The Essential College Back-to-School Movies
Summer is over once again, and to ring in the new season–and our new members–The Moviegoer lists the best and most iconic college films (with special emphasis paid to the ones that are about the back to school season). The following fifteen movies are in no particular order.
Pitch Perfect (2012)
Like Penn students, the Pitch Perfect universe understands that extracurriculars should be everything. So when Beca, a student determined to not be involved, arrives at Barden University, she is immediately flung into the world of collegiate a cappella and thus finds herself having a Riff-Off with a group of strangers in an empty swimming pool and eventually risking her dignity for competitive a cappella. The campus rivalries and bizarre traditions paired with an incredible soundtrack make no-instrument singing feel that deep. Their inability to treat singing like a normal hobby paints an oddly accurate picture of what it feels like getting sucked into college club culture.
Pitch Perfect shows that community can be found in the most unexpected places; the chaos is necessary for bonding and for Beca’s journey of finding her people. It’s a lesson for incoming undergraduates to say yes to things they may not have thought about participating in, and most importantly, it is a hilarious watch that will leave many a tune stuck in your head for the days to come.
Back to School (1986)
This iconic, fast-paced comedy is an essential back-to-school watch that shows all the wild energy of campus life through Rodney Dangerfield's humor. Grab some popcorn and watch as a self-made millionaire father enrolls alongside his son to deliver nonstop laughter and heartfelt life lessons.
Good Will Hunting (1997)
Good Will Hunting is possibly the perfect college film. Even if you aren’t into the lovely, whispery melodies of Elliott Smith or the inherent charm of a young Matt Damon, the earnest message about love and intelligence will set an inspirational tone for your fall semester
Legally Blonde (2001)
Despite not taking place during college, Legally Blonde makes back to school seem all the more lighthearted and empowering. Elle Woods’ perseverance and positivity despite being labeled as an unconventional student in Harvard Law School can make anyone feel ready to take on another school year, no matter the challenges. Plus, it's a very funny watch with lots of sharp jokes about higher education culture!
The Graduate (1967)
Mike Nichols’s The Graduate captures the yellow-orange Septembers of the back-to-school season through beautiful cinematography and a mellow soundtrack courtesy of Simon and Garfunkel. You’d be hard-pressed to find a film that better expresses the hazy soul-searching of your early 20s. Plus, there are monkeys
The Social Network (2010)
The Social Network’s prestige as a film in general has tended to overshadow its brilliance as a college film. Fincher and Sorkin show the ambition that each student at an Ivy League school (Harvard) would possess as Eisenberg’s Zuckerberg only really creates Facebook to get back at a girl and simultaneously get into a frat (the Phoenix Club). We are able to very clearly see the importance of social hierarchies and the danger of becoming obsessed and stopping at nothing to be the best in your class–as the film is full of betrayals, successes, and failures. The Social Network asks the question: “sure, you can win, but at what cost?” The film itself is, in a word, incredible, with everything from pacing to dialogue to acting to score being picture perfect, and it will undoubtedly go down as one of the best movies in the 21st Century
Rudy (1993)
Not all college movies are about classes. Rudy is the definitive college football film; if you cut it, it would bleed the blue and gold of Notre Dame. Like many great sports films, Rudy is an underdog story, but it’s so skillfully observed and emphatically performed that you won’t notice the tropiness.
Monsters University (2013)
Monsters University is not too different from Penn. There is the sensory overload of Penn’s NSO, where surviving club apps and your first midterm feels like a Scaring School final and your random roommate might actually be a monster. Beneath the gothic architecture, it’s a brilliant, Pixar-ified remix of Animal House that nails the chaotic pressure of finding your people amidst rigid campus hierarchies. Most importantly, it delivers a shockingly mature reality check for the many overachieving freshmen here: maximum effort won’t always guarantee your exact dream path, but the unexpected pivots and out-of-class synergies you forge along the way are exactly where you belong.
Love Story (1970)
Love Story, directed by Arthur Hiller, is a romantic drama starring Ryan O’Neal as Oliver and Ali McGraw as Jennifer, telling the story of two Harvard students from different social classes falling in love and facing tragedy and hardship. The movie coined the saying, “love means never having to say you’re sorry”, and was nominated for multiple academy awards including Best Picture.
Black Christmas (1974)
Black Christmas is a classic college horror movie that turns a sorority house into a site of mayhem when a group of sorority sisters start getting mysterious calls on Christmas Eve. With its college setting, unique characters, and gripping suspense it is a great watch for anybody who likes their back to school movies with a little horror mixed in.
Whiplash (2014)
Have you wondered how far one will go for the sake of ambition? If so, Whiplash is the film with just the right tempo for you. An intense film about the desire and price for perfection following a jazz freshman drummer pushed to his limits by his instructor
Animal House (1978)
If there is only one truly essential college movie, it’s probably Animal House. Despite taking place in the 1960s (the days when the SNL performers at the heart of this picture were themselves undergraduates), the antics depicted in the film are more-or-less unchanged from fraternity conduct today. It’s crass, episodic, and riotously funny. One need only look to its myriad imitations to see the long influence of this comedy classic.
22 Jump Street (2014)
22 Jump Street is how to do a sequel right. It has all the electricity of the first Jump Street (minus Dave Franco), but this time, in college! — where the stakes are higher, the parties are crazier, and the romance subplots are slightly less creepy. From orientation to spring break, Jonah Hill and Channing Tatum prove that college is a learning experience for everyone, even narcs.
Everybody Wants Some!! (2016)
NSO: the movie. It’s the ‘80s in Texas, and for these college baseball players, the first day of classes is one week away. Until then, they’re grooving in the car to Rapper’s Delight, “educating” the new freshmen, and smoking weed next to their Pink Floyd poster. Richard Linklater’s Everybody Wants Some!! is a hangout movie through and through, with great camaraderie, music, and energy all throughout. It doesn’t get more “back to school” than this.
After the Hunt (2025)
After the Hunt is one of the most perplexing movies to come out in 2025 and is spiritually similar to Eddington or One Battle (bear with me), in how it pokes fun at present day's obsession with the performance of good morals. The movie really has nothing to say about cancel culture and MeToo, but uses the aesthetic performance of good will politics to poke fun at the audience--at us. Don't take it so seriously and you'll discover that the acting is actually really fantastic. Andrew Garfield genuinely puts on an Oscar worthy performance. Luca brings a compelling palette of visual motifs–the obsession that this movie has with hands is ridiculous–and heavy queer undertones with its discussions of social performance. This movie is camp! Oh Luca, how the people misunderstand you.
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