19 Nineties Movies That WIll Render You ‘Clueless’

PSA: These are not objectively phenomenal movies that will change your life (although they definitely shook mine to the core). They are very quirky. They are very nineties. They are sometimes cringy. And they definitely follow the angsty teen trend. American Beauty aside, they are mostly underrated or unheard of. So grab your popcorn, get ready to illegally download (joking of course) and let’s educate ourselves on the wonderful world of the nineties.

1. American Beauty

“There’s nothing worse in life than being ordinary.”

And this is exactly what Lester Burnham proves in the poignant retelling of his last year in Suburbia; his last year, that is, of life. The first scene unfolds onto the minute details of his depressive daily rota. It pans out onto his anal wife along with the cherry on top- the feminine angst brewing within his teen daughter and the girl Lester falls in lust with, her best friend Angela Hughes. While we are teased with the flames of many an affair, what has the potential to be a moment of corruption ends in the preservation of Angela’s purity (rose petals and all). This is because, although Kevin Spacey’s creepy character hasn’t aged well, the story is ultimately not about an inappropriate Lolita relationship or the mundane reality of how boring even the most perfect, cookie cutter American life can become. It is not solely about a mid life existential crisis, but rather the ebb and flow of the characters’ self worth. The perversity and darkness twisted around the heart of their seemingly Utopian neighbourhood only brings light to Spacey’s enigmatic portrayal of one man’s resistance, rebellion and victory. The ending may be one of death but the cynicism, realism and parody, married to Hall’s exhilarating cinematography, make the audience’s journey one of life and, ultimately, beauty. Although modern critics have settled on unanimous hatred for its sometimes cheesy and creepy nineties dialogue, it we can’t deny that it made waves when it was first released.

2. Girl, Interrupted

“I’m playing the villain baby, just like you want”.

A baby Angelina Jolie, Winona Rider and Brittany Murphy go head to head in this rocky exploration of mental health in 1967. Like American Beauty, it seeks to prompt you to question your perception of the world; this time in terms of psychology. The audience is not only occupied by the drama of the narration but is forced to realise what the tragedy of a stigmatised life consists of. The actresses are immersed in their roles so completely that it is almost impossible not to go a little crazy as you helplessly watch each scene unfold. But, truly, “the only way to stay sane is to go a little crazy.”

3. Jawbreaker

“Never send a rose unless dyed black as a warning. And if one is sent to you, destroy it along with the sender. Emotionally of course. It’s not like we kill people…on purpose”

The original, edgier version of Mean Girls. Courtney and her crew are like Satan in heels. They mean well, of course, what with the cruel politics of high school and all. But even the sweetest candies can be sour inside, or so it seems after a birthday prank ends in the death of Liz Purr (the resident teen dream). Tragedy ensues and everything becomes not so “peachy (fucking) keen”. Murder, sex, revenge and a quarry of fruitful quotes to pluck from are only a portion of what makes this movie indisputably iconic.

4. The Virgin Suicides

“What we have here is a dreamer. Someone completely out of touch with reality.”

Based on probably one of my favourite teen books, Coppola’s adaptation evokes a magical, almost ethereal atmosphere within the surprisingly curious world of the middle class American suburbs. She adapts Eugenides’ tender writing to capture the morbidity, cynicism and lust entwined in the long arms of adolescence. The unique visuals, camera angles and captivating use of light only harmonise with Air’s ethereal soundtrack, particularly the song ‘Playground Love.’ One word: aesthetic. Five words: “Peach schnapps, babes love it.”

5. Stealing Beauty

Liv Tyler’s idealised ‘virgin’ beauty and the soothing edge of Tuscany’s rolling hills seduce the audience into a story of summer. The bourgeoisie, the aesthetes and the dilettantes flirt with the fruit of their pretentiousness to engorge in the languid hedonism which a 19 year old American girl next door has yet to relate to.

6. Buffalo 66

This movie is anything but conventional- Gallo’s performance is eccentric in its urgency and his ambiguous aura collides with Ricci’s vibrant delicacy. Falling in love with her pitiful and refreshingly ‘innocent’ kidnapper, she pretends to be his wife amidst the chaos of a cinematic masterpiece. The imagery astounds while the powerful dialogue is minimal. The only consistent thing that strikes the eye – Layla’s baby blue eye shadow and that baby doll dress.

7. The Dreamers

It’s not technically a nineties movie (2003) but it deserves an honorary mention due to the overall vibes (and the fact that it’s set in the late 60s). Admittedly, some of the vibes in this movie can be weird; both explicitly and implicitly weird. It’s definitely not one to watch with the parents, to say the least. But that’s only more reason to watch it at all. Coloured with naivety and dark humour, three beautiful rebels in Paris revel in their youth and ‘radically’ political musings. They reference/re-enact classic films and even run through the Louvre. Was Tumblr made for this movie or was this movie made for Tumblr?

8. Heathers

“What’s your damage Heather…… Do I look like mother Teresa? … Let’s go get a slushie”

If you haven’t seen Heathers, what rock do you live under? Cliché but true, this is practically the cultural FOUNDATION for the ‘evil popular girls vs the outsider’ trope. It’s set in high school except the cool new trend isn’t a new handbag, wearing pink on Wednesdays or getting booty implants; it’s killing yourself. Or so it would seem. It’s a black comedy at it’s finest and it isn’t apologetic about it. Revenge starts slow but ends up with a body count- and Veronica’s teen angst bullshit is the weapon of choice. Also… it’s eighties instead of nineties but let’s just turn a blind eye (or two) one last time.

9. Pleasantville

This movie masquerades as a light-hearted sit com but it actually tries to be kind of deep. Two modern teens are trapped in a black and white world that is indoctrinated with the all-American values of the fifties; everything appears Edenic. Picture perfect. However, colour creeps into the darkness and their alternate universe expands into more than just a street lined with white picket fences and a school yard. As freedom, art, creativity, lust and love intoxicate society’s minds, the ‘pleasantness’ is challenged; the ‘conservatives’ who oppose it burn pages of no longer empty books, smash stained glass windows and ostracise the now ‘coloured’ people in a way clearly symbolic of both fascism and the Jim Crow era. The film is “a fable about the conflict between the free-thinking liberal heirs of the Sixties and the right-wing adherents of religious fundamentalism who wish to restore an innocent prelapsarian America that never really existed” (The Guardian). The ‘fortunate fall’ (felix culpa) has never been so nineties.

10. Poison Ivy

Guilty pleasure at its finest, Ivy is death in succubus form. The film begins by portraying the dysfunctional dynamic between a tom boyish introvert and a femme fatale willing to worm her way into a rich family by means of seduction and murder. There are brinks of light moments but, at its core, every Poison Ivy movie (there are three) ends as a psychological thriller. The complex antagonist is never straight-forwardly the bad guy; she is sly, sultry and deliciously wicked.

11. Empire Records