Film
Moxie
A teen girl launches an anonymous feminist zine that ignites a movement at her high school. It's earnest and energetic, genuinely funny about the small indignities of adolescence, and made for anyone who remembers—or is living through—the specific rage of being underestimated. Amy Poehler directs with real warmth; the cast feels like actual friends.
If you liked this
Eighth Grade2018
Bo Burnham captures the vertiginous anxiety of adolescence with devastating accuracy. Funny, cringe, tender, and true—it understands what it feels like to be thirteen in a way most films don't.
But It's deliberately awkward and sometimes hard to watch. No plot in the traditional sense, just life pressing in.

Lady Bird2017
Greta Gerwig's semi-autobiographical film about a girl clashing with her mother and finding her voice. Tender, witty, the emotional payoff is genuinely moving.
But It's quiet and introspective. If you want big dramatic moments, you'll be disappointed.

Never Have I Ever2020
Mindy Kaling's series about a first-generation Indian-American teen navigating school, family, and identity. Hilarious, specific, with real stakes behind the comedy.
But It leans heavily on cringe humour and sexual comedy. Some of it lands harder than others.

Not sure tonight? Get a pick in a minute, starting from Moxie
The wildcard
Something you would not have found on your own.
Bombshell2019
Both are about women using their voices to challenge institutional power. Moxie is the idealistic version; Bombshell is what it costs in the real world.
Charlize Theron, Nicole Kidman, and Margot Robbie expose harassment and corruption at Fox News. It's a furious, meticulously crafted thriller about women finding their power and paying the cost.
But It's grim and deeply uncomfortable. The harassment scenes don't look away. Not cathartic, just necessary.

More like this (8)
Heathers1989
The original high school dark comedy. Savage, quotable, genuinely anarchic—it doesn't sentimentalize teenagers or school hierarchies.
But It's genuinely dark. People die. The tone is ice-cold in places.

Barb & Star Go to Vista Del Mar2021
Annie Mumolo and Cecily Strong are endlessly charming as two best friends on a beach vacation. Weird, affectionate, and committed to its own absurd logic.
But The premise is thin and it's not interested in plot. It just wants to spend time with these people.

Daria1997
A sardonic teenage girl observes the chaos around her with deadpan precision. Genuinely smart comedy that respects its audience and never feels patronizing.
But It's a '90s MTV show, which is both its charm and its period limitation. Animation is deliberately flat.

The Spectacular Now2013
Miles Teller and Shailene Woodley have real chemistry as two teenagers from different worlds. It's a romance that feels earned and honest about growing up.
But It's deliberately small-scale. Expect a character study, not a grand gesture.

Blockers2018
Three parents try to stop their teenage daughters from losing their virginity on prom night. It's genuinely funny about both generations and doesn't pretend teens are stupid.
But The premise is a bit contrived and the third act loses some momentum.

Freaky Friday2003
Jamie Lee Curtis and Lindsay Lohan swap bodies and have to live each other's lives. Earnest about the parent-teen divide, funny, and surprisingly warm.
But It's very much a Disney movie. If you hate wish-fulfillment fantasy, you'll feel the formula.

The Fits2016
Both centre teenage girls finding community and identity through their bodies and self-expression. Where Moxie is loud, The Fits is silent and mysterious.
A girl tries to join a competitive dance team in Cincinnati. Shot with stark, elegant minimalism, it's hypnotic and strange—more about atmosphere and bodies than plot.
But Nothing much happens. It's visual and sensory, not narrative. Some will find it slow; others transcendent.

PEN152019
Both use humor to interrogate adolescence and shame. Moxie exposes it; Pen15 gets inside it and finds something unexpectedly moving underneath the absurdity.
A semi-autobiographical comedy from Maya Erskine about a woman reinventing her childhood by going back to middle school undercover. Bizarrely tender, genuinely funny, completely unexpected.
But The premise is weird and the show knows it. Some find it charming; others find it too strange or sit-com-adjacent.

People
Cast
Hadley RobinsonVivian Carter
Lauren TsaiClaudia
Alycia Pascual-PeñaLucy Hernandez
Nico HiragaSeth Acosta
Sabrina HaskettKaitlynn Price
Patrick SchwarzeneggerMitchell Wilson
Sydney ParkKiera Pascal
Anjelika WashingtonAmaya
Amy PoehlerLisa Carter
Ike BarinholtzMr. Davies
Marcia Gay HardenPrincipal Shelly
Directing
- Amy PoehlerDirector
Writing
- Jennifer MathieuNovel
- Dylan MeyerScreenplay
- Tamara ChestnaScreenplay
Production
- Allison JonesCasting
- Amy PoehlerProducer
- David HymanProducer
- Kim LessingProducer
- Morgan SackettProducer