A Glean movie guide
Middle School Laughs
Big laughs for the tween years.
The best comedies for 12-year-olds, from high-energy adventures to quirky cult classics.
Handpicked for this guide
The movie list
- 01
School of Rock
A high-energy riot where Jack Black turns a classroom of prep school students into a powerhouse rock band.
Fired from his band and hard up for cash, guitarist and vocalist Dewey Finn finagles his way into a job as a fifth-grade substitute teacher at a private school, where he secretly begins teaching his straight-A students the finer points of rock 'n' roll and the power of sticking it to the man. But as the school’s stern principal closes in and the Battle of the Bands looms, Dewey risks everything to prove that rock ’n’ roll can change lives.
- 02
The Mitchells vs. the Machines
A visually stunning and hilarious road trip that pits a dysfunctional family against a global robot uprising.
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.
- 03
Napoleon Dynamite
A quirky, deadpan cult classic that perfectly captures the awkwardness of early adolescence.
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.
- 04
Jumanji: Welcome to the Jungle
A clever body-swap adventure that puts a hilarious spin on video game tropes and character archetypes.
Four teenagers in detention discover an old video game console with a game they’ve never heard of. When they decide to play, they are immediately sucked into the jungle world of Jumanji in the bodies of their avatars. They’ll have to complete the adventure of their lives filled with fun, thrills and danger or be stuck in the game forever!
- 05
Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse
A groundbreaking superhero flick packed with self-aware humor, incredible style, and a relatable lead.
Struggling to find his place in the world while juggling school and family, Brooklyn teenager Miles Morales is unexpectedly bitten by a radioactive spider and develops unfathomable powers just like the one and only Spider-Man. While wrestling with the implications of his new abilities, Miles discovers a super collider created by the madman Wilson "Kingpin" Fisk, causing others from across the Spider-Verse to be inadvertently transported to his dimension.
- 06
The Lego Movie
A fast-paced, meta-comedy that is way funnier and smarter than a movie about plastic bricks has any right to be.
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.
- 07
Mean Girls
A sharp and endlessly quotable satire of the high school social hierarchy and the 'Plastics' who run it.
Cady Heron is a hit with The Plastics, the A-list girl clique at her new school, until she makes the mistake of falling for Aaron Samuels, the ex-boyfriend of alpha Plastic Regina George.
- 08
Diary of a Wimpy Kid
A relatable look at the daily struggles, social pitfalls, and slapstick disasters of middle school life.
Greg Heffley is headed for big things, but first he has to survive the scariest, most humiliating experience of any kid’s life – middle school! That won’t be easy, considering he’s surrounded by hairy-freckled morons, wedgie-loving bullies and a moldy slice of cheese with nuclear cooties!
- 09
Big
A charming classic about a 12-year-old who gets his wish to be an adult—with hilarious and heartfelt results.
When a young boy makes a wish at a carnival machine to be big—he wakes up the following morning to find that it has been granted and his body has grown older overnight. But he is still the same 13-year-old boy inside. Now he must learn how to cope with the unfamiliar world of grown-ups including getting a job and having his first romantic encounter with a woman.
- 10
The Princess Bride
A timeless blend of witty dialogue, eccentric characters, and classic slapstick that appeals to all ages.
In this enchantingly cracked fairy tale, the beautiful Princess Buttercup and the dashing Westley must overcome staggering odds to find happiness amid six-fingered swordsmen, murderous princes, Sicilians and rodents of unusual size. But even death can't stop these true lovebirds from triumphing.
- 11
Galaxy Quest
A brilliant sci-fi parody where the cast of a defunct TV show is mistaken for real space heroes by aliens.
For four years, the courageous crew of the NSEA Protector — Commander Peter Quincy Taggart, Lieutenant Tawny Madison, and Doctor Lazarus — set off on a thrilling and often dangerous mission in space ... until their series was cancelled! Now, twenty years later, aliens under attack have mistaken the Galaxy Quest television transmissions for "historical documents" and beam up the crew of has-been actors to save the universe. With no script, no director, and no clue, the actors must turn in the performances of their lives.
- 12
Paddington 2
A masterclass in physical comedy and heart that is impossible not to love, regardless of your age.
Paddington, now happily settled with the Browns, picks up a series of odd jobs to buy the perfect present for his Aunt Lucy, but it is stolen.