Film
Easy A
Easy A is a whip-smart teen comedy that borrows its plot from The Scarlet Letter and its energy from every John Hughes movie you loved. Emma Stone announces herself as a comic lead — deadpan, quick, morally sharper than the adults around her — as a girl who invents a scandalous reputation and then can't outrun it. Funny, quotable, and sneakily serious about hypocrisy underneath the jokes.
If you liked this
Mean Girls2004
The gold standard of high-school social-warfare comedy — quotable in every line, and just as sharp on how fast a rumour becomes reality.
But You've probably already quoted it a hundred times; there's little here that will feel new.

Clueless1995
Another loose classic-lit adaptation turned teen comedy, with a heroine whose confidence and moral compass make the satire land softer but no less sharp.
But The slang and fashion are pure '90s time capsule — charming, but dated if that's not your thing.

10 Things I Hate About You1999
Shakespeare filtered through a Seattle high school, with the same blend of wit, romance and a heroine too smart for the games around her.
But The plot mechanics are pure teen-movie formula; go in for the cast, not surprises.

The wildcard
Something you would not have found on your own.
The Scarlet Letter1927no page yet
Easy A is a direct riff on this exact story; watching the source shows how much moral weight the comedy is quietly borrowing.
The actual source material Olive keeps quoting, played dead straight — Lillian Gish's Hester Prynne carries the same shame and defiance with nothing but her face.
But Silent, slow by modern standards, and utterly without jokes — the tone Easy A parodies rather than shares.
More like this (8)
Juno2007
Another fast-talking teenage girl navigating a reputation she didn't quite choose, with the same mix of humour and unexpected tenderness underneath the jokes.
But Diablo Cody's dialogue is an acquired taste — some find the quippiness exhausting rather than charming.

Booksmart2019
A more modern, gleefully raunchy spin on the smart-girl-versus-her-reputation formula, with the same warmth toward its characters even at their most chaotic.
But Leans harder into raunch and party-movie chaos than Easy A ever does.

Superbad2007
Same high-school-comedy engine, different gender and gear — raunchier, louder, and just as interested in how rumour warps a single day.
But Much cruder and more male-focused; the sincerity Easy A has is mostly absent here.

Ferris Bueller's Day Off1986
The John Hughes touchstone Easy A keeps nodding to — a charming, rule-breaking lead narrating their own myth-making straight to camera.
But No underlying moral sting; it's pure fantasy fun rather than social commentary.

Never Been Kissed1999
A different reputation-reinvention story — an adult undercover as a teen — that shares Easy A's interest in how identity gets rewritten by rumour.
But The central premise is stranger and creakier by today's standards; treat it as a period piece.

The DUFF2015no page yet
The closest recent cousin: a girl labelled and mocked by her school who decides to rewrite her own story, loudly and on her own terms.
But Broader and more formulaic, without the literary backbone or the wit that makes Easy A sing.
Audrie & Daisy2016
Same engine as Easy A — a rumour spreads and a girl becomes defined by it — but shown as the genuinely destructive thing it can be.
A devastating documentary about real teenage girls whose reputations were destroyed by rumour and social media — same premise, none of the jokes, real consequences.
But Heavy and upsetting, not something to watch for entertainment — this is the subject matter with all the comfort removed.

Welcome to the Dollhouse1996
Same setup — an ordinary kid becomes the school's designated outcast by rumour and reputation — but curdled into something far more uncomfortable than Olive's story ever risks being.
Todd Solondz's pitch-black comedy about a friendless, mocked middle schooler is the tonal opposite of Easy A's wit — funny in a way that stings rather than charms.
But There's no clever monologue that fixes everything here; it's much bleaker and offers little catharsis.

People
Cast
Emma StoneOlive
Penn BadgleyWoodchuck Todd
Amanda BynesMarianne
Dan ByrdBrandon
Thomas Haden ChurchMr. Griffith
Patricia ClarksonRosemary
Cam GigandetMicah
Lisa KudrowMrs. Griffith
Malcolm McDowellPrincipal Gibbons
Aly MichalkaRhiannon
Stanley TucciDill
Fred ArmisenPastor
Directing
- Bruce A. SimonAdditional Second Assistant Director
- Heather KritzerAdditional Second Assistant Director
- Will GluckDirector
- Todd AmateauFirst Assistant Director
- Jody BloseScript Supervisor
- Tony NaharSecond Assistant Director
- Will SandovalSecond Second Assistant Director
Writing
- Bert V. RoyalWriter
Production
- Nick CostantinoAssistant Accountant
- William T. WesleyAssistant Location Manager
- Kevin MageeAssistant Production Coordinator
- Alicia EmmrichAssociate Producer
- Lisa Miller KatzCasting
- Joseph WisniewskiCasting Associate
- Mark B. JohnsonCo-Producer
- Fermin DavalosLocation Manager
- Will GluckProducer
- Zanne DevineProducer
- Ryan WhanProduction Accountant
- David C. BernatProduction Coordinator
- Shadow KingsleyProduction Secretary
- Clifford L. RogersProduction Supervisor
- Glenn S. GainorUnit Production Manager
Recommended by
Clueless, Mean Girls, 10 Things I Hate About You, The Edge of Seventeen, Booksmart, Saved!, Juno, Blockers, Love, Simon, The Half of It, Sierra Burgess Is a Loser, Never Been Kissed