Prep School
by andiesula | created - 10 Dec 2013 | updated - 27 Jun 2020 | PublicThe best and/or most fun films about prep school/boarding school life.
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1. Dead Poets Society (1989)
PG | 128 min | Comedy, Drama
Maverick teacher John Keating returns in 1959 to the prestigious New England boys' boarding school where he was once a star student, using poetry to embolden his pupils to new heights of self-expression.
Director: Peter Weir | Stars: Robin Williams, Robert Sean Leonard, Ethan Hawke, Josh Charles
Votes: 542,602 | Gross: $95.86M
2. The History Boys (2006)
R | 109 min | Comedy, Drama, Romance
An unruly class of gifted and charming teenage boys are taught by two eccentric and innovative teachers, as their headmaster pushes for them all to get accepted into Oxford or Cambridge.
Director: Nicholas Hytner | Stars: Richard Griffiths, Frances de la Tour, Clive Merrison, Samuel Anderson
Votes: 21,386 | Gross: $2.71M
3. NYC Prep (2009)
TV-14 | 44 min | Reality-TV
A reality television program featuring wealthy Manhattan prep students. It showcases their social life and aspiring dreams.
Stars: Peter Cary Peterson, Sebastian Oppenheim, Camille, Kelli
Votes: 127
4. Gossip Girl (2007–2012)
TV-14 | 42 min | Drama, Romance
Privileged teens living on the Upper East Side of New York can hide no secret from the ruthless blogger who is always watching.
Stars: Blake Lively, Leighton Meester, Penn Badgley, Ed Westwick
Votes: 192,405
5. Crooked Arrows (2012)
PG-13 | 105 min | Drama, Sport
A story centered on a Native American lacrosse team making its way through a prep school league tournament.
Director: Steve Rash | Stars: Brandon Routh, Gil Birmingham, Crystal Allen, Chelsea Ricketts
Votes: 2,090 | Gross: $1.83M
6. Private (2009– )
Not Rated | 91 min | Drama, Thriller
From the executive producers of Gossip Girl and The Vampire Diaries comes PRIVATE, a thrilling mystery based on the New York Times best-selling novels by Kate Brian. Reed Brennan can't ... See full summary »
Stars: Kelsey Sanders, Cameron West, Natalie Floyd, Samantha Cope
Votes: 191
7. Ja'mie: Private School Girl (2013)
TV-MA | 30 min | Comedy
Ja'mie: Private School Girl follows the eponymous school captain during the last few months of school, far removed from the grounds of Summer Heights High and back on the lush manicured lawns of Hillford Girls Grammar School.
Stars: Chris Lilley, Georgie Jennings, Georgia Treu, Laura Grady
Votes: 4,560
8. School Ties (1992)
PG-13 | 106 min | Drama
In 1959, a star quarterback from a working-class family is given an opportunity to attend an elite New England preparatory school, but he is conflicted about whether or not to tell his Evangelical classmates that he is Jewish.
Director: Robert Mandel | Stars: Brendan Fraser, Matt Damon, Chris O'Donnell, Randall Batinkoff
Votes: 27,331 | Gross: $14.72M
9. The Emperor's Club (2002)
PG-13 | 109 min | Drama
An idealistic prep school teacher attempts to redeem an incorrigible student.
Director: Michael Hoffman | Stars: Kevin Kline, Emile Hirsch, Joel Gretsch, Embeth Davidtz
Votes: 17,845 | Gross: $14.06M
10. Charlie Bartlett (2007)
R | 97 min | Comedy, Drama, Romance
A rich kid becomes the self-appointed psychiatrist to the student body of his new high school.
Director: Jon Poll | Stars: Anton Yelchin, Robert Downey Jr., Hope Davis, Kat Dennings
Votes: 66,607 | Gross: $3.95M
11. Prep School (2015)
Not Rated | 85 min | Drama, Mystery, Sport
When the star player of an elite prep school rugby team suffers an emotional collapse, his friends and teammates respond in their own ways, ranging from heroic to horrifying.
Director: Sean Nichols Lynch | Stars: Carly Schroeder, Taylor Lambert, Ben Bellamy, Austin Scott
Votes: 563
12. Goats (2012)
R | 94 min | Comedy
As Ellis prepares to leave Tucson for his freshman year at an East Coast prep school, he also faces separating from his flaky, new age mother and the only real father he has ever known: Goat Man.
Director: Christopher Neil | Stars: David Duchovny, Vera Farmiga, Graham Phillips, Justin Kirk
Votes: 5,390
13. Wild Child (2008)
PG-13 | 98 min | Comedy
A rebellious Malibu princess is shipped off to a strict English boarding school by her father.
Director: Nick Moore | Stars: Emma Roberts, Aidan Quinn, Natasha Richardson, Lexi Ainsworth
Votes: 63,735 | Gross: $0.02M
14. Admission (2013)
PG-13 | 107 min | Comedy, Drama, Romance
A Princeton admissions officer who is up for a major promotion takes a professional risk after she meets a college-bound alternative school kid who just might be the son she gave up years ago in a secret adoption.
Director: Paul Weitz | Stars: Tina Fey, Paul Rudd, Nat Wolff, Gloria Reuben
Votes: 36,113 | Gross: $18.00M
15. Privileged (2008–2009)
TV-14 | 45 min | Comedy
A Yale-educated journalism major reluctantly becomes a live-in tutor for two spoiled granddaughters of a Palm Beach cosmetics business magnate.
Stars: JoAnna Garcia Swisher, Lucy Hale, Ashley Newbrough, Allan Louis
Votes: 4,249
16. She's the Man (2006)
PG-13 | 105 min | Comedy, Romance, Sport
When her brother decides to ditch for a couple weeks, Viola heads over to his elite boarding school, disguised as him, and proceeds to fall for his school's star soccer player, and soon learns she's not the only one with romantic troubles.
Director: Andy Fickman | Stars: Amanda Bynes, Laura Ramsey, Channing Tatum, Vinnie Jones
Votes: 175,034 | Gross: $2.34M
17. Strike! (1998)
PG-13 | 97 min | Comedy
In the 1960s, a group of friends at an all girls school learn that their school is going to be combined with a nearby all boys school. They concoct a plan to save their school while dealing with everyday problems along the way.
Director: Sarah Kernochan | Stars: Kirsten Dunst, Lynn Redgrave, Gaby Hoffmann, Rachael Leigh Cook
Votes: 7,569 | Gross: $0.97M
18. Rushmore (1998)
R | 93 min | Comedy, Drama, Romance
A teenager at Rushmore Academy falls for a much older teacher and befriends a middle-aged industrialist. Later, he finds out that his love interest and his friend are having an affair, which prompts him to begin a vendetta.
Director: Wes Anderson | Stars: Jason Schwartzman, Bill Murray, Olivia Williams, Seymour Cassel
Votes: 197,505 | Gross: $17.11M
19. The Treatment (2006)
Not Rated | 86 min | Comedy, Drama, Romance
Jake Singer is at loose ends in New York City, and neck deep in psychoanalysis with the outrageous Dr. Morales, when he meets the enigmatic and beautiful widow Allegra Marshall.
Director: Oren Rudavsky | Stars: Chris Eigeman, Ian Holm, Famke Janssen, Stephanie March
Votes: 1,142 | Gross: $0.08M
20. Saved! (2004)
PG-13 | 92 min | Comedy, Drama
When a girl attending a Christian high school becomes pregnant, all of her former friends turn on her and she is ostracized and demonized.
Director: Brian Dannelly | Stars: Jena Malone, Mandy Moore, Macaulay Culkin, Patrick Fugit
Votes: 48,869 | Gross: $8.94M
21. Igby Goes Down (2002)
R | 98 min | Comedy, Drama
A young man's peculiar upbringing renders him unable to competently cope with the struggle of growing up.
Director: Burr Steers | Stars: Kieran Culkin, Susan Sarandon, Jeff Goldblum, Claire Danes
Votes: 35,098 | Gross: $4.68M
22. Flirting (1991)
R | 99 min | Drama, Romance
Two freethinking teenagers - a boy and a girl - confront with authoritarian teachers in their boarding schools. The other students treat this differently.
Director: John Duigan | Stars: Noah Taylor, Thandiwe Newton, Nicole Kidman, Bartholomew Rose
Votes: 6,388 | Gross: $2.42M
23. Jesus Henry Christ (2011)
PG-13 | 92 min | Comedy
At the age of ten, Henry James Herman, a boy who was conceived in a petri-dish and raised by his feminist mother, follows a string of Post-It notes in hopes of finding his biological father.
Director: Dennis Lee | Stars: Jason Spevack, Toni Collette, Michael Sheen, Samantha Weinstein
Votes: 6,293 | Gross: $0.02M
24. The World According to Garp (1982)
R | 136 min | Comedy, Drama
A struggling young writer finds his life and work dominated by his unfaithful wife and his radical feminist mother, whose best-selling manifesto turns her into a cultural icon.
Director: George Roy Hill | Stars: Robin Williams, Mary Beth Hurt, Glenn Close, John Lithgow
Votes: 29,003 | Gross: $29.71M
25. The Secret Pact (1999)
R | 94 min | Thriller
After witnessing the killing of his parents, a young teenage boy is put in a witness relocation program and sent to a boarding school in Canada to start a new life. He soon befriends a fellow student who is a hit man looking for him.
Director: Rodney Gibbons | Stars: Rider Strong, Adam Frost, Lisa Zane, John Heard
Votes: 405
26. Finding Forrester (2000)
PG-13 | 136 min | Drama
Forrester, the author of a famous book, decides to help Jamal, a 16-year-old student, discover his writing prowess by mentoring him and enrolling him into a prestigious private school.
Director: Gus Van Sant | Stars: Sean Connery, Rob Brown, F. Murray Abraham, Anna Paquin
Votes: 89,414 | Gross: $66.40M
27. Cruel Intentions (1999)
R | 97 min | Drama, Romance
Two vicious step-siblings of an elite Manhattan prep school make a wager: to deflower the new headmaster's daughter before the start of term.
Director: Roger Kumble | Stars: Sarah Michelle Gellar, Ryan Phillippe, Reese Witherspoon, Selma Blair
Votes: 204,438 | Gross: $38.77M
28. Class (1983)
R | 98 min | Comedy, Drama, Romance
A young man in private school spends one crazy night out, and only later does he learn more about the woman who enlivened his night.
Director: Lewis John Carlino | Stars: Jacqueline Bisset, Rob Lowe, Andrew McCarthy, Cliff Robertson
Votes: 11,954
29. Metropolitan (1989)
PG-13 | 98 min | Comedy, Drama, Romance
A group of young upper-class Manhattanites are blithely passing through the gala debutante season, when an unusual outsider joins them and stirs them up.
Director: Whit Stillman | Stars: Carolyn Farina, Edward Clements, Chris Eigeman, Taylor Nichols
Votes: 12,375 | Gross: $2.94M
30. Outside Providence (1999)
R | 96 min | Comedy, Drama, Romance
After one too many run ins with the law, a punk teenager from a working class background is sent to prep school by his frustrated dad, and learns a thing or two.
Director: Michael Corrente | Stars: Shawn Hatosy, Amy Smart, Alec Baldwin, Tommy Bone
Votes: 9,305 | Gross: $7.29M
31. Innocence (II) (2004)
R | 122 min | Drama, Mystery
A look inside an offbeat boarding school for young girls.
Director: Lucile Hadzihalilovic | Stars: Zoé Auclair, Lea Bridarolli, Bérangère Haubruge, Marion Cotillard
Votes: 6,429
32. Whirlygirl (2006)
R | 95 min | Drama, Romance
A studious student finds adventure when he follows a mysterious woman to New York.
Director: Jim Wilson | Stars: Monet Mazur, Julian Morris, J.A.Q., Johnny Pruitt
Votes: 1,380
33. A Little Princess (1995)
G | 97 min | Drama, Family, Fantasy
Sara is sent to a strict boarding school after her father enlists in WWI. When he is presumed dead, the headmistress, knowing she will not receive any more money, forces the girl to become a servant.
Director: Alfonso Cuarón | Stars: Liesel Matthews, Eleanor Bron, Liam Cunningham, Rusty Schwimmer
Votes: 36,580 | Gross: $10.02M
34. Spud (2010)
TV-PG | 103 min | Comedy, Drama
It's South Africa 1990. Two major events are about to happen: The release of Nelson Mandela and, more importantly, it's Spud Milton's first year at an elite boys only private boarding school.
Director: Donovan Marsh | Stars: John Cleese, Troye Sivan, Jamie Royal, Sven Ruygrok
Votes: 2,848
35. Minor Details (2009)
PG | 86 min | Adventure, Family, Mystery
Four best friends at a boarding school try to solve the brewing mystery.
Director: John Lyde | Stars: Kelsey Edwards, Caitlin E.J. Meyer, Danielle C. Ryan, Lauren Faber
Votes: 965
36. Saint-Cyr (2000)
119 min | Drama, History, Romance
Madame de Maintenon rises from humble beginnings to become a courtesan to the royal court and eventually marries King Louis XIV. With the king's indulgence, Maintenon opens a special school for girls.
Director: Patricia Mazuy | Stars: Isabelle Huppert, Jean-Pierre Kalfon, Simon Reggiani, Jean-François Balmer
Votes: 706
37. The Browning Version (1994)
R | 97 min | Drama
On the verge of forced resignation, a strict old-fashioned teacher rethinks his life.
Director: Mike Figgis | Stars: Albert Finney, Greta Scacchi, Matthew Modine, Julian Sands
Votes: 3,569 | Gross: $0.46M
38. The Chocolate War (1988)
R | 104 min | Drama
The Vigils are a gang of students at Trinity Catholic School... part of the tradition. They control the other boys by intimidation and the threat of violence.
Director: Keith Gordon | Stars: John Glover, Ilan Mitchell-Smith, Wallace Langham, Doug Hutchison
Votes: 2,439 | Gross: $0.30M
39. Goodbye, Mr. Chips (2002 TV Movie)
99 min | Drama
In the later years of the nineteenth century Latin master Mr. Chipping is the mainstay of Brookfields boys boarding school, a good teacher and a kindly person but he is considered to be ... See full summary »
Director: Stuart Orme | Stars: Martin Clunes, Victoria Hamilton, Conleth Hill, John Wood
Votes: 949
40. Uptown Girls (2003)
PG-13 | 92 min | Comedy, Drama, Romance
A grown-up woman who kept her childish instincts and behavior starts working as the nanny of an 8-year-old girl who actually acts like an adult. But everything ends right-side up.
Director: Boaz Yakin | Stars: Brittany Murphy, Dakota Fanning, Heather Locklear, Jesse Spencer
Votes: 42,863 | Gross: $36.92M
41. Tart (2001)
R | 94 min | Crime, Drama, Romance
A portrait of the increasingly desperate attempts of a teenage Manhattan girl to find love and kinship, in a world that never reciprocates.
Director: Christina Wayne | Stars: Dominique Swain, Brad Renfro, Bijou Phillips, Mischa Barton
Votes: 3,487
42. Underclassman (2005)
PG-13 | 95 min | Action, Comedy, Crime
A young detective goes undercover at an elite private school to destroy an international stolen car ring.
Director: Marcos Siega | Stars: Hugh Bonneville, Shawn Ashmore, Kelly Hu, Nick Cannon
Votes: 5,950 | Gross: $5.65M
43. Harvard on Hudson (2014)
15 min | Short, Drama
Julian, a son of privilege, roams around the Upper East Side Manhattan, looking to connect with someone until he meets Grace, a high-end escort who holds the mirror up to his cynical perspective.
Director: Raymond Guarnieri | Stars: Paul Castro Jr., Aly Miller, David Bonfim, Zachary Wobensmith
Votes: 5
44. Scent of a Woman (1992)
R | 156 min | Drama
A prep school student needing money agrees to "babysit" a blind man, but the job is not at all what he anticipated.
Director: Martin Brest | Stars: Al Pacino, Chris O'Donnell, James Rebhorn, Gabrielle Anwar
Votes: 327,286 | Gross: $63.90M
45. Holding the Man (2015)
Unrated | 127 min | Biography, Drama, History
The warm, funny and achingly sad story of the 15-year-long love affair between Timothy Conigrave and the boy he fell in love with at high school, John Caleo.
Director: Neil Armfield | Stars: Ryan Corr, Sarah Snook, Francesco Ferdinandi, Craig Stott
Votes: 13,347
46. A Warrior's Heart (2011)
PG | 86 min | Action, Drama, Family
A talented high school lacrosse player deals with the pain from his military dad's death, a resentful new coach, and consequences of his own arrogance.
Director: Mike Sears | Stars: Kellan Lutz, Adam Beach, Ridge Canipe, William Mapother
Votes: 2,500
47. Lost and Delirious (2001)
R | 103 min | Drama, Romance
After starting at an upmarket boarding school, a teenage girl forms close friendships with her two older roommates. However, when she discovers that her new friends are lovers she finds herself caught in a complicated situation.
Director: Léa Pool | Stars: Piper Perabo, Jessica Paré, Mischa Barton, Jackie Burroughs
Votes: 22,290 | Gross: $0.30M
48. Coming Soon (1999)
R | 96 min | Comedy, Romance
The trials and tribulations of wealthy young Manhattanites and their sexual coming of age, a romantic comedy set at an Upper East Side preparatory school.
Director: Colette Burson | Stars: Bonnie Root, Gaby Hoffmann, Tricia Vessey, James Roday Rodriguez
Votes: 1,831 | Gross: $0.00M
49. Dear Lemon Lima (2009)
PG-13 | 87 min | Comedy, Drama
After being dumped by Philip, her one true love, the infatuated Nessa enrolls at his private school in the hopes of winning him back.
Director: Suzi Yoonessi | Stars: Savanah Wiltfong, Shayne Topp, Eleanor Hutchins, Kari Nissena
Votes: 1,255
50. A Separate Peace (1972)
PG | 104 min | Drama
Two roomates at a prep school in New England during World War II come to grips with the war, jealousy and betrayal. Based on a novel by John Knowles.
Director: Larry Peerce | Stars: John Heyl, Parker Stevenson, William Roerick, Peter Brush
Votes: 503 | Gross: $0.92M
51. Hey Hey It's Esther Blueburger (2008)
PG-13 | 103 min | Comedy, Drama
A coming-of-age story about a 13-year-old girl trying to fit into both a posh private school and an ordinary public school.
Director: Cathy Randall | Stars: Danielle Catanzariti, Cassandra Jinman, Talia Monaghan, Yen Yen Stender
Votes: 1,515 | Gross: $0.01M
52. American Promise (2013)
TV-PG | 135 min | Documentary
This intimate documentary follows the 12-year journey of two African-American families pursuing the promise of opportunity through the education of their sons.
Directors: Joe Brewster, Michèle Stephenson | Stars: Idris Brewster, Joe Brewster, Miles Brewster, Michèle Stephenson
Votes: 300 | Gross: $0.09M
53. Selah and the Spades (2019)
R | 97 min | Drama
Five factions run the underground life of Haldwell School, a prestigious East Coast boarding school. At the head of the most powerful faction, The Spades, sits Selah Summers, walking the fine line between being feared and loved.
Director: Tayarisha Poe | Stars: Lovie Simone, Celeste O'Connor, Jharrel Jerome, Jesse Williams
Votes: 1,347
54. Gilmore Girls (2000–2007)
TV-PG | 44 min | Comedy, Drama
A dramedy centering around the relationship between a thirtysomething single mother and her teen daughter living in Stars Hollow, Connecticut.
Stars: Lauren Graham, Alexis Bledel, Keiko Agena, Scott Patterson
Votes: 147,201
55. Scent of a Woman (1992)
R | 156 min | Drama
A prep school student needing money agrees to "babysit" a blind man, but the job is not at all what he anticipated.
Director: Martin Brest | Stars: Al Pacino, Chris O'Donnell, James Rebhorn, Gabrielle Anwar
Votes: 327,286 | Gross: $63.90M
56. Rushmore (1998)
R | 93 min | Comedy, Drama, Romance
A teenager at Rushmore Academy falls for a much older teacher and befriends a middle-aged industrialist. Later, he finds out that his love interest and his friend are having an affair, which prompts him to begin a vendetta.
Director: Wes Anderson | Stars: Jason Schwartzman, Bill Murray, Olivia Williams, Seymour Cassel
Votes: 197,505 | Gross: $17.11M
57. The Emperor's Club (2002)
PG-13 | 109 min | Drama
An idealistic prep school teacher attempts to redeem an incorrigible student.
Director: Michael Hoffman | Stars: Kevin Kline, Emile Hirsch, Joel Gretsch, Embeth Davidtz
Votes: 17,845 | Gross: $14.06M
58. Outside Providence (1999)
R | 96 min | Comedy, Drama, Romance
After one too many run ins with the law, a punk teenager from a working class background is sent to prep school by his frustrated dad, and learns a thing or two.
Director: Michael Corrente | Stars: Shawn Hatosy, Amy Smart, Alec Baldwin, Tommy Bone
Votes: 9,305 | Gross: $7.29M
59. She's the Man (2006)
PG-13 | 105 min | Comedy, Romance, Sport
When her brother decides to ditch for a couple weeks, Viola heads over to his elite boarding school, disguised as him, and proceeds to fall for his school's star soccer player, and soon learns she's not the only one with romantic troubles.
Director: Andy Fickman | Stars: Amanda Bynes, Laura Ramsey, Channing Tatum, Vinnie Jones
Votes: 175,034 | Gross: $2.34M
60. Tanner Hall (2009)
R | 96 min | Drama, Romance
Tanner Hall is a vivid peek into the private world of an all-girls boarding school. In a cozy, but run-down New England, the knot of adolescent complexity is unraveled through the coming-of-age stories of four teenage girls.
Directors: Francesca Gregorini, Tatiana von Fürstenberg | Stars: Rooney Mara, Georgia King, Brie Larson, Amy Ferguson
Votes: 3,994 | Gross: $0.01M
61. O (2001)
R | 95 min | Drama, Romance, Thriller
An update of Shakespeare's 'Othello' with a young cast, set in an upper class prep school, & centered around basketball player Odin.
Director: Tim Blake Nelson | Stars: Mekhi Phifer, Julia Stiles, Martin Sheen, Josh Hartnett
Votes: 21,897 | Gross: $16.02M
62. St. Trinian's (2007)
PG-13 | 97 min | Comedy, Family
In order to save their bankrupt school, a group of troublesome girls stage a robbery with a group of geniuses on their backs
Directors: Oliver Parker, Barnaby Thompson | Stars: Talulah Riley, Rupert Everett, Gemma Arterton, Jodie Whittaker
Votes: 23,583
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