These 30+ Movies Like ‘Superbad’ Will Have You Laughing For Days
ROFLing, LOLing, LMAOing, you get It.
Every generation has a special bond with the high school films that came out when they were in high school. For some, rom-coms like 10 Things I Hate Abou You and Clueless are the epitome of filmmaking. For others, it’s raunchy comedies like American Pie. But even if it had been ages since you attended your senior prom, there’s a good chance you’ve seen the 2007 comedy Superbad — if not in the theaters, then at least at some point since, after your friends wouldn’t stop quoting it and you didn’t want to feel left out. If nothing else, you needed to find out who this McLovin person was.
If you ended up enjoying this coming-of-age buddy comedy, then you may be interested in seeing other films like it featuring teens and young adults and their antics. Fortunately, there are plenty to pick from. Here are our favorite movies like Superbad you’re going to want to watch next.
Movies Like Superbad
Old School (2003)
First, there was the Brat Pack, and then came the Frat Pack, and 2003’s Old School features some of the most popular actors in the bunch, including Will Ferrell, Vince Vaughn, and Luke Wilson. Basically, the main characters live out our dream of going back to a college lifestyle (minus the academic work) in our 30s, and obviously, hilarity ensues. Memorable quotes and phrases from Old School include, “You’re my boy, Blue,” “trust tree nest,” and “earmuffs.”
Mean Girls (2004)
In case you haven’t noticed, a lot of these coming-of-age high school comedies feature predominantly male characters, but as it turns out, teenage girls are also a source of comedy and drama (who would have guessed?). And few movies have captured this part of the adolescent experience like Mean Girls, written by none other than Tina Fey. It’s part social commentary, part over-the-top comedy, and the fact that we’re still talking about it almost 20 years later (and there’s a Broadway musical version) means they did something right.
The 40-Year-Old Virgin (2005)
Steve Carrel is such a pop-culture staple at this point, it’s hard to think back to a time before he was best known as Dunder Mifflin (and, according to his mug, “World’s Best”) boss, Michael Scott. (Technically, the first six-episode season of The Office had aired, but hadn’t yet gained its massive following.) But he was the perfect person to place the fresh-faced, but sexually inexperienced titular virgin. Technically, the characters are a bit older than the ones in Superbad, but Carrel brings a childlike innocence to the project — and a lot of laughs.
Knocked Up (2007)
This one’s a no-brainer, given that, like Superbad, it has Seth Rogen and Judd Apatow’s fingerprints all over it. It’s the same type of (stoner) humor, and, like most of Rogen and Apatow’s movies, involve a schlubby loser guy ending up with an amazing (and obviously stunning) woman.
Can’t Hardly Wait (1998)
The last few years of the ’90s produced a relatively steady stream of teen comedies, but somehow, they feel like they’re from a different era, compared to the Apatow films of the early 2000s. Can’t Hardly Wait features an ensemble cast of Ethan Embry, Charlie Korsmo, Lauren Ambrose, Peter Facinelli, Seth Green, Jennifer Love Hewitt, and Joel Michaely at a high school graduation party where students from all social groups mix and mingle.
10 Things I Hate About You (1999)
Yes, 10 Things I Hate About You is funny. And yes, there’s the whole modern Shakespearean thing going on, but this one’s got a lot of heart — especially when it comes to Heath Ledger’s performance. It’d be great if Julia Stiles’ character could be a badass feminist without all the stereotypes about being angry and uptight, but the movie is a product of its time.
More Young Adult Movies Like Superbad
- American Pie (1999)
- The Hangover (2009)
- Role Models (2008)
- The Sitter (2011)
- Hot Tub Time Machine (2010)
- The To Do List (2013)
- Forgetting Sarah Marshall (2008)
- Get Him to the Greek (2010)
- Blockers (2018)
- Pineapple Express (2008)
- Neighbors (2014)
- Easy A (2010)
- Dazed and Confused (1993)
- Road Trip (2000)
- Ferris Bueller’s Day Off (1986)
- This Is the End (2013)
- Booksmart (2019)
- Not Another Teen Movie (2001)
- Premature (2014)
- Fast Times at Ridgemont High (1982)
- Foreign Exchange (2008)
- The Last American Virgin (1982)
- I Love You, Beth Cooper (2009)
- Valley Girl (1983)
- Napoleon Dynamite (2004)
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