A Glean movie guide
The Burn Book: Best High School Satires
The ultimate clique-flick guide.
Sharp-witted comedies about cliques, social climbing, and the politics of being popular.
Handpicked for this guide
The movie list
- 01
Clueless
A stylish and witty reimagining of Jane Austen’s Emma set in the social hierarchy of 90s Beverly Hills.
Shallow, rich and socially successful Cher is at the top of her Beverly Hills high school's pecking scale. Seeing herself as a matchmaker, Cher first coaxes two teachers into dating each other. Emboldened by her success, she decides to give hopelessly klutzy new student Tai a makeover. When Tai becomes more popular than she is, Cher realizes that her disapproving ex-stepbrother was right about how misguided she was -- and falls for him.
- 02
Easy A
Emma Stone shines in this sharp satire about the power of rumors and the absurdity of high school reputations.
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 becoming concerned, including her favorite teacher and the distracted guidance counselor. With the support of her hilariously idiosyncratic parents and a little help from a long-time crush, Olive attempts to take on her notorious new identity and crush the rumor mill once and for all.
- 03
Do Revenge
A neon-soaked modern tribute to the genre that follows two outcasts teaming up to take down their bullies.
A dethroned queen bee at a posh private high school strikes a secret deal with an unassuming new student to enact revenge on one another’s enemies.
- 04
Heathers
The dark, cynical blueprint for the teen clique movie, featuring a lethal battle for social supremacy.
A girl who halfheartedly tries to be part of the "in crowd" of her school meets a rebel who teaches her a more devious way to play social politics: by killing the popular kids.
- 05
Bring It On
A high-energy look at the competitive world of cheerleading and the friction between rival social groups.
The Toro cheerleading squad from Rancho Carne High School in San Diego has got spirit, spunk, sass and a killer routine that's sure to land them the national championship trophy for the sixth year in a row. But for newly-elected team captain Torrance, the Toros' road to total cheer glory takes a shady turn when she discovers that their perfectly-choreographed routines were in fact stolen.
- 06
Jawbreaker
A candy-colored, dark comedy about a popular clique trying to cover up a birthday prank gone wrong.
When an exclusive clique of teenage socialites accidentally murder their best friend on the morning of her birthday, the three girls responsible conspire to hide the truth.
- 07
Booksmart
A fresh and hilarious take on female friendship and the realization that there’s more to school than grades.
Two academic teenage superstars realize, on the eve of their high school graduation, that they should have worked less and played more. Determined to never fall short of their peers, the girls set out on a mission to cram four years of fun into one night.
- 08
Legally Blonde
An optimistic comedy that subverts stereotypes as a fashionable sorority star takes on Harvard Law.
Fashionable sorority queen Elle Woods has it all, but, she wants nothing more than to be Mrs. Warner Huntington III. But he dumps her before heading to Harvard Law School. Elle rallies all of her resources and gets into Harvard, determined to win him back. While there, she figures out that there is more to herself than just good looks.
- 09
Bottoms
An absurdist and chaotic satire that flips high school tropes on their head with a fight club for outcasts.
Unpopular best friends PJ and Josie start a high school self-defense club to meet girls and lose their virginity. They soon find themselves in over their heads when the most popular students start beating each other up in the name of self-defense.
- 10
G.B.F.
A clever critique of social trends focusing on three clique leaders fighting over the school's newest accessory.
The bitter fight for supremacy between the three most popular girls at North Gateway High takes an unexpected turn when their classmate, Tanner, is outed and becomes the school’s first openly gay student. The trio races to bag the big trend in fashion accessories, the Gay Best Friend, while Tanner must decide whether his skyrocketing popularity is more important than the friendships he is leaving behind.