Sometimes, you need a film that takes your mind away from your everyday life. But there are also those days when you’re looking for something more familiar. Especially if you’re a student or you’re just about to start school, watching a movie that takes place on a college campus can help motivate you, giving you the energy you need to start a new day in the right way.
But what helps even more is a film that can capture the very best features of school life, such as the energy of busy college days! So whether you’re thinking back at your school days and in need of some nostalgia, or you’re in college right now, trying to overcome the stress of assignments, check out our list below! In alphabetical order, here are 5 films that capture the energy of busy college days!
1. 10 Things I Hate About You
Gil Junger
If you haven’t seen it yet, this modern classic is about to become your next obsession! Gil Junger’s 10 Things I Hate About You is the adaptation of William Shakespeare’s “The Taming of the Shrew” that you didn’t know you needed, featuring anything from teen drama and classroom rivalries to family dynamics, romance, comedy, and catchy musical numbers.
Sisters Bianca (Larisa Oleynik) and Kat (Stiles) both live with their father and go to the same school, but they’re subject to very different rules. In order to make sure that both sisters focus more on their assignments and less on romance, their father has decided that, until the independent and abrasive Kat starts dating, Bianca can’t date either. External pressure to prioritize academics over personal life can create complications at college – some students connect with EduBirdie writers for guidance on managing their workload better, which helps maintain balance between school demands and personal life and create space for both academic success and social growth – and that is the case for Bianca and Kat.
But since Bianca has never shown any interest in boys and Kat has preferred to focus her energies on sarcasm and feminism, this has never been a problem in the past. That is, until Bianca decides she’s ready to start dating, and devises a plan. She starts paying a mysterious handsome boy who’s just arrived at the school, Patrick (Heath Ledger), to get Kat to fall in love with him.
Needless to say, Patrick and Kat are actually made for each other, but given how anti-social Kat is, it’s not so easy. With fantastic performances from Ledger, Styles and Oleynik and a subversive script that modernizes its source material, 10 Things I Hate About You is a feel-good movie like no other. Most of the film takes place at school and captures the energy of busy college days very well, with the added bonus of many iconic scenes and a poignant coming-of-age tale.
2. Animal House (1978)
John Landis
“Toga! Toga! Toga!”. If this line means nothing to you, it’s time to discover one of the all-time classics. Before he made The Blues Brothers, director John Landis gave us the iconic National Lampoon’s Animal House, whose premise is simple but very effective: having failed to get into Omega Theta Pi, the the ‘coolest’ fraternity on campus, freshmen Larry (Tom Hulce) and Kent (Stephen Furst) are stuck at the less popular Delta Tau Chi, but decide to make the most of it by embracing Delta’s mission to become the Dean’s (John Vernon) worst nightmare.
What ensues is utter mayhem, and if by college energy you mean toga parties, food fights, disastrous pranks, and pure, utter, chaos, Animal House is the film for you. Of course, most real-life college students aren’t like Larry, Kent, and Delta Tau Chi members John “Bluto” Blutarsky (Belushi), Donald “Boon” Schoenstein (Peter Riegert), Eric “Otter” Stratton (Tim Matheson), Robert Hoover (James Widdoes), and Daniel “D-Day” Simpson Day (Bruce McGill). Still, what the film manages to capture very well is the feeling of independence that comes with attending college for the first time, and the friendships you make that might even survive adulthood. On top of this, it’s also a fantastic comedy with plenty of irreverent scenarios and hilarious quotes, bolstered by fantastic performances from its young cast.
3. “Everybody Wants Some!!” (2016)
Richard Linklater
In her review of Richard Linklater’s Everybody Wants Some!!, our writer Claire describes it as “a film that encapsulates the expectation of the college experience,” capturing that moment of anticipation that comes when college begins, and you start wondering about who you will be while at school. No words could be more appropriate to describe this 2016 gem from the director of the Before trilogy, Boyhood, and School of Rock, who, here, takes us to 1980 Texas.
It all begins at University of Texas in 1980, when freshman Jake (Blake Jenner) moves into an off-campus house and meets his new baseball teammates, including Finnegan (Glen Powell), Roper (Ryan Guzman), Dale (J. Quinton Johnson), Plummer (Temple Baker), Beuter (Will Brittain), and McReynolds (Tyler Hoechlin). In the one week of freedom before college really begins, our protagonists decide to to completely disregard their coach’s rules. Instead, they get to know each other by simply existing in this new space, enjoying unsupervised adulthood for the first time.
There isn’t much of a plot in the film, but it’s in the bonds they form that our well-meaning team finds purpose. Linklater never forgets to put his characters first, and by watching them grow into themselves, we understand what the college experience is really like. Everybody Wants Some!! is a nostalgic love letter to college itself, capturing its energy in the coming of age story of the film’s protagonists.
4. The Holdovers (2023)
Alexander Payne
The most recent movie in our list takes place almost entirely in a college campus – only, over the Christmas break. As most students of New England prep school Barton Academy are excited to go home during the break, one is left disappointed when his mother is unreachable, therefore unable to give the school permission to send him home. What this means for the unfortunate Angus (Dominic Sessa) is that he’s going to have to stay at college for the entire break; but he won’t be alone. Stuck with the task of looking after the one student who stayed behind, disillusioned (and disliked) college professor Mr. Hunham (Giamatti) will be joining him, with head cook Mary (Randolph) also there to keep them all fed.
What follows is the story of a student and a teacher who make a series of choices that eventually show them they’re not so different from one another after all, getting them to think about their respective college experiences and the chances they did, or didn’t, take. It’s a very funny film, mostly thanks to a fantastic screenplay and superb performances from Da’Vine Joy Randolph, Paul Giamatti (who both won Awards for their work in the film), and Dominic Sessa, but it’s also a thought-provoking one.
The Holdovers is a nostalgic film – one that, thanks to the complex dynamics between its characters and a series of key exchanges with Angus’ fellow students, absolutely manages to capture not only the busy energy of college, but also the things we learn as we grow up. The Holdovers is today’s answer to Dead Poets’ Society; not to be missed.
Pitch Perfect (2012)
Jason Moore
If energy is what you’re looking for, why not watch a musical? This 2012 gem from director Jason Moore revolves around a freshman named Beca (Anna Kendrick) who enrols at the fictional Barden University in Atlanta, Georgia. But this is not your typical college: here, student compete against each other by joining four rival a cappella groups. Naturally, Beca is immediately recruited by one of them, the very competitive “Barden Bellas”. But what these mean girls don’t know is that Beca is exactly what their team needs.
In fact, the Bellas are recovering from the previous year’s disastrous failure and in desperate need of some serious change, if they want a chance at beating their main rival, the all-male Treblemakers. That’s where our newcomer comes in, with a new strategy that might just lead Patricia “Fat Amy” Hobart (Rachel Wilson), Cynthia Rose (Ester Dean), Stacie (Alexis Knapp), Lilly (Hana Mae Lee) and Jessica (Kelley Jakle) to victory.
Pitch Perfect is a 2012 film, and some of the jokes haven’t aged incredibly well. Still, if you’re able to overlook that aspect, you’ll find a movie with plenty of heart and that manages to capture the kind of positive college energy that manifests when people put their minds together to achieve a common goal. It features fantastic performances and catchy songs, and it’s bound to make you feel good with its message about never being afraid to be exactly who you are.
The 5 movies listed above are all fantastic watches if you’re looking for films that capture the energy of busy college days, and they’re also great feel-good movies that will provide you with plenty of nostalgia, inspiration, and entertainment. For more recommendations, check out Booksmart, Kill Your Darlings, Legally Blonde, Mean Girls, and The Social Network. Enjoy!