Five nostalgic 2000s movies to feel like a teenager again

Recently, I decided to take a trip down memory lane and watch my favourite movies from the early 2000s. 

As someone who was born in 2002, I remember coming home from school and spending hours watching some of these movies on the TV. 

Here are five teen movies to reminisce about the good old days! 

This romantic comedy is centered around the protagonist, Jenna Rick (played by Christa B. Allen) who made a wish on her 13th birthday to become an adult version of herself. 

Her wish came true and she was transformed into her 30-year-old self (played by Jennifer Garner). But Jenna would soon realise that adulthood has its own sets of challenges and would learn how to appreciate being a teenager. 

As we’re all getting older, I found the movie relatable for many my age as it explores the challenges of adulthood and appreciating the perks of being a teenager. The movie also teaches us that accepting our past mistakes is what makes us stronger and wiser.

Another iconic Disney movie that you might be familiar with is Freaky Friday. 

The movie focuses on a widowed mother, Tess Coleman (played by Jamie Lee Curtis), and her daughter Anna Coleman (played by Lindsay Lohan) who cannot see eye-to-eye because of their wide generation gap. 

After receiving fortune cookies from their favourite Chinese restaurant, they discovered that they had switched bodies the next day. While figuring out how to switch back to their normal selves, both mother and daughter learn how to reconnect and understand each other instead. 

This movie showed how Tess and Anna learnt how to accept their differences through their hilarious dialogue and one-liners. While we may not always see eye-to-eye with our mothers or loved ones, we need to remind ourselves to be understanding of each other regardless of our differences.  

This comedic movie is about 18-year-old Jess Bhamra (played by Parminder Nagra) who grew up in a strict and traditional Indian household in London. Jess has a passion for football and wishes to pursue the sport professionally as a career.

However, her parents have different plans as they want her to settle down through an arranged marriage, leaving her in a dilemma between ‘bending’ her family rules or choosing her beloved sport. 

With its representation of Indian culture and an Asian lead, the film is a relatable piece that highlights Jess’s experiences and her struggles as a young adult facing a culture clash.

Based on Twelfth Night by Shakespeare, this film is about Viola Johnson (played by Amanda Bynes), a high school football player at Cornwall who learns that the girls’ football team is being cut. 

After her proposal to join the boy’s team at Cornwall was rejected, Viola disguises as her brother to play for the rival football team, Illyria, in hopes to prove her coach wrong and beat Cornwall.

The empowering movie breaks the stereotype that girls should not play soccer as they are less masculine than boys. Amanda Bynes portrayal of a likeable character like Viola also makes the movie a fun and enjoyable watch if you are looking for a 2000s feminist film to revisit.

The iconic Mean Girls flick is a film that doesn’t need much introduction. Actress Lindsay Lohan stars as Cady, a teenager who moves to an American high school after being homeschooled in Africa.

She gets stuck in a popularity game after meeting the Plastics, which consists of the three most popular girls in school – Regina George (played by Rachel McAdams), Gretchen Weiners (played by Lacey Chabert), and Karen Smith (played by Amanda Seyfried).

One of the key elements from this movie is their iconic catchphrases that remain widely referenced today, such as “On Wednesdays we wear pink!” and “That’s so fetch!”  

The classic teen flick also defined the fashion trends of the early 2000s with its characters sporting mini handbags and “pink-on-pink” outfits, just to name a few. Its iconic Y2K (year 2000) style is even making its appearance in recent fashion trends online.

These coming-of-age movies never fail to bring so much joy and nostalgia no matter how many times I’ve rewatched them. Get ready for a nostalgic movie marathon and share with us what are some of your favourite 2000s movies, enjoy!