Is “The Breakfast Club” the Best High School Movie of All Time?

It’s officially back-to-school season, and what better way to celebrate than by ranking the movies that made us all wish detention was a little more fun? “Entertainment Weekly“ just dropped a ranking of the 50 Best High School Movies of All Time, and topping the honor roll is none other than “The Breakfast Club” (1985).

The iconic John Hughes classic, famous for locking five teens from completely different cliques in a Saturday detention, beat out stiff competition for the top spot.

Coming in second was “Fast Times at Ridgemont High” (1982), the film that gave us Spicoli, Phoebe Cates, and endless surf-bro wisdom.

Third place went to Richard Linklater’s cult favorite “Dazed and Confused” (1993), which immortalized the phrase “Alright, alright, alright.”

Here’s how the rest of the Top 15 shaped up:

4. “Rebel Without a Cause” (1955)
5. “Heathers” (1989)
6. “American Graffiti” (1973)
7. “Clueless” (1995)
8. “Sixteen Candles” (1984)
9. “Election” (1999)
10. “Ferris Bueller’s Day Off” (1986)
11. “Say Anything” (1989)
12. “Mean Girls” (2004)
13. “High School” (1968)
14. “Easy A” (2010)
15. “Carrie” (1976)

The list is basically a crash course in teen angst, cafeteria politics, and questionable prom night decisions. What’s interesting is the range: from James Dean’s brooding in the 1950s to Emma Stone’s razor-sharp wit in “Easy A”, the ranking shows just how much the high school experience has been reinterpreted on screen.

For anyone who’s ever argued about whether “Clueless” or “Mean Girls” is the superior queen bee comedy, or debated if Ferris Bueller is actually a hero or just a world-class slacker, this list has plenty of fuel for conversation. And if you’re a completist, you’ve now got a 50-movie marathon ahead of you.