When it comes to movies about teen problems, 1985's "The Breakfast Club" is the genre's seminal picture. Written and directed by John Hughes, this film deals with a geek, a jock, a bad boy, a pretty girl and a loner faced with a day in detention. They discover that the problems they face with parents and peer pressure are more similar than they thought and they form an unlikely friendship.
"Juno" deals with the issue of teen pregnancy. Written by Diablo Cody and directed by Jason Reitman, this film centers around a precocious teen burdened with an unplanned pregnancy as she wades through the adoption of her child and an inappropriate relationship with an older man.
High school is never easy, and the girls of "Mean Girls" prove that to be true through their torment of their classmates. This film, written by former SNL star Tina Fey, deals with the issue of peer pressure and the constant struggle to be popular as a group of mean girls dubbed "The Plastics" takes a new girl under its wing.
Another John Hughes film, "Sixteen Candles" deals with an awkward high school sophomore as she suffers the worst 16th birthday ever, one that her entire family has forgotten because of her sister's impending wedding. As she moves through the day, an embarrassing "sex quiz" confessing her virginity and love for a popular classmate falls into the wrong hands.
Written and directed by Sofia Coppola, "The Virgin Suicides" deals with the lives of five sisters and their overprotective parents. Over the course of the film, the girls experience sex, drugs and the suicide of one of their own.
Co-written by Nikki Reed, "Thirteen" is the autobiographical story of Reed's life as a 13-year-old. Tracy, an honors student, is dealing with the divorce of her parents when she meets Evie, and the two quickly become best friends. Tracy is then corrupted by Evie into a life of shoplifting, drugs and sex as she rebels against her mother's control.
In some parts of the country, football is life and the only escape from the mundane. Such is the case with the teens from "Varsity Blues." Overbearing parents force their kids to excel in the sport while they deal with typical teen issues of popularity, drugs and sex.