated PG-13

    Sharp, quotable and surprisingly smart.

  • Still from 10 Things I Hate About You (1999)3
    • Comedy
    • Romance
    • Drama

    10 Things I Hate About You

    7.6 TMDB rating19991h 37mRated PG-13

    A high-school take on Shakespeare that holds up.

  • Still from Easy A (2010)4
    • Comedy

    Easy A

    6.8 TMDB rating20101h 33mRated PG-13

    Olive, an average high school student, sees her below-the-radar existence turn around overnight once she decides to use the school's gossip grapevine to advance her social standing. Now her classmates are turning against her and the school board is…

  • Still from Ferris Bueller's Day Off (1986)5
    • Comedy

    Ferris Bueller's Day Off

    7.6 TMDB rating19861h 43mRated PG-13

    The ultimate skip-school fantasy, still funny.

  • Still from Love, Simon (2018)6
    • Comedy
    • Drama
    • Romance

    Love, Simon

    8.0 TMDB rating20181h 50mRated PG-13

    Everyone deserves a great love story, but for 17-year-old Simon Spier, it's a little more complicated. He hasn't told his family or friends that he's gay, and he doesn't know the identity of the anonymous classmate that he's fallen for online.

Action comedies

Big laughs with a bit of adventure, good for a group with mixed tastes.

  • Still from Jumanji: Welcome to the Jungle (2017)7
    • Adventure
    • Comedy
    • Fantasy

    Jumanji: Welcome to the Jungle

    6.8 TMDB rating20171h 59mRated PG-13

    A fun adventure comedy that works for mixed ages.

  • Still from Free Guy (2021)8
    • Comedy
    • Adventure
    • Science Fiction

    Free Guy

    7.4 TMDB rating20211h 55mRated PG-13

    A bank teller discovers he is actually a background player in an open-world video game, and decides to become the hero of his own story. Now, in a world where there are no limits, he is determined to be the guy who saves his world his way before it's too late.

  • Still from Men in Black (1997)9
    • Action
    • Adventure
    • Comedy

    Men in Black

    7.2 TMDB rating19971h 38mRated PG-13

    After a police chase with an otherworldly being, a New York City cop is recruited as an agent in a top-secret organization established to monitor and police alien activity on Earth: the Men in Black. Agent K and new recruit Agent J find themselves in the…

  • Still from Thor: Ragnarok (2017)10
    • Action
    • Adventure
    • Comedy

    Thor: Ragnarok

    7.6 TMDB rating20172h 11mRated PG-13

    Thor is imprisoned on the other side of the universe and finds himself in a race against time to get back to Asgard to stop Ragnarok, the destruction of his home-world and the end of Asgardian civilization, at the hands of a powerful new threat, the…

  • Still from Scott Pilgrim vs. the World (2010)11
    • Action
    • Comedy
    • Romance

    Scott Pilgrim vs. the World

    7.5 TMDB rating20101h 53mRated PG-13

    As bass guitarist for a garage-rock band, Scott Pilgrim has never had trouble getting a girlfriend; usually, the problem is getting rid of them. But when Ramona Flowers skates into his heart, he finds she has the most troublesome baggage of all: an army of…

Classics teens still love

Older movies that hold up, and that parents enjoy rewatching too.

  • Still from Back to the Future (1985)12
    • Adventure
    • Comedy
    • Science Fiction

    Back to the Future

    8.3 TMDB rating19851h 56mRated PG

    A sci-fi comedy that never gets old.

  • Still from Ghostbusters (1984)13
    • Comedy
    • Fantasy

    Ghostbusters

    7.5 TMDB rating19841h 45mRated PG

    After losing their university jobs, three parapsychologists start a ghost-catching business in New York City and uncover a supernatural threat that could destroy the world.

  • Still from The Princess Bride (1987)14
    • Adventure
    • Fantasy
    • Family

    The Princess Bride

    7.7 TMDB rating19871h 39mRated PG

    Adventure, romance and comedy that every generation seems to love.

  • Still from School of Rock (2003)15
    • Comedy
    • Family
    • Music

    School of Rock

    7.1 TMDB rating20031h 50mRated PG-13

    Pure fun, especially for any teen who plays music.

  • Still from Napoleon Dynamite (2004)16
    • Comedy

    Napoleon Dynamite

    6.8 TMDB rating20041h 35mRated PG

    A listless and alienated teenager decides to help his new friend win the class presidency in their small western high school, while he must deal with his bizarre family life back home.

Feel-good and offbeat

Lighter picks with plenty of heart.

  • Still from Hairspray (2007)17
    • Comedy
    • Romance
    • Drama

    Hairspray

    6.7 TMDB rating20071h 56mRated PG

    Pleasantly plump teenager Tracy Turnblad auditions to be on Baltimore's most popular dance show - The Corny Collins Show - and lands a prime spot. Through her newfound fame, she becomes determined to help her friends and end the racial segregation that has…

  • Still from The Mitchells vs. the Machines (2021)18
    • Animation
    • Adventure
    • Comedy

    The Mitchells vs. the Machines

    7.8 TMDB rating20211h 50mRated PG

    A quirky, dysfunctional family's road trip is upended when they find themselves in the middle of the robot apocalypse and suddenly become humanity's unlikeliest last hope.

  • Still from Enola Holmes (2020)19
    • Adventure
    • Mystery
    • Crime

    Enola Holmes

    7.2 TMDB rating20202h 4mRated PG-13

    While searching for her missing mother, intrepid teen Enola Holmes uses her sleuthing skills to outsmart big brother Sherlock and help a runaway lord.

  • Still from The Lego Movie (2014)20
    • Animation
    • Family
    • Adventure

    The Lego Movie

    7.4 TMDB rating20141h 40mRated PG

    An ordinary Lego mini-figure, mistakenly thought to be the extraordinary MasterBuilder, is recruited to join a quest to stop an evil Lego tyrant from conquering the universe.

Still can't decide? Let the random movie generator pick one for you.

How to pick one together

  1. Let your teen suggest three titles first and add one of your own.
  2. Everyone gets one veto, no explanation needed.
  3. Watch the trailers for the last two. Humor shows in two minutes far better than in a poster.

Frequently asked questions

What are good funny movies for teens?

Mean Girls (2004), Clueless (1995), Jumanji: Welcome to the Jungle (2017), Free Guy (2021) and School of Rock (2003) are reliable picks that most teens enjoy.

What are funny PG-13 movies for teenagers?

Mean Girls, Easy A, 10 Things I Hate About You, Thor: Ragnarok and Scott Pilgrim vs. the World are all rated PG-13 and genuinely funny.

Is there an app to help pick a movie together?

Yes. In ReelMatch everyone swipes through trailers on their own phone and the app shows the movies you all said yes to. It's free on iPhone and Android.

Keep reading

Images, ratings and runtimes from TMDB. This product uses the TMDB API but is not endorsed or certified by TMDB. Ratings are US ratings.