15 Movies With Major Euphoria Energy

Can’t get enough of Euphoria creator Sam Levinson’s intense aesthetics and dramatic plot twists? Try Assassination Nation, which Levinson also directed. Like Euphoria, the film follows a group of teen girls, but in this Levinson project, the characters get wrapped up in a hacker’s violent plot to out their whole town’s secrets. This Pretty Little Liars-gone-grotesque project also features everyone’s favorite Euphoria playwright, Maude Apatow.

This dark teen drama is perfect for fans who love — or, maybe more truthfully, love to hate — the relationship dynamics in Euphoria. Cruel Intentions is a sinister high school drama set at an elite New York City prep school where two step-siblings scheme to hurt a new, naive classmate. To top it all off, the cast is stacked with young Selma Blair, Sarah Michelle Gellar, and Reese Witherspoon.

Like Euphoria, this 1983 film starred a whole host of new actors who then became incredibly famous, like Matt Dillon, Patrick Swayze, and Tom Cruise. The Outsiders also matches Euphoria’s occasionally violent energy, as it follows a teenage gang reckoning with the consequences of their violence.

On the surface, this classic 2013 teen romance is a dramedy about a popular boy who doesn’t want to grow up and a shy girl who already has. Like Euphoria, it perfectly captures the essence of high school — how everything, the good and the bad, feels like it will last forever. Plus, Miles Teller and Shailene Woodley’s chemistry will take you right back to the love between Rue and Jules.

If you’re looking for slow teen melodrama with a dark side, The Perks of Being a Wallflower is perfect. This surprisingly serious film, based on a book by the same name, follows Logan Lerman’s character Charlie as he makes new friends and learns to be more confident. The twist at the end cements this film as a teen drama that has a lot to say.

Some of the most groundbreaking scenes on Euphoria show the diversity of characters’ experiences with sexual violence, from objectification to rape. Speak, a 2004 film starring a young Kristen Stewart, was one of the first films to do the same thing. The film addresses the often ignored realities of sexual violence in middle and high school as Stewart’s character works through her trauma and shame after being assaulted at a party. It’s hard to find the honesty of Euphoria in other mainstream entertainment, but Speak is a good place to start.

Before Euphoria was even a twinkle in Sam Levinson’s eye, Winona Ryder and Christian Slater brought this Mean Girls with a twist to the big screen. In this wacky teen film, the popular girls take their drama to a lethal level, staging suicides and eventually going on a murderous rampage. Although Heathers relies more on dark comedy than Euphoria, the dramatic scenes carry the same coming-of-age intensity.

Timothée Chalamet is a huge fan of Euphoria, and even though Tom Holland may have first dibs on a special appearance on the show, Chalamet already has a few films under his belt that would look great on his Euphoria application. In Hot Summer Nights, Chalamet’s character Daniel is quite like Rue — he falls in love and gets into a lot of trouble when he starts dealing drugs. Although not as popular as his other films, Hot Summer Nights toes the line between teen romance and dramatic thriller, just like Euphoria.

Chalamet is no stranger to bringing stories about the destruction of drugs to life. In Beautiful Boy, he plays the main character, Nic, who develops a substance abuse disorder and tries to hide it from his family. The movie is just as much about his father, played by Steve Carell, as he attempts to support his son. Carell and Chalamet’s excellent portrayal of this heart-wrenching story, from substance abuse to rehab to relapse and back again, is rivaled only by Rue and her mom on Euphoria.

Thirteen has a very early 2000s feel, but the performances and plot are still very Euphoria. It doesn’t shy away from the complexities of teen drug use and mother/daughter relationships in the face of trauma.

In this action-packed teen comedy, two friends get wrapped up into the high-stakes drama of a local drug dealer. Although Dope is much more funny, both the film and Euphoria show the tension between teenagers and rebellion when surrounded by a culture of drug use. Plus, Dope is full of fun biking scenes reminiscent of Rue and Jules’ few moments of peace on Euphoria.

If you, like many Euphoria fans, wanted more Kat scenes in Season 2, watch the 2019 film Jezebel, which follows a young woman named Tiffany who starts working as a cam girl. Like Kat, Tiffany struggles to come to terms with the complex feelings that come with her new job, but Jezebel is also particularly about Tiffany’s experience as a Black sex worker. The film deftly visualizes themes of objectification and the politics of sex that Euphoria is just starting to address.

In this sweet, contemplative movie, main character Alike explores her sexuality and tries to manage complex family dynamics, much like Rue. Alike not only processes her feelings for a new friend, but she also experiments with expressing her identity through clothes — a fan-favorite element of Euphoria.

One of the most underrated elements of Euphoria is the attention each episode pays to the complexities of female friendship, especially in a high school setting. In Selah and the Spades, the most popular girl at a boarding school looks to pass the torch of power onto a younger student. What ensues is a dark, at times funny, and painfully honest take on high school in the modern age, which is perhaps the best way to describe Euphoria, too.

If you’re missing the swoon-worthy Fezco and Lexi moments of Euphoria and need a break from the high-intensity scenes, watch The Way He Looks. This Brazilian film follows Leonardo, a blind teenager, who experiences life in a new way when he meets Gabriel and they fall in love. Like Euphoria, The Way He Looks beautifully combines coming-of-age themes and LGBTQ+ relationships for a really impactful result.