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Whether your Prom is coming up, or many years have passed since you were queen, these movies about Prom will put you in the mood for a high school dance!
Prom is a very special American dance typically offered for upper class men at the end of the year. It's a rite of passage and the first real formal event for teenagers. Since it's such a long standing tradition, it's no wonder Prom is a common scene in movies about coming-of-age, high school, adolescence, and first love.
Today, I'll be sharing with you movies featuring iconic Prom scenes!
Pretty in Pink is a classic 80s John Hughes movie about a boy and a girl from different cliques in high school that fall for each other. The movie ends at the Prom where Andie shows up in her pink Prom dress. Molly Ringwald and John Hughes always make for a winning combo.
Mean girls concludes with a Prom scene where Cady breaks her crown into little pieces to share with every other girl in her class.
High School Musical 3 is all about senior year of high school. There's a getting ready for Prom scene and a song called "A Night To Remember". If you're getting excited for Prom, this is the perfect movie to watch.
The original Footloose movie starring Kevin Bacon has a super memorable Prom scene. When he discovers the town he has moved to has banned dancing, Ren tries to convince the townspeople to reconsider. The kids from the local high school decide to throw a Prom outside the county line and it's full of dancing and fun.
Valley Girl is my favorite underrated 80s movie! It's about Julie, a preppy girl from the Valley who falls in love with an outcast punk guy Randy. During the prom scene, Julie starts a food fight and runs away with Randy.
Never Been Kissed is a Drew Barrymore movie where she stars as a journalist who goes undercover as a student at a high school to write about the modern teen experience. There is an early 90s Prom throwback scene as well as an end Prom scene.
10 Things I Hate About You is a classic enemies-to-lovers romcom starring Heath Ledger and Julia Styles. The Prom scene showcases late 90s/early 2000s Prom style perfectly.
The Prom scene in Back to the Future is one of the climaxes of the movie. Marty must get his parents to kiss in the past otherwise he will cease to exist in the present. I love this one because it's an 80s movie, but the time travel takes you back to the 50s!
Carrie is a horror movie about a a girl who is ostracized by her classmates and is the subject of a cruel prank on Prom night. Definitely watch this one during the day if you don't want to be scared out of your mind!
Grease's Prom scene includes a dance competition and the ultra-famous hand jive! I love looking at all the Prom dresses in this scene as well as the styling of the school gym.
She's All That is a movie about a shy geek who get transformed into Prom queen by a popular boy in school. One of my favorite scenes is when Laney walks down the stairs to the song "Kiss Me" by Sixpence None The Richer.
Okay, maybe this movie isn't "about" Prom but Bella and Edward do go to Prom together and dance to "Flightless Bird, American Mouth" by Iron & Wine underneath a gazebo surrounded by twinkly lights.
Although It's a Wonderful Life is arguable one of the best Christmas movies ever made, it also has a memorable Prom scene where George and Mary meet for the first time since childhood. The school's Prom is being held in the gym where a pool lies underneath a mechanical platform. When the platform opens up to reveal the pool underneath, George and Mary accidentally fall in and keep dancing when everyone decides to jump in and join them!
Lady Bird is a movie about the tumultuous relationship between a mother and daughter. Christine goes dress shopping with her mom and intends to go to Prom with cool guy Kyle. Unfortunately, his friend group decides to skip Prom, leaving Christine feeling diasappointed. She ends up going to Prom with her best friend instead.
Napoleon Dynamite is everyone's favorite satisfyingly awkward movie. Napoleon and Deb awkwardly dance at the school dance and he comments that he likes her sleeves because "they're real big."
Some movies feature scenes from high school dances that aren't limited to Prom. Some are Homecoming, Spring Fling, etc. It just seems unfair to not include those, so here are the most memorable high school dance scenes that are not necessarily explicitly stated as Prom.
This movie stars Kirsten Dunst as Lux Lisbon, one of the mysterious Lisbon sisters that live in suburban Michigan in the 70s. She is asked to the Homecoming dance by local heartthrob Trip Fontaine. This movie always makes me think of the song "Strange Magic" by Electric Light Orchestra.
The Perks of Being a Wallflower is another coming-of-age film. The main character Charlie struggles with his mental health and often feels lonely/outcast at school. When he goes to the Homecoming dance, he decides to try to dance with eccentric Patrick and Sam. Think "Come On Eileen".
The dance featured in this movie is a high school Halloween dance. I was always so jealous that they had a costume contest and that the dance went all the way until midnight!
I'm pretty sure the dance in this one is just a non-descript dance. I'm not sure if it's Spring Fling or Homecoming but this is the very first John Hughes x Molly Ringwald collab and definitely one of my favorites.
For all you Grey's Anatomy fans, this movie is a young Patrick Dempsey dream. It's about a nerdy kid who pays his popular neighbor $1000 to pretend to be his girlfriend. There is a funny school dance scene in which the main character performs an African cultural dance that everyone ends up loving and copying.
This movie has one of my favorite high school dance scenes. The Yule Ball is the wizard's equivalent to a Christmas dance, complete with snowy decor and a wizard band called the Weird Sisters.
Are there any movies you like to watch that have iconic Prom or high school dance scenes? So nostalgic...
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