50 Most Troubled Teens
Agitated adolescents with growing pains
Jennifer's Body (2009)
The Teen: Jennifer Check (Megan Fox).
The Trouble: Jennifer is killed in a ritual sacrifice by Satanic band Low Shoulder. However, she wasn't a virgin and instead of dying is transformed into a succubus with an insatiable taste for human flesh.
How Is It Resolved? Jennifer is killed by best friend Needy using a pair of box cutters, but not before she bites Needy, thereby passing on some of her powers.
Sample Quote: "God, Do you have to undermine everything I do? You are such a player hater."
Rumble Fish (1983)
The Teen: Rusty James (Matt Dillon).
The Trouble: Wannabe bad boy who idolises older brother The Motorcycle Boy and is determined to get a reputation for himself in the latter's absence.
How Is It Resolved? The Motorcycle Boy returns to impart some hard-earned wisdom; when he is fatally shot by police, Rusty leaves town for a better life.
Sign up for the Total Film Newsletter
Bringing all the latest movie news, features, and reviews to your inbox
Sample Quote: "How can you tell if someone is crazy?"
River's Edge (1986)
The Teen: Samson 'John' Tollet (Daniel Roebuck).
The Trouble: Amoral no-hoper who kills his girlfriend and idly boasts about it to his equally listless friends, none of whom is in any hurry to report him.
How Is It Resolved? John is shot by local weirdo and 1960s casualty Feck, who knows from experience that a life in hiding isn't worth living.
Sample Quote: "I killed her."
Cruel Intentions (1999)
The Teen: Kathryn Merteuil (Sarah Michelle Gellar).
The Trouble: This posh sadist is so bored she makes a pact with step-brother Sebastian - if he can successfully seduce the virtuous Annette, she'll let him put it anywhere; if he fails, she gets his car.
How Is It Resolved? Sebastian falls in love with Annette and the jealous Kathryn tries to destroy their reputations. Instead, Sebastian dies and Kathryn's role in proceedings is made public, leaving her disgraced and heartbroken.
Sample Quote: "Everybody loves me, and I intend to keep it that way."
Brick (2005)
The Teen: Brendan Frye (Joseph Gordon-Levitt).
The Trouble: Brendan has to turn sleuth when his ex-girlfriend Emily is found murdered, leading him into a labyrinthine plot involving local drug dealer The Pin and the titular brick (of heroin).
How Is It Resolved? All of the criminals are killed or caught, except femme fatale Laura, who absconds with a missing brick after telling Brendan that Emily died while pregnant with his child.
Sample Quote: "I've got all five senses and I slept last night, that puts me six up on the lot of you."
Bill And Ted's Excellent Adventure (1989)
The Teens: Bill S. Preston, Esq. (Alex Winter) and Ted "Theodore" Logan (Keanu Reeves).
The Trouble: Bill and Ted are about to flunk history, which will see the two separated because Ted's dad will send him to military school.
How Is It Resolved? Fortunately for Bill and Ted, they are the future saviours of mankind, so time agent Rufus travels back to San Dimas (and further, to Napoleonic France, Ancient Greece and several other places) to ensure they pass the test.
Sample Quote: "Please welcome, for the final report of the afternoon, from all throughout history, some of the greatest leaders who have ever lived, in their 1988 World Tour!"
kids (1995)
The Teen: Telly (Leo Fitzpatrick).
The Trouble: Alpha-male whose entire life is defined by having sex. While he is now exclusively committed to deflowering virgins, that's too late for Telly as he's already contracted HIV.
How Is It Resolved? Ex-partner Jennie attempts to track him down to tell him of his illness, but is too late to stop him spreading the virus to several other girls before he begins to develop lesions.
Sample Quote: "Fucking is what I love. Take that away from me and I really got nothing."
The Blackboard Jungle (1955)
The Teen: Gregory Miller (Sidney Poitier).
The Trouble: Discontented inner-city kid wrongly pinpointed by new teacher Richard Dadier as the ringleader behind the class' anti-social tendencies.
How Is It Resolved? The real culprit is caught, and Dadier convinces Miller that it is worth him staying in school.
Sample Quote: "You wanna gang fight? You wanna start a rumble? Come on , boy, just make a move."
Running On Empty (1988)
The Teen: Danny Pope (River Phoenix).
The Trouble: Danny suffers from a stop-start life because his parents are lifelong fugitives after they accidentally killed a man during their anti-war activist days.
How Is It Resolved? After Danny falls in love and is put forward for Julliard, his parents realise they can't keep dragging him after them and move to their next home without him.
Sample Quote: "Aren't we supposed to question authority? You taught me that! Who do you think you are, General Patton?"
Easy A (2010)
The Teen: Olive Penderghast (Emma Stone).
The Trouble: When a white lie backfires, Olive is accused of being the school slut.
How Is It Resolved? Olive uses her notoriety to her advantage by letting the school's geeks pay her to say she's slept with them.
Sample Quote: "The rumours of my promiscuity have been greatly exaggerated."