Teen film

Teen film is a film genre targeted at teenagers and young adults in which the plot is based upon the special interests of teenagers, such as coming of age, attempting to fit in, peer pressure, first love, rebellion, conflict with parents, teen angst or alienation. Often these normally serious subject matters are presented in a glossy, stereotyped or trivialized way. For legal reasons, many teenage characters are portrayed by young adults. Some teen films appeal to young males while others appeal to young females.

Films in this genre are often set in high schools, or contain characters that are of high school age.

As well as the classic teen film, which is similar to a romantic comedy, there are hybrid genres, including:

There are many more types of teen films, which can then be divided again into sub-categories. These can be found at list of teen films.

Early examples of the genre in the United States include the "beach party films" of the 1950s and 1960s, such as the Gidget series.

Codes and conventions of teen films vary depending on the cultural context of the film, but they can include proms, alcohol, illegal substances, high school, parties, losing one's virginity, social groups and cliques, interpersonal conflict with peers and/or the older generations, fitting in, peer pressure, and American pop culture.

The classic codes and conventions of teen film come from American films, where one of the most widely used conventions is an emphasis on stereotypes and social groups. The stereotypes most commonly used include:

Apart from the characters there are many other codes and conventions of teen film. These films are often set in or around high schools as this allows for many different social cliques to be shown. This is different in hybrid teen films, but for the classic romantic comedy teen film this is almost always the case.

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