12 Amazing '90s Movies That Only the Cool Kids Recall

      These fantastic '90s films that only the cool kids recall played a crucial role in shaping that era of youthful spirit and relative affluence.

      We watched nearly all of them in theaters. Naturally, opinions vary, so feel free to let us know if there's something we overlooked.

      Now, let’s delve into the ’90s movies.

      Kids (1995)

      Shining Excalibur Films – Credit: C/O

      It's difficult to overstate the uproar that Kids created in 1995 due to its frank depiction of sex and drugs.

      Unlike most coming-of-age films from the '90s, it doesn't center on a high school; instead, its characters roam the streets, parks, bodegas, and homes free of parental supervision, engaging in questionable activities.

      Directed by Larry Clark and written by Harmony Korine while he was still a teen himself, Kids helped launch the careers of two of the most notable Gen X actresses, Chloe Sevigny and Rosario Dawson (above). It also boasts one of the best soundtracks ever, featuring Folk Implosion’s “Natural One.”

      By the way, that object Chloe Sevigny is holding in the photo? That’s a public phone. People often scrambled for coins just to use a shared, dirty phone. When others claim that everything was better in the '90s, remember that this was a common way to reach your friends.

      Pump Up the Volume (1990)

      New Line Cinema – Credit: C/O

      Christian Slater portrays a pre-internet edgelord who channels his teenage angst through a pirate radio station, playing rebellious music.

      Living in a suburb of Phoenix, he’s known by day as Mark, a shy high school student who struggles to fit in. At night, he transforms into Hard Harry, a Gen X shock jock who criticizes parental hypocrisy and expresses himself with the works of… Leonard Cohen?

      This musical choice hints at Harry’s sensitive side, suggesting he is driven more by melancholy than anger. Pump Up the Volume is one of the most intriguing '90s films because it felt almost instantly dated once the internet became widespread — pirate radio signals were no longer necessary for sharing uncensored thoughts.

      However, it’s hard not to recognize a parallel to our modern lives, where we often portray one persona in real life and another online.

      Freeway (1996)

      Republic Pictures

      If you mainly view Reese Witherspoon as a producer-star of harmless rom-coms and family dramas, watch Freeway and hold on tight. It’s a very dark, distinctly '90s retelling of Little Red Riding Hood and one of our favorite nearly forgotten dark comedies from the decade, which may have been the pinnacle for the genre.

      Witherspoon plays an illiterate runaway escaping the authorities after her sex worker mother and abusive stepfather are arrested. She unwittingly finds herself in an even worse predicament when she accepts a ride while heading to her grandmother's house. As it turns out, she’s being hunted by the Big Bad Wolf, aka Bob Wolverton, portrayed by a unvarnished Kiefer Sutherland.

      The impressive supporting cast includes Den Hedaya, Amanda Plummer, Brooke Shields, Bokeem Woodbine, and Brittany Murphy. Incredible.

      Produced by Oliver Stone, which makes perfect sense.

      Can’t Hardly Wait (1998)

      Sony Pictures Releasing – Credit: Columbia Pictures

      Is Can’t Hardly Wait a Gen X film or a millennial film? It features an array of Gen X rising or soon-to-be stars, such as Ethan Embry, Lauren Ambrose, Seth Green, Melissa Joan Hart, and of course, Jennifer Love Hewitt (above), who anchors the film.

      While the soundtrack screams Gen X — named after a Replacements song and filled with standout tracks by Run-DMC and Guns N’ Roses — the characters hover right on the blurred line between the two generations, at the tail end of a relatively carefree decade for suburban teens. They remain oblivious that they are on the brink of a much scarier decade and world.

      It’s one of the most lighthearted and enjoyable films from the '90s, drawing inspiration from '80s teen movies. Yet it’s also compelling. We frequently think of Can’t Hardly Wait when reminiscing about those years marked by a lack of responsibility and the self-created problems one encounters when stepping into the world.

      The film’s writers and directors, Deborah Kaplan and Harry Elfont, also created a brilliant Gen X satire that appears on our list of Smart Movies Disguised as Dumb Movies.

      Dazed and Confused (1993)

      Gramercy Pictures – Credit: C/O

      A parallel question: Is Dazed and Confused a Baby Boomer movie or a Gen X movie? It features a roster of Gen X actors, from Ben Affleck to Parker Posey to Matthew McConaughey, but takes place on the last day of school in 1976, arguably within Baby Bo