Welcome Crisp Fall Vibes With 15 Prep School Movies

Brendan Fraser plays a working-class kid who gets a football scholarship to a prep school. He quickly fits in, until his classmates discover he is Jewish and his new friends start turning against him. Matt Damon co-stars and keep your eyes peeled for Ben Affleck sightings.

Robin Williams barrels into a prestigious boys school as a teacher who uses unconventional methods to break through to students who are crushed by the standards of their parents. As he encourages them to seize the day, some thrive while others crumble. Robert Sean Leonard and Ethan Hawke co-star as two of his students.

More Christmasy than fall-ish, this movie follows a grumpy teacher who needs to babysit a troublemaking student (Dominic Sessa) stranded at school over break, but the vibes are still immaculate. The two eventually bond, along with the school’s head chef (Da’Vine Joy Randolph).

Kevin Kline and Emile Hirsch clash as an idealistic teacher and rebellious-but-connected student at a prep school. Decades later, the two are reunited only to butt heads again as old conflicts arise.

Gene and Finny meet at the Devon School in 1942 and become friends, but jealousy seeps in as Gene grows paranoid that Finny wants to ruin his academic success. When an accident injures Finny, Gene will carry the guilt for decades.

Shawn Hatosy (“The Pitt”) stars as Tim, a teen who makes drugs his whole personality. After trouble with the cops, his father sends him to a Connecticut prep school. Tim struggles to adjust to his new life, but falls in love with a classmate (Amy Smart). The film was co-written by the Farrelly Brothers, based on Peter Farrelly’s experience at the Kent school.

Columbia terrorists invade an American prep school in this action film, starring Sean Astin, Keith Coogan, Wil Wheaton and T.E. Russell. Luckily, the students are ready to fight back.

To earn money, a student on scholarship (Chris O'Donnell) cares for a bitter blind Army vet named Frank (Al Pacino) over Thanksgiving weekend. Unfortunately, Frank is a bit of a handful, hoping to go out in a blaze in New York City before taking his own life. When Charlie deals with his own crisis in school, Frank suddenly has new purpose.

Max (Jason Schwartzman) is a precocious prep school student who stinks at academic subjects but thrives in his extracurricular activities, running almost every club at school. He berfriends a wealthy steel magnate (Bill Murray) but they two go to war when they become infatuated with the same teacher.

The power struggle between rigid teachers, cruel older students, and weak younger students is explored in this British film about a student rebellion. Malcolm McDowell plays the ringleader of the uprising, which ends in an explosive conclusion.

From 1939 comes this sweet and tragic drama about a strict Victorian schoolteacher who turns into a beloved headmaster after the love of a young suffragette opens up his world. The story takes place over several decades, including the trying times around during World War I.

Most prep school movies are male focused, so this female-led story about teenage witches is a welcome departure. When a foursome of young women form a coven, their power becomes stronger than they are ready to face.

A British boarding school may seem typical on the surface, but the students (including (Carey Mulligan, Andrew Garfield and Keira Knightley) are hiding a secret that leaves them fighting for their lives, all while dealing with usual teenage emotions of love, jealousy and betrayal.

Kind of like a modern “The Catcher in the Rye,” this story follows Igby (Kieran Culkin), a rich kid who’s completely disillusioned with life and bounces around prep schools after repeatedly getting expelled. As he tries to survive his toxic family, he escapes to New York to forge his own path.

Moving the story of “Les Liaisons dangereuses” to modern-day New York city, this twisted tale follows step siblings Kathryn and Sebastian (Sarah Michelle Gellar and Ryan Phillippe) who make a bet to see if Sebastian can seduce a celibate, naïve girl (Reese Witherspoon). When Sebastian accidentally falls in love, Kathryn’s cruelty is revealed.