If you were coming of age in the mid-to-late 2000s, Superbad was probably the most talked about movie among your friend group. Quotes from the movie were often shouted down school hallways and classrooms, the urge to make a fake ID was real, and the name “McLovin” was thrown around with ease. If you didn’t see Superbad at the time it came out, you pretty much knew everything about it from the buzz around you. Coming-of-age movies like Superbad often capture the hilarity and plight of young adulthood as teens awkwardly figure out who they are. Though at the time Superbad may have seemed like just another ridiculous teen comedy, it carved out a special place for itself and continues to influence the world of comedy films.
Released in 2007, Superbad centres around high-schoolers Seth (Jonah Hill), Evan (Michael Cera), and Fogell (Christopher Mintz-Plasse) who are desperate to enjoy the end of senior year before going to college. Hoping to party, have fun, and have sex, the trio are enthusiastic when they are invited to a party hosted by Jules (Emma Stone), whom Seth has a crush on. The trio, in an attempt to impress their crushes and the peers around them, offer to buy alcohol for the party: the only issue being that they’re underage. Fogell, however, comes up with the perfect solution by getting a fake ID with only one name on it: McLovin. The remainder of the movie follows the group as they avoid the police, drunken brawls, and awkward sexual experiences.
Over a decade after its release, Superbad remains relevant with its themes of friendship, the awkwardness of growing up, sexual curiosity, and wild teenage experiences: all universal, regardless of generation. Comedic styles may have changed since the early 2000s, but Superbad remains hilarious, as do these other movies that you have to watch if you like Superbad.
Movies like Superbad: Pineapple Express
Dale Denton (Seth Rogen) lives a relatively chill, normal life. He has a job, a girlfriend, and enjoys smoking weed. Dale along with his drug dealer, Saul (James Franco), soon become targets of both drug lords and the police after he witnesses a murder and leaves behind the one signifying piece of evidence that can identify them both: a rare strain of weed called Pineapple Express. For those who enjoy the chaotic adventures of Superbad, Pineapple Express takes you on an equally wild ride. It should also be mentioned that you’ll be seeing a lot more of Rogen and Franco on this list, since they were mainstays in comedies during this time.
Movies like Superbad: Step Brothers
Alongside Superbad in terms of popularity, Step Brothers is another beloved comedy to emerge out of the late 2000s. 40-something adults Brennan (Will Ferrell) and Dale (John C. Reilly) both live at home with their single parents. In a twist of fate, Brennan’s mom and Dale’s dad fall in love and get married, forcing the two to live under the same roof. Despite their age, they both act like teenagers. Their step-sibling rivalry is real, which causes many conflicts in the house. The film tackles the often complicated nature of blended families along with the societal pressures of growing up, being relevant to both teenagers and young adults alike.
Movies like Superbad: Easy A
This John Hughes-inspired comedy stars Emma Stone as Olive Penderghast, a high schooler who lies about having a date to get out of a weekend camping trip with her friend’s hippie parents, only to have a rumour started that she had sex with the made-up man. The rumour mill gets to work, and pretty soon everyone at school is talking about Olive’s imaginary sex life. Deciding to use the rumours for good, Olive decides to help a few friends who need to up their social status by allowing them to say she’s done sexual things with them, but what starts as an act of kindness ends up getting really messy really fast. Olive quickly becomes an outcast, and has to navigate the already challenging halls of high school amidst a swirl of misinformation and judgement. Stone is at her best in this hilarious comedy, and with a cast including Aly Michalka, Penn Badgley, Amanda Bynes, and Stanley Tucci, you’re sure to enjoy some big laughs while watching this.
Movies like Superbad: I Love You, Man
Real estate agent Peter Klaven (Paul Rudd) has it all: a beautiful fiancé, a great job, and a nice home. One thing that he doesn’t have, however, are guy friends. With the pressure to plan his upcoming wedding, Peter tries to make friends and find a best man to stand beside him on his special day. After meeting Sydney Fife (Jason Segel) while on the job, the two quickly hit it off and form a strong friendship. The two end up spending tons of time together, but this soon becomes a problem for Peter’s fiancé, as her attention is drawn away from her and toward his newfound friend. I Love You, Man has a strong friendship theme and is a perfect buddy comedy.
Movies like Superbad: Role Models
Featuring none other than Christopher Mintz-Plasse (popularly known as McLovin), Role Models has the perfect amount of ridiculous comedy with relatable themes of adulthood struggles and friendship. When energy drink salesman Danny (Paul Rudd) and Wheeler (Seann William Scott) discover that their company truck is about to get towed, Danny attempts to take control of the situation by driving the truck away and crashing it, causing damage and almost injuring people in the process. As a result, the two are charged with disorderly conduct and sentenced to 150 hours of community service at Sturdy Wings. The remainder of the film shows how the two struggle with this new responsibility and several mishaps along the way.
Movies like Superbad: Accepted
In terms of similarity, Accepted could definitely have picked up where Superbad left off. For one, the film features Jonah Hill and centres around the difficulties of getting into college. In Accepted, a group of recent high school graduates are in a bad spot after being rejected from every college they applied to. With major pressure to attend college coming from their parents, the students decide to create a fake university, with Bartleby Gaines (Justin Long) as the mastermind. The college, named the South Harmon Institute of Technology, soon takes off, with several of the students telling their parents of their acceptance. Soon enough, the college becomes way more than the group could have ever imagined and they have to do their best to remain as legitimate as possible, or face the consequences of their parents.
Movies like Superbad: Knocked Up
From Superbad director Judd Apatow, Knocked Up tests the commonly disputed idea that opposites attract. Allison Scott (Katherine Heigl) and Ben Stone’s (Seth Rogen) lives could not be any different. Allison is a hard-working journalist and Ben is a slacker who only wants to party. When fate brings the two together at a nightclub, they end up partying hard, drinking way too much, and have a one-night stand. Several weeks later, Allison starts to experience pregnancy symptoms and quickly tells Ben that she is pregnant. The movie follows the two as they try to navigate their own awkward relationship as well as being first-time (unexpected) parents.
Movies like Superbad: Napoleon Dynamite
Similar to Superbad, the legacy of Napoleon Dynamite continues to have a lasting impact. At the time of its release, Napoleon Dynamite was quoted and referenced just as much as Superbad, with “Vote for Pedro” becoming the favourite Halloween costume and the mispronunciation of “quesadilla” integrated into common language. In the film, socially awkward teenager Napoleon Dynamite navigates the uncomfortable aspects of being a high schooler while dealing with teenage crushes and insufferable bullies (“Napoleon, give me some of your tots.”) Overall, the comedy is innocently silly and has gained a cult following since its release, making it worth the watch.
Movies like Superbad: The Hangover
Superbad has a core group of friends, and The Hangover has “The Wolfpack.” In this comedy, Doug (Justin Bartha) travels with his three friends Stu (Ed Helms), Phil (Bradley Cooper) and Alan (Zach Galifianakis) to Las Vegas as his last hurrah before he gets married. They get a luxurious suite at Caesars Palace and a night of debauchery ensues after they have some drinks. The following morning, the group finds their hotel room destroyed, Stu with a missing tooth, Phil with a hospital band, a tiger, and Doug nowhere to be found. The remainder of the film follows the remaining three as they desperately search for Doug hours before his scheduled wedding.
Movies like Superbad: 21 Jump Street
Other than Lethal Weapon, this might just be the best buddy-cop movie of all time. In 21 Jump Street, cops Schmidt (Jonah Hill) and Jenko (Channing Tatum) are reassigned to special unit that focuses in cleaning up high schools. Their captain gives them the task of containing a drug called HFS and enrols them as students with new identities. Schmidt and Jenko are now undercover cops that are not only trying to do their job, but also survive the horrors of high school all over again. 21 Jump Street, like Superbad, highlights the awkwardness of being a high schooler, regardless of how old you are. Plus, it’s downright hilarious.
Movies like Superbad: Forgetting Sarah Marshall
Hopeless romantic and struggling musician Peter Bretter (Jason Segel) is in a happy relationship with a famous TV actress, Sarah Marshall (Kristen Bell). When Sarah breaks up with him out of the blue, Peter’s world is shattered. In an attempt to regain some control over his life and heal from the breakup, he goes on vacation to Hawaii only to find that Sarah and her new, larger-than-life boyfriend Aldous Snow (Russell Brand) are staying at the same hotel. Forgetting Sarah Marshall explores the multi-layered nature of romance and relationships, in a hilarious, raunchy, and relatable way. If you’ve ever had a nightmare about running into your ex while on vacation, this movie shows exactly how horrible and hilarious it can be.
Movies like Superbad: Observe and Report
Observe and Report reminds us to never take life too seriously, and perhaps live a little more on the fun side, like the Superbad friends do. At Forest Ridge Mall, head of security Ronnie Barnhardt (Seth Rogen) follows and enforces all the rules a little too much. As head of security, Ronnie is a stickler for rules and doesn’t mind taking the fun out of shopping at a mall. When Forest Ridge gets a visit from a flasher, Ronnie takes this as an opportunity to highlight his cop skills and arrest the criminal, all to get into the police academy and win over his crush.
Movies like Superbad: The 40-Year-Old Virgin
An important part of the plot of Superbad is the trio’s quest to have sex with their respective crushes, and in the 40-Year-Old Virgin, main character Andy Stitzer (Steve Carrell) is looking to simply have sex with anyone. Andy leads a mediocre life, with a decent job, a nice apartment, and a solid group of friends, but the one thing he is missing is a sex life. At 40 years old, Andy has never had sex, so with the help of his friends, and a few rocky trials and errors, he finally lands a girlfriend and has sex for the first time.
Movies like Superbad: Zack and Miri Make a Porno
Touching on the awkwardness of friendships between men and women and the hardships of adult life, Zack and Miri Make a Porno can ride alongside Superbad any day. Roommates Zack and Miri have been friends their entire lives, and though they both work, they come to have trouble paying their necessary bills. As a means to bring in more money and pay past-due bills, Zack comes up with the idea that they should make a porn film together. It should be no big deal, right? Well, despite their fierce declaration that they are just friends, both Zack and Miri come to find that their relationship is much more complicated than they thought.
Movies like Superbad: This Is the End
Actor James Franco is hosting a party with all of his celebrity friends, including Seth Rogen, Jonah Hill, Danny McBride, and Jay Baruchel. Everything is going great at the party until an apocalypse starts to unfold, causing widespread disaster and chaos around all of Hollywood, and trapping the friends at Franco’s house. With a very literal apocalypse occurring outside, affecting the world as they know it, the friends are forced to create their own world inside his home and dwell together until the disaster passes – with limited food supply and sanity, for that matter. Superbad actors Jonah Hill and Seth Rogen are reunited in this film, bringing their on-screen charm to this new story.
Movies like Superbad: Adventureland
Touching on the same struggles of young romance and growing into an adult that you see in Superbad, Adventureland centres around recent college graduate James Brennan (Jesse Eisenberg) as he plans to travel to Europe. When his parents regretfully inform him that they can’t help to fund the trip, James is forced to work at the local amusement park as a means to save money and occupy his summer days. Anticipating that this change of events result in the worst few months of his life, James has a quick turnaround when he falls in love with his co-worker Em (Kristen Stewart).
Movies like Superbad: American Pie
With a similar cult following as Superbad, American Pie is another comedy film (series) that captured the hearts of teens and young adults upon its release. High school friends Jim, Kevin, Oz, Finch, and Stifler are all on a quest to have sex for the first time before they graduate. Each of them have their own quirky personalities, and they clearly haven’t had the best luck in the past with women. The movie follows the group as they awkwardly and embarrassingly explore their first sexual experiences while simultaneously trying to graduate from high school. It’s a mess, but a pretty funny mess.
Movies like Superbad: Sex Drive
A common theme in teen comedies is sexual exploration and first-time experiences, and just like Superbad, Sex Drive centers around the journey of lead character Ian Lafferty (Josh Zuckerman) to have his first sexual experience. Ian, a recent high school graduate, meets a girl known as “Ms. Tasty” online and boasts about his physical attributes, leading her to ask him to visit her in Knoxville, Tennessee, where she lives. Along with his two friends, Ian travels to visit her but runs into some trouble along the way, including his car breaking down, getting picked up by strangers, and going to jail. In the end, Ian realizes that Ms. Tasty was using him the whole time, but he might just get his first sexual experience from someone he loved all along.
Movies like Superbad: The Sitter
Recent college drop-out Noah Griffith (Jonah Hill) is trying to enjoy his life, but he’s stuck in a rough spot. He doesn’t have a job, he lives with his mom, and his girlfriend uses him for her own gain. When Noah’s mom wants to go out with her friends, Noah reluctantly agrees to babysit the neighbour’s three children. This seems simple enough until Noah’s girlfriend tempts him to get drugs for her in exchange for sex. Stuck between what he wants to do versus what he needs to do, Noah takes the children on a wild journey to New York to score the drugs and see his girlfriend. There are cop chases, sex, hilarity, and classic Jonah Hill, of course!
Movies like Superbad: Hot Tub Time Machine
The adventures of Superbad have nothing on the guys of Hot Tub Time Machine. A group of four friends are each facing their own individual crises. Adam (John Cusack) has just been broken up with, Lou (Rob Corddry) only wants to party, Craig (Craig Robinson) is in a loveless marriage, and Jacob (Clark Duke) only wants to play video games. Each of the friends are looking for fulfilment in their lives, which brings them to a ski resort and a mystery hot tub that transports them back to 1986. Through a twist of wild experiences, the group finds their way back to present time and gains a whole new outlook on life.
Movies like Superbad: Dirty Grandpa
Despite being known for his dramatic and serious roles, acclaimed actor Robert De Niro steals the show in this raunchy comedy. Jason Kelly (Zac Efron), is a successful lawyer who is engaged and planning a wedding with his control-freak fiancé. In the midst of this, Jason’s grandmother passes away, which reunites Jason and his grandfather (Robert De Niro) at her funeral. To the shock of Jason, his grandfather is completely unhinged and looking to feel young again by going to parties, drinking, and hooking up with college girls. Dirty Grandpa could easily be the future of the Superbad guys, maybe 50 years down the road.