Skip to content

Top Navigation

InStyle InStyle
  • News
    • All Fashion
    • Clothing
    • Accessories
    • Street Style
    • Look of the Day
    • Fashion Week
    • Future Of Fashion
    • All Celebrity
    • Awards and Events
    • Celebrity Transformations
    • All Beauty
    • Makeup
    • Best Beauty Buys
    • Health & Fitness
    • Skincare
    • All Hair
    • Celeb Hairstyles
    • Color Ideas
    • Long Hairstyles
    • Medium Hairstyles
    • Short Hairstyles
    • All Natural
    • All Lifestyle
    • Astrology
    • Travel
    • Weddings
    • Books
    • Food and Drink
    • Home and Decorating
    • Well Well Well
    • All Politics & Social Issues
    • Joe Biden
    • Jill Biden
    • Kamala Harris
    • Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez
    • Career
  • Pop Culture and Entertainment
  • About InStyle

Profile Menu

Join Now

Account

  • Join Now
  • My Profile
  • Email Preferences
  • Newsletters
  • Manage Your Subscription this link opens in a new tab
  • Help
  • Logout
My Account

Account

  • Join Now
  • My Profile
  • Email Preferences
  • Newsletters
  • Manage Your Subscription this link opens in a new tab
  • Help
  • Logout
Login
Pin FB

Explore InStyle

InStyle InStyle
  • Explore

    Explore

    • If the Coastal Grandmother Trend Isn't for You, How About Its Alternative, Fancy Grandma?

      If the Coastal Grandmother Trend Isn't for You, How About Its Alternative, Fancy Grandma?

      It's just as comfy but a tad more exciting. Read More
    • It Seems Like Everyone Has False Lashes These Days — Here's Why

      It Seems Like Everyone Has False Lashes These Days — Here's Why

      There's a reason why they're trending. Read More
    • 8 Ways to Wear a Sheer Lace Dress, According to Stylists

      8 Ways to Wear a Sheer Lace Dress, According to Stylists

      The pros are weighing in on this trick, celeb-loved trend. Read More
  • News
  • Fashion

    Fashion

    See All Fashion
    This Easy Guide Is the Trick to Finding Your Signature Fashion Color

    This Easy Guide Is the Trick to Finding Your Signature Fashion Color

    It's all about your skin's undertones.
    • Clothing
    • Accessories
    • Street Style
    • Look of the Day
    • Fashion Week
    • Future Of Fashion
  • Celebrity

    Celebrity

    See All Celebrity
    The Best Beauty Looks From The 2022 Met Gala Scream Gilded Age

    The Best Beauty Looks From The 2022 Met Gala Scream Gilded Age

    Big hair, tiaras, and gold lids — oh my!
    • Awards and Events
    • Celebrity Transformations
  • Beauty

    Beauty

    See All Beauty
    The Dos and Don'ts of Mixing Skincare Ingredients

    The Dos and Don'ts of Mixing Skincare Ingredients

    Plus, when and how to use them.
    • Makeup
    • Best Beauty Buys
    • Health & Fitness
    • Skincare
  • Hair

    Hair

    See All Hair
    How to Get the Wet Look Without Making Your Hair Feel Crunchy

    How to Get the Wet Look Without Making Your Hair Feel Crunchy

    It's really quite simple.
    • Celeb Hairstyles
    • Color Ideas
    • Long Hairstyles
    • Medium Hairstyles
    • Short Hairstyles
    • All Natural
  • Lifestyle

    Lifestyle

    See All Lifestyle
    The One Nail Polish Color Your Zodiac Sign Should Wear for Taurus Season — and Why

    The One Nail Polish Color Your Zodiac Sign Should Wear for Taurus Season — and Why

    Leos should wear glitter, of course.
    • Astrology
    • Travel
    • Weddings
    • Books
    • Food and Drink
    • Home and Decorating
    • Well Well Well
  • Politics & Social Issues

    Politics & Social Issues

    See All Politics & Social Issues
    50 Badass Change Makers

    50 Badass Change Makers

    The world may feel heavy at the start of 2022, but this list of change makers has us optimistic for brighter days to come.
    • Joe Biden
    • Jill Biden
    • Kamala Harris
    • Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez
    • Career
  • Pop Culture and Entertainment
  • About InStyle

Profile Menu

Join Now

Account

  • Join Now
  • My Profile
  • Email Preferences
  • Newsletters
  • Manage Your Subscription this link opens in a new tab
  • Help
  • Logout
My Account

Account

  • Join Now
  • My Profile
  • Email Preferences
  • Newsletters
  • Manage Your Subscription this link opens in a new tab
  • Help
  • Logout
Login
Sweepstakes

Follow Us

  1. Home
  2. Lifestyle
  3. Holidays & Occasions
  4. 7 Quintessential Back-to-School Movies to Binge-Watch in August

7 Quintessential Back-to-School Movies to Binge-Watch in August

By Shalayne Pulia Updated Aug 03, 2016 @ 4:00 pm
Skip gallery slides
Pin
Mean Girls (2004)
Credit: Paramount/Courtesy of The Everett Collection

"Bueller… Bueller…" it's almost time to settle in for back to school. To get in the spirit of classrooms and cafeterias, let's revisit a bit of teenaged drama via the likes of Molly Ringwald and Olivia Newton-John's iconic roles, shall we? Or even revel in the life lessons we learned from Robin Williams and Matthew Broderick? Whether you are returning to academia or you're simply down for a dose of nostalgia, these seven quintessential school films are August must-sees. 

Start Slideshow

1 of 7

Pin
Facebook Tweet Email Send Text Message

Grease (1978)

Grease (1978)
Credit: Paramount/Courtesy of The Everett Collection

Don a Pink Lady jacket with Rizzo and sing along with the gang in one of the highest grossing musical films to date (more than $181 million domestically). Grease made song and dance on film more popular than anyone ever anticipated, and continues to inspire pleather-pant envy. Danny and Sandy's summer-lovin-turned-full-fledged romance has also graced (or is that greased?) Broadway's stage, premiering in 1972 then again for two revivals in 1994 and 2007. It was also featured live on TV this year featuring Julianne Hough, Aaron Tveit, Vanessa Hudgens, and more. 

1 of 7

Advertisement
Advertisement

2 of 7

Pin
Facebook Tweet Email Send Text Message

Footloose (1984)

Footloose (1984)
Credit: Paramount/Courtesy of The Everett Collection

Kick off your Sunday shoes with a young Kevin Bacon, resident high school rebel with a worthy cause. Fresh from a rough-and-tumble Chicago past, Ren McCormack (Bacon) brings music and dancing back to the small town of Bomont in Footloose. This original also inspired a 2011 remake that kick-started Julianne Hough's acting career when she played Ariel, Ren's (played by Kenny Wormald) troubled love interest. 

2 of 7

3 of 7

Pin
Facebook Tweet Email Send Text Message

The Breakfast Club (1985)

The Breakfast Club (1985)
Credit: Universal/Courtesy of The Everett Collection

"Dear Mr. Vernon…" welcome to The Breakfast Club. This film inspired generations to embrace their inner outcast and toss labels aside. Pound a fist into the air like John Bender (Judd Nelson) and join the motley crew -- a brain, an athlete, a basket case, a princess, and a criminal -- in Saturday morning detention with this John Hughes classic. 

3 of 7

Advertisement

4 of 7

Pin
Facebook Tweet Email Send Text Message

Ferris Bueller's Day Off (1986) 

Ferris Bueller’s Day Off (1986) 
Credit: Paramount/Courtesy of The Everett Collection

Ferris Bueller's Day Off is the quintessential high school mischief comedy. In the film, a cunning Ferris convinces his melodramatic friend Cameron (Alan Ruck) and love interest Sloane (Mia Sara) to romp around Chicago for a wild day of hooky. The Windy City recently celebrated the film's 30-year release with a weekend full of Ferris-approved festivities like a "Twist and Shout" live parade re-creation, and tour buses visiting famous filming locations. As the new school year looms, it's important to remember, as Bueller says, "life moves pretty fast. If you don't stop and look around once in a while, you could miss it."

4 of 7

5 of 7

Pin
Facebook Tweet Email Send Text Message

Dead Poets Society (1989)

Dead Poets Society (1989)
Credit: Buena Vista Pictures/Courtesy of The Everett Collection

Relive one of Robin William's most moving performances in Dead Poets Society. Williams plays English teacher John Keating, who introduces a group of male students to new perspectives on everything from learning to living through poetry. It's an inspiring carpe diem performance that triggers all the emotions. 

5 of 7

6 of 7

Pin
Facebook Tweet Email Send Text Message

10 Things I Hate About You (1999)

10 Things I Hate About You (1999)
Credit: Buena Vista Pictures/Courtesy of The Everett Collection

High school relationships are hard—even when Heath Ledger is your romantic interest. But this modern rendition of Shakespeare's The Taming of the Shrew will make you fall for all the wit and romance between brooding Patrick (Ledger) and sarcastic Kat (Julia Stiles). The two end up falling in love for real after new kid Cameron (a strikingly young Joseph Gordon-Levitt) bribes Patrick to ask Kat to prom. 

6 of 7

Advertisement
Advertisement
Advertisement

7 of 7

Pin
Facebook Tweet Email Send Text Message

Mean Girls (2004)

Mean Girls (2004)
Credit: Paramount/Courtesy of The Everett Collection

Raise your hand if you've been personally victimized by not re-watching Mean Girls this summer? It's time to revisit Cady Heron and the original Queen B, Regina George. (The film was released in 2004, three years before Blair Waldorf reigned over the Upper East Side elite in Gossip Girl.)

7 of 7

Replay gallery

Share the Gallery

Pinterest Facebook

Up Next

By Shalayne Pulia

    Share the Gallery

    Pinterest Facebook
    Trending Videos
    Advertisement
    Skip slide summaries

    Everything in This Slideshow

    Advertisement

    View All

    1 of 7 Grease (1978)
    2 of 7 Footloose (1984)
    3 of 7 The Breakfast Club (1985)
    4 of 7 Ferris Bueller's Day Off (1986) 
    5 of 7 Dead Poets Society (1989)
    6 of 7 10 Things I Hate About You (1999)
    7 of 7 Mean Girls (2004)

    Share & More

    Facebook Tweet Email Send Text Message
    InStyle

    Magazines & More

    Learn More

    • Contact Us
    • Advertise
    • Accolades Licensing
    • Content Licensing

    Connect

    Follow Us
    Subscribe to Our Newsletter
    Sign Up
    MeredithInStyle is part of the Meredith Beauty Group. © Copyright 2022 Meredith Corporation. All Rights Reserved. InStyle may receive compensation for some links to products and services on this website. Offers may be subject to change without notice. Privacy Policythis link opens in a new tab Terms of Servicethis link opens in a new tab Ad Choicesthis link opens in a new tab California Do Not Sellthis link opens a modal window Web Accessibilitythis link opens in a new tab
    © Copyright InStyle. All rights reserved. Printed from https://www.instyle.com

    View image

    7 Quintessential Back-to-School Movies to Binge-Watch in August
    this link is to an external site that may or may not meet accessibility guidelines.