High school is indeed a tricky time to be alive, especially if you’re a teenager whose behavior gets you into trouble. Never mind if the behavior is real or a product of a rumor, people would readily believe it anyway! And people will also manipulate it to their advantage.
This is the storyline of the comedy film Easy A. Emma Stone is brilliant in this 2010 film that carries such an interesting twist-filled plot. Being the girl in the center of the rumor, she tries to take advantage of this to earn some form of reputation. There are upsides to this but there are downsides to it as well.
The brilliantly written witty script carries the film’s narrative strength to comedic heights. So what’s the rumor here, that our main character finds herself the star of? It’s a teen film in a high school, so what else but losing her virginity? Of course, not true!
With formidable characters dealing with rumors or mistaken behaviors, the film also parallels a host of others. Check out our eclectic list of movies like Easy A.
1 John Tucker Must Die
Perhaps the number one “mistaken behavior” one could easily encounter in high school is a popular jock pretending to be “your only one” as your exclusive monogamous boyfriend. But what if he turns out to be dating two others, spewing the same lines as lies? Then that, my friend, is the film John Tucker Must Die.
This 2006 teen comedy flick is perfect in our list of movies like Easy A because it’s also set in high school and involves lies going around the school. In particular, the lie is about three girls as the girlfriend of a singular guy. Yes, that would be John Tucker. Of course they don’t know that at first.
But what happens when the three girls discover the existence of each other? And what happens when, instead of fighting, they plot revenge against this boyfriend of theirs? Then the plot thickens for this movie. And see for yourself if indeed John Tucker experiences an untimely death here!
2 Monte Carlo
What if you have an American teen being mistaken for a British celebrity teen? What’s worse is that you go along for the ride, and try to live this new behavior within a new persona. That even involves traveling to Europe and accessing certain riches in life – but the life of the other person, that is. That’s basically the story of the 2011 film Monte Carlo.
Starring Selena Gomez as the high school graduate who gets mistaken for the British teen, it’s fun to see how she interprets this role and plays a dual personality to gain access to things. And boy, when it comes to access, she is loaded! It turns out that this British celeb teen is an heiress, and their family is very important in British society.
But just how long will this kind of pretension take place? And how effective would it be, until one is discovered? Watch this very entertaining film and find out what happens next!
3 The Parent Trap
What if you are twins separated since birth, and pretend to be the other twin, just so you could meet the other half of your parents that you haven’t met yet in your young life? Then that’s practically the story of The Parent Trap.
The 1998 film with Lindsay Lohan as the twins is the one worth watching for our list of movies like Easy A. Lohan gives such a stellar performance here as a young adolescent who pretends to be another person. See, as twins, one is raised by a British mother while one is raised by an American father.
Upon discovering in a summer camp that they are actually twins, the two girls find a way to fit into the life of the other. Now imagine the twist as the twins exchange lives
Now that is a total hoot. Watch this and see what happens next with these wily siblings!
4 Freaky Friday
What if you’re so frustrated with your life as a teenager, then accidentally switch bodies with your mother? Then that, indeed, is a Freaky Friday to wake up to.
The Lindsay Lohan-Jamie Lee Curtis 2003 starrer is the one we’re including in our list of movies like Easy A. It’s just a hoot to see how the teen punk Lindsay turns into a straitlaced psychiatrist adult as her mother. Then see how the dignified mother turns into her rebellious teen girl! Both actors are so good in their roles here.
Only for that, you could get lots of laughter already. Add to that the scenes where we see the adult being mistaken for an adult, but has the spirit of the teen. And then you have the teen being mistaken for a teen, but has the spirit of the adult. Talk about behavioral change indeed.
Just watch to see what happens next!
5 Sydney White
What happens when a new college student gets victimized by rumors that will affect her social standing in their school’s Greek letter-obsessed society? Then we have the story for the 2007 film called Sydney White.
The film stars Amanda Bynes in the title role. She plays the daughter of a sorority sister in the college where the teen is now entering. With the new terms of being a college student, Sydney finds out that falling from the graces of sorority snobs will have a bad effect on her.
True enough, later on, the lead gets victimized by rumors about her. And this is why we listed it here in our countdown of movies like Easy A. Amanda Bynes carries the titular role so well, much like how Emma Stone did it in her film. Both give a formidable, witty, and believable performance as older teens victimized by rumors in their school.
Go watch it!
6 A Cinderella Story
A modern teen take on the usual Cinderella plot this 2004 Hillary Duff starrer features the teen star as the Cinderella character named Sam. She gets disenfranchised by a stepmother and her vain stepsisters when her dad died.
The modern take on this film begins when Sam develops a confidante in an online friend known only as nomad, with whom she talks with over emails. They both don’t know each other’s identities, until they both do an eyeball meetup in a school ball. But since Sam was wearing a mask then, her identity was concealed from Nomad.
Now this won’t be in our list of movies like Easy A if it didn’t have high school rumors and reputations in it. Trust us, it has all that, in a fairy tale-ish kind of way. You know the drill: when girl and boy separate ways from the ball, girl drops her cellphone behind (no glass slippers!). The similarities start when the boy tries to find the rightful owner of the phone.
Go check this one out to see how far they modernized it.
7 Hannah Montana: The Movie
Talk about having two identities that you try to balance in your life, and hide from the rest of the public. That plotline alone earns Hannah Montana: The Movie its rightful place in our countdown of movies like Easy A.
This 2009 movie version of the popular Disney Channel TV show features the teenager Miley Stewart. She’s just an ordinary teen to most people who know her. However, she also lives a double life as a superstar celebrity pop icon named Hannah Montana. How’s that for a double life?
Having such a double life means doing double time in making up scenarios to be one or the other. It also means not being able to show certain people who you are, just because they already have an idea of who you are. Confusing and crazy, right?
Go see this film to find out how it turns out. It’s also refreshing to see Miley Cyrus in the role that started it all for her.
8 Fired Up!
Perhaps it’s but natural to have the director of our featured film land another one of his films in our list of movies like Easy A. Director Will Gluck actually had an earlier film called Fired Up! released in 2009. And yes, it had plot points parallel with that of his 2010 film.
This time, the story revolves around two teen guys who are football jocks. These girl-crazy boys hatch up a scheme to enter a cheerleading camp. Their objective? To meet lots and lots of pretty girls, hopefully cheerleaders, of course.
So they con and scam their way in there. They also con and scam their existence once they’re inside. And it’s interesting to follow what happens next for these dudes, especially once their schemes are discovered.
Watch to find out more!
9 Aquamarine
So if you’re a mermaid who wants to find a man to prove that true love exists, what will you do? Pretending to be human is a huge stretch, but it could be tried! Imagine all the deception and cover-ups that this narrative would entail. That’s the main reason why we consider Aquamarine as one of those movies like Easy A.
This 2006 film is not only about the mermaid called Aquamarine. It’s also about the three young girls who discover her existence. They try to help her achieve her goals, while they also try to achieve theirs. So their friendship should be for a win-win situation for everyone involved.
Rumors aside, the mermaid mythology in this story also says that a mermaid could grant someone a wish, provided that they helped her. So think of what the other teen character would wish here… Well, watch it and find out! It’s a good young adult film, promise!
10 How to Lose A Guy in 10 Days
Okay, granted that this film doesn’t feature teens in the plot, it still earns its spot in our list of movies like Easy A. How to Lose A Guy in 10 Days, in a way, exemplifies what the Easy A plot elements have – but in a grown-up world. Or supposedly grown up, since the adults here tend to behave so childishly!
The 2003 film stars Kate Hudson as Andie, a lifestyle writer intending to put together a listicle piece on how easy it is to turn a guy off in 10 days. Enter Matthew McConaughey as Ben, an ad executive and ladies man who believes he can make any girl fall for him in 10 days. What’s with the number 10, right?
So if you have these two people meet up with opposite agendas, then it’s a sure bet that they will be saying lies upon lies upon lies, just to meet their objective. They’re also attuned to whatever rumor they could find about the other, just so they could use the info for their own win.
Crazy and clever, huh? Go watch to find out who wins and loses!
