Stoner Movies, Ranked by Metascore

Long one of Metacritic's all-time lowest-scoring films, this 1996 comedy stars Razzie Award-winner Pauly Shore and Stephen Baldwin as a pair of none-too-bright stoners who are accidentally trapped within a yearlong experiment with a group of scientists. It's the kind of film where Roger Clinton and Patty Hearst show up for no good reason.

"Shore possesses only two talents -- his ability to assume yoga-like positions and fondle his own behind, and his mystifying knack for getting starring roles in bad movies." —Peter Stack, San Francisco Chronicle

Cheech & Chong's fourth film doesn't even really make an attempt to be a movie; instead, it cuts together random bits of their stage performances with a very loose plot about a trip to a film festival. The result was panned by reviewers, unlike the duo's first three features.

"With Still Smokin', Cheech Marin and Tommy Chong are scraping the bottom of their barrel and finding only bits and pieces of the characters and comedy routines that were so successful in their earlier films." —Vincent Canby, The New York Times

Dave Chappelle heads the cast of this 1998 comedy from director Tamra Davis (CB4, Billy Madison) about a hazy plan by three roommates to steal and sell medical marijuana to raise money to bail out their friend. Is it the kind of movie that features a character named Mary Jane Potman and cameos from famed tokers Tommy Chong, Snoop Dogg, and Willie Nelson? Oh yes, it is.

"The humor in this movie is basically anthropological notes on doper culture and behavior: junk-food frenzies, smoking rituals and hardware, non sequitur conversation, and short-term memory loss. In other words, stuff that passed into the realm of cliché back in the time of the Johnson administration." —Russell Smith, The Austin Chronicle

Two San Fernando teens (Pauly Shore, Sean Astin) discover a frozen caveman (Brendan Fraser) in their backyard in this fairly terrible 1992 comedy. But even that low score actually makes it one of the better films featuring Shore (who plays a character named "Stoney," lest you question whether or not he plays a stoner) in a lead role.

"Encino Man is so puerile and sophomoric that, by comparison, 'Fast Times at Ridgemont High' is 'Our Town,' and 'Bill & Ted's Excellent Adventure' is 'Gulliver's Travels.'" —Michael Snyder, San Francisco Chronicle

Both this 2001 horror spoof and its 2000 predecessor feature some "high"lights, but the sequel lands here for one scene in particular: a Little Shop of Horrors homage featuring a marijuana plant that grows in size and smokes its owner.

"Scary Movie 2 has something for potheads and the potty-mouthed alike. Anyone looking for a true sequel, however, will be disappointed." —Steven Rea, The Philadelphia Inquirer

Rappers Method Man & Redman use a batch of magical marijuana to ace their SAT—er, "THC"—exams and get into Harvard in this 2001 comedy directed by Jesse Dylan (aka Bob's son).

"The biggest problem, ironically, is that even though the plot and the action center on smoking pot, it's not enough of a stoner flick. The concept of getting stoned isn't amusing; watching stoned people is." —Joan Anderman, The Boston Globe

After a night of partying, two friends (Ashton Kutcher, Seann William Scott) can't remember where they parked and must retrace their steps—and save the world—in this 2000 comedy that became an unlikely hit despite terrible reviews. Director Danny Leiner would go on to make another (and better) stoner classic, Harold & Kumar Go to White Castle.

"An almost chuckle-free mess, so amateurish and lame that the cast often has that embarrassed look you see on dogs given ridiculous haircuts." —Jonathan Foreman, New York Post

In this 1999 horror-comedy, a teen stoner (Devon Sawa) discovers that his hand has become possessed, and it goes on a killing spree without any ability to stop it.

"It's got the sex. It's got the violence. And, most important, it has an array of pot-centered jokes that might be funny to someone under the influence of an illegal substance." —Monica Eng, Chicago Tribune

A pair of high school students attempt to get the entire student body high to thwart the school's new drug test policy in this barely screened 2010 comedy starring Adrien Brody, Michael Chiklis, Matt Bush, and Colin Hanks.

"High School rushes through the parts it should savor and then pads out its runtime with filler elsewhere - and, less forgivably, it doesn't make getting high look like fun." —Alison Willmore, Movieline

The worst film ever directed by David Gordon Green (Halloween, Pineapple Express), this pot-filled, low-brow, 2011 fantasy spoof stars Danny McBride, James Franco, and Natalie Portman. It was a box office dud.

"Gingival surgery would be more fun than watching this brain-draining, spirit-sucking attempt at a stoner spoof, which combines the cutting edge of frat-boy wit, the excitement of a mid-'80s made-for-TV action flick and the authenticity of a Renaissance Faire held in an abandoned field behind a Courtyard by Marriott." —Andrew O'Hehir, Salon

Airplane!, it's not. This 2004 bomb features Snoop Dogg as a cannabis-loving airline pilot (for an airline called NWA) and also stars Kevin Hart, Method Man, and Tom Arnold.

"In the midst of this comic black hole, only Snoop Dogg and Method Man emerge unscathed, as even material this bad can't mask their languid, long-limbed charisma." —Nathan Rabin, A.V. Club

This 2006 Adam Sandler-produced comedy about a 30-something videogame tester (Allen Covert) who moves in with his grandmother after being evicted features plenty of cannabis-related "highlights," including a plot twist in which three seniors (Doris Roberts, Shirley Jones, Shirley Knight) mistake the drug for tea. Nick Swardson and Linda Cardellini also star.

"Lacking so much as a shred of wit and crammed with more product placements than jokes, this unendurable stoner comedy clearly disproves the movie-formula wisdom that two guys, one Xbox and a 2-foot-long bong add up to something funny." —Ken Fox, TV Guide

The long-running Canadian comedy series (which now can be found on Netflix) spawned several feature films, including this 2006 entry, their first. The film follows three residents of a Nova Scotia trailer park, including Ricky (Robb Wells), a grower and frequent consumer of marijuana. It was followed by 2009's Countdown to Liquor Day (which did not get a U.S. release) and 2014's Don't Legalize It, in which the boys fear that the government's plan to legalize marijuana will destroy their own growing operation.

"I'm sure the pot-laced antics of these trashy dudes are, like, totally hilarious on Canadian TV, but they don't translate well to America or the big screen." —Julia Wallace, Village Voice

Seventeen years after the original film, the Broken Lizard gang returned in 2018—on 4/20, no less—with this partially crowdfunded sequel. Reviews weren't good, but fans turned up nevertheless.

"The sequel is so profound a buzzkill they could sell it at GNC as a detox kit. No high can survive it. It slays fun dead, grinds cannabinoids to dust, and maybe even wipes the mind of the warmth you might hold for the original Super Troopers." —Alan Scherstuhl, Village Voice

Terry Gilliam's divisive 1998 adaptation of Hunter S. Thompson's infamous 1971 novel stars Johnny Depp as Thompson stand-in Raoul Duke and Benicio del Toro as his attorney as the pair sample all that the drug world has to offer during a trip to Las Vegas.

"Gilliam's visual style has never been more energetic or inventive, and nobody could be attracted to dope after this portrait of drug abuse as a hallucinatory quagmire." —David Sterritt, The Christian Science Monitor

Not precisely a sequel (or prequel) to his slacker/stoner classic Clerks, Kevin Smith's second film takes place in the same vicinity just one day earlier, but focuses on a different group of characters, played by the likes of future Smith regulars Ben Affleck, Joey Lauren Adams, and Jason Lee, though the biggest draw at the time was probably Shannen Doherty, fresh off her four-year run on Beverly Hills, 90210. Smith is currently working on a sequel, theoretically.

"A hopelessly stupid movie that should appeal to baked couch potatoes everywhere." —Entertainment Weekly

Following five years after Friday, this 2000 comedy sequel returned star and screenwriter Ice Cube but not the first film's other lead, Chris Tucker (or director F. Gary Gray, who is replaced here by Steve Carr). Reviews were slightly less positive but the film was a bigger box office hit.

"Starts high, gradually bogs down, then dies." —Owen Gleiberman, Entertainment Weekly

This 1994 college comedy finds a high school senior (Chris Young) visiting a college for the weekend and getting involved in an ongoing war over whether or not to ban fraternities. Jeremy Piven, David Spade, Megan Ward, and Jon Favreau also star.

"The whole point of this anemic venture is to get down and party, but it comes across as a pale passe carbon of "Animal House" that's not half as much fun." —Kevin Thomas, Los Angeles Times

Easily one of the most criminally* underrated films on Metacritic, this 2001 cult comedy features many members of 1990s comedy troupe The State—along with the likes of Amy Poehler, Elizabeth Banks, Paul Rudd, David Hyde Pierce, Christopher Meloni, and Bradley Cooper in his very first film role—and serves as a very silly spoof of 1980s teen comedies like Meatballs. A pair of equally fun Netflix miniseries sequels (actually, one was, improbably, a prequel) followed over a decade later.

(* We checked, and it turns out that underrating a movie isn't actually a crime under state or federal law.)

"Big, dumb, and fun." —Kimberley Jones, Austin Chronicle

Rawson Thurber's 2013 comedy finds future soccer coach Jason Sudeikis playing a low-level drug dealer who, after being robbed, is forced by his supplier to go on a drug run to Mexico to pay off his debt. To avoid suspicion crossing back into America, he hires a stripper (Jennifer Aniston) and two teens (Will Poulter, Emma Roberts) to pose as his family. (They're the Millers, you see.) Despite middling reviews, the film was a surprise hit, grossing $270 million.

"We're the Millers is nothing but stems and seeds, with less buzz than a bag of oregano." —Joe Williams, St. Louis Post-Dispatch

A middle-schooler (Devin Brochu) is mentored by a squatter/stoner/arsonist/metalhead who goes by the name Hesher (Joseph Gordon-Levitt) in this little-seen 2010 indie that also stars Natalie Portman and Rainn Wilson.

"Hesher is a muddle of inchoate feelings that never really grasps the clichés to which it raises its middle finger." —Marjorie Baumgarten, The Austin Chronicle

A bewigged Owen Wilson stars as Bob Ross stand-in Carl Nargle, a public television painting instructor who turns to marijuana during a severe midlife crisis, in this 2023 dramedy also starring Michaela Watkins and Stephen Root. The long-in-development film disappeared from cinemas like a puff of smoke after failing to impress critics, but even the naysayers noted some moments of amusement.

"Paint almost gets by on its shaggy dog charm mostly thanks to Wilson, who remains loveable enough to guide us through this world. But the comedy is flat and the drama is dry, and none of it adds up to a pretty picture." —Chris Evangelista, Slashfilm

Released late last year, Kevin Smith's newest film returned its title characters to the screen for the first time in 13 years. Framed as a very meta sequel/reboot to 2001's Jay and Silent Bob Strikes Back, Reboot finds the pair discovering that the first movie based on their likenesses is being remade by director Kevin Smith (yes, the one you're thinking of).

"A spectacularly disjointed comedy that's only superficially about two foul-mouthed, but well-meaning dopes who light and pass the proverbial torch to the next generation of slackers. "Reboot" is more of an ego trip for Smith, an amiable, creatively frustrated pop artist who survived a major health crisis — one that even he knows he can't shut up about." —Simon Abrams, RogerEbert.com

The second feature film from the Broken Lizard comedy troupe (but the first to receive a mainstream release), this thinly plotted 2001 comedy follows a group of Vermont state troopers as they tangle with a variety of stoners, drug dealers, and their colleagues. It's far from Oscar-caliber fare, but it's an improvement over the Police Academy series.

"Puerile, offensive, degrading, dumb, pointless, insipid and may just well be a harbinger for the end of Western civilization as we know it. But I laughed. Sorry." —Chris Kaltenbach, Baltimore Sun

Released three years after Ted, Seth MacFarlane's less successful follow-up to his R-rated talking teddy bear comedy subs Amanda Seyfried for Mila Kunis but otherwise offers up more of the same—to the film's detriment.

"Ted 2 feels like far too many other sequels: born of box office expectations more than a bona fide reason to return to the characters we loved the first time around." —Richard Roeper, Chicago Sun-Times

Not exactly based on a true story, this stoner farce finds music superstars Paul [McCartney] and Stevie [Wonder]—played by Sky Elobar and Gil Gex, respectively—spending a few days hanging out together in remote Scotland in 1981. Ostensibly, they're there to work on the hit song referenced by the title, but what they mainly do in the film is goof around, get high, swim in the nude, and feed each other. Jim Hosking's film was dismissed as an "unpleasant" "anti-comedy" by reviewers like the New York Times' Calum Marsh, though there were a few critics who were more on board with the film's shaggy vibe.

"Certainly not your standard music flick, Ebony & Ivory is challenging, abrasive and utterly, utterly odd. But if you're on Jim Hosking's weirdo wavelength, it's a demented delight." —Michael Leader, Empire

In this 2015 action-comedy spoof of the Bourne series, Jesse Eisenberg stars as a small-town stoner who is surprised to discover that he is actually a CIA sleeper agent with special training (and a memory wipe) as part of a top-secret program. Kristen Stewart, Topher Grace, and Connie Britton also star.

"A lot Bourne and a little bong, the action comedy...is too earnest to be a stoner movie and too quirky to be an action flick. Therein lies the beauty of director Nima Nourizadeh's Ultra: It exists to entertain in its own oddball universe, munchies optional." —Brian Truitt, USA Today

The first of three goofy but good-natured time-travel comedies centering on not-so-bright high schoolers Bill (Alex Winter) and Ted (Keanu Reeves), Excellent Adventure has all the markings of a stoner film, and frequently ranks highly on lists of classic stoner movies . But if you want to get technical about it: Not only is there no drug use depicted in any way in the film (or its sequels), but the film is so gentle and family-friendly that Chicago Tribune critic Johanna Steinmetz compared it to "Sesame Street for teens."

"An insanely effective no-brainer of a film, sparkling with a simple charm and energy rarely witnessed this side of illegal substances." —Ian Nathan, Empire

After appearing at the edges of Kevin Smith's first four films, the titular weed dealers Jay (Jason Mewes) and Silent Bob (Smith) took center stage in the director's 2001 feature, which found the pair headed to Hollywood after they discover that the "Bluntman and Chronic" comics based on them are being adapted into a feature film.

"A blast of comic irreverence that serves as a starring vehicle for two stoner characters who had previously been relegated to the sidelines." —Peter Travers, Rolling Stone

The third film in Cheech & Chong's opening stoner film trilogy finds the duo briefly getting rich by selling marijuana (out of an ice cream truck) that turns its users into lizards. Stacy Keach returns from the duo's debut film Up in Smoke, and comedian Sandra Bernhard makes her first film appearance.

"If marijuana has a way of heightening the hilarious aspects of things that might not otherwise be funny, then this is very much a marijuana movie. But Nice Dreams also has a more general appeal than that. These are high spirits that don't have to do with being high." —Janet Maslin, The New York Times

Comedian Chris Tucker and rapper Ice Cube (who co-wrote the screenplay) head the cast of this 1995 franchise-starter that takes a comedic look at the drug trade in South Central Los Angeles. It eventually became a cult hit, and a pair of sequels would follow.

"Rather like a cross between "Up in Smoke" and an episode of "The Jeffersons, Friday is a crudely made, sometimes funny bit of porchfront humor from the 'hood." —Todd McCarthy, Variety

Set in the Northern California region long famous for its cannabis production, this indie 2008 dramedy depicts one of cinema's go-to tropes—the up-tight overachiever meets the free spirit who opens his eyes—who here take on the form of a medical student (future Succession star Jeremy Strong) and a jazz singer (Fairuza Balk) who comes from a family of marijuana farmers.

"These characters are fully alive. But the movie attaches them to a conventional, not to say creaky, hip-meets-square drama." —Stephen Holden, The New York Times

Harmony Korine's 2019 film (which, like all Korine films, proved divisive among critics and filmgoers) stars Matthew McConaughey as hedonist poet Moondog, who spends his days drinking and smoking in the Florida Keys. It's the rare film to feature both Snoop Dogg and Jimmy Buffett.

"[McConaughey]'s so entertaining, in fact, that it takes nearly the entirety of 'The Beach Bum' to fully absorb how little else there is to the film once the initial high of basking in Moondog's perma-stoned glory wears off." —Michael Nordine, Indiewire

The second (and worst-reviewed) of the three films featuring the titular stoner duo played by John Cho and Kal Penn, this 2008 comedy finds the pair accused of terrorism after they attempt to sneak a bong aboard an international flight.

"The jokes all revolve around weed, stereotypes, and Neil Patrick Harris; the stereotype stuff is by far the funniest." —J.R. Jones, Chicago Reader

Released in 1978, the cannabis-obsessed Up in Smoke was the first feature film for the long-running comedy team of Cheech & Chong. and remains one of the best-known films in the "stoner" genre. (Heck, even the last name of Tommy Chong's character here is Stoner.) The duo would make many additional films, though few were better, and few (if any) films (by them or anyone else) feature more on-screen cannabis use.

"In this funky, slapdash and occasionally very funny movie, dope is not an issue, it's a way of life." —David Ansen, Newsweek

Simon Pegg and Nick Frost reunite for this 2011 road-trip comedy (and E.T. spoof) about two geeks who help a pot-smoking alien escape from the FBI. It may not surprise you to learn that the CGI alien is voiced by Seth Rogen.

"This is the smart-ass stoner's 'E.T.,' the movie the fanboy parent won't be able to hand down like some tattered, squeaky-clean memento to their action-figure-collecting kids." —Robert Wilonsky, Village Voice

This 1980 comedy hit finds three secretaries (Dolly Parton, Jane Fonda, and Lily Tomlin) who become fed up with their sexist boss (Dabney Coleman). How do they hatch upon their plan for revenge (which involves a bit of rat poison)? While smoking a joint, of course.

"Nine to Five is a good-hearted, simple-minded comedy that will win a place in film history, I suspect, primarily because it contains the movie debut of Dolly Parton. She is, on the basis of this one film, a natural-born movie star, a performer who holds our attention so easily that it's hard to believe it's her first film." —Roger Ebert, Chicago Sun-Times

Christian Slater and Patricia Arquette star in this 1993 lovers-on-the-run crime thriller written by Quentin Tarantino (before Reservoir Dogs) and directed by Tony Scott. But Brad Pitt nearly steals the show in a small comedic role as the stoner Floyd—and his character would later serve as the inspiration for the film Pineapple Express.

"Blends and recycles elements of scores of crime and road movies, from "Bonnie and Clyde" to "Badlands" but it does so with enough energy and verve to create something entirely fresh and infectiously entertaining." —TV Guide

This recent but little-seen arthouse release from David Robert Mitchell (who previously directed the acclaimed It Follows) is a confounding, L.A.-set, semi-comedic, semi-surreal mystery centering on a stoner played by Andrew Garfield. Those critics who liked the hard-to-describe film liked it a lot, but others found it too weird and silly.

"Despite a compelling lead in Andrew Garfield, the tension dissipates rather than mounts as this knotty neo-noir slides into a Lynchian swamp of outre weirdness." —David Rooney, The Hollywood Reporter

Released in 2011, the final Harold & Kumar feature checks in with the stoner duo (played as always by John Cho and Kal Penn, with the latter taking a break from his job in the Obama White House) seven years after the events of the last film as they accidentally burn down a Christmas tree, run afoul of a Russian gangster, and meet up with a now-magical Neil Patrick Harris—all, for some reason, in 3D. It works much better than it should.

"Think of it as 'Airplane!' with controlled substances." —Carrie Rickey, The Philadelphia Inquirer

In 1982, director Amy Heckerling and writer Cameron Crowe turned Crowe's book of the same name into a classic high school comedy with a cast filled with future stars like Nicolas Cage, Anthony Edwards, Jennifer Jason Leigh, and Sean Penn. The latter plays surfer Jeff Spicoli, one of the most iconic on-screen stoners in cinema history.

"Sean Penn's scenes are still so stunning...His Jeff Spicoli is an unabashed kick every second he is on the screen." —Brad Laidman, Film Threat

This 2008 indie coming-of-age dramedy from Jonathan Levine (50/50) centers on a high school weed dealer (Josh Peck) who has an unusual relationship with his pot-smoking therapist (Ben Kingsley).

"The Wackness is one of those Sundance coming-of-age films, with all that implies: a surfeit of forced edginess, kooky characters, cynicism-coated sentimentality and self-absorbed angst." —Liam Lacey, The Globe and Mail

The first feature film written and directed by Family Guy creator Seth MacFarlane, this mostly live-action 2012 comedy stars Mark Wahlberg as a man torn between his girlfriend (Mila Kunis) and his childhood teddy bear who has come to life as a pot-smoking, foul-mouthed womanizer (and is voiced by MacFarlane himself). Ted was a massive hit (grossing well over $500 million worldwide) and received a sequel three years later.

"The one-note joke plays out longer and better than you might expect, at least for a while. But not forever." —Bill Goodykoontz, Arizona Republic

Shaka King's indie 2013 dramedy centers on a repo man (Amari Cheatom) and a museum tour guide (Trae Harris) in Brooklyn who spend an increasing amount of their time smoking weed—for good and for ill.

"Going neither in the direction of Reefer Madness nor a Cheech and Chong movie, it's both funny and serious, and its depictions of pot-smoking could be read as either promotional or cautionary." —Kelvin Henely, Slant

Brenda Blethyn plays a widow who turns to growing marijuana to raise money after the death of her husband in this 2000 British comedy that also stars Martin Clunes and Craig Ferguson. Clunes would go on to play the same small-town doctor character (albeit with a slightly different name) in the long-running ITV series Doc Martin.

"It has enough humanity to let the humor tickle, and a subject that will evoke memories for anyone who has ever smoked a joint or just said no." —Ron Dicker, Baltimore Sun

Titled after a strain of cannabis, David Gordon Green's 2008 action comedy finds a marijuana dealer (James Franco) and a process server (Seth Rogen, who co-wrote the script) on the run from a bunch of baddies after witnessing a murder.

"Like the film's giddily intoxicating cannabis hybrid, Rogen and Goldberg's script cross-pollinates Cheech-and-Chong style stoner comedy with Tarantino-esque ultra-violence." —Ken Fox, TV Guide

Kicking off a three-film franchise, this 2004 comedy centers on the titular duo (played by John Cho and Kal Penn) as they get sidetracked as they attempt to cure their marijuana-fueled munchies with a trip to White Castle.

"Will seem a classic if you're stoned, and only slightly less funny if you're straight." —Stephen Hunter, The Washington Post

This 2026 streaming stoner comedy marks the feature film debut from SNL writers Brian McElhaney and Nick Kocher, who have also performed for years as the sketch comedy duo BriTANicK. Stranger Things' Gaten Matarazzo and former The Goldbergs regular Sean Giambrone star as college roommates who ingest a (fictional) experimental psychedelic drug. Their goal is simple: To order a pizza, which turns out to be the drug's only antidote. But navigating two flights of stairs to their building's lobby to pick up that pizza turns out to be an epic, hallucinatory journey. And a mostly fun one, too, according to reviewers.

"Pizza Movie is a charming throwback to the stoner comedies that inspired it, an ambitious college movie that knows how to take a simple idea and turn it into something broad, wild, and expansive. While the joke might start to get a bit thin near the end, Pizza Movie is a clever bit of fun, and we definitely need more broad comedies like this in the world." —Ross Bonaime, Collider

At no point during this first big-screen adaptation of Mike Judge's then-hit MTV series Beavis and Butt-Head do we actually see the titular characters consuming any cannabis products—though there is a memorable peyote freakout. But the TV-loving pair may as well be the poster boys for '90s slackerdom—and you can't spell "'90s slackerdom" without at least getting a contact high. Or something like that.

"A hallucination sequence and a scene set in a Vegas nightclub are so engrossing you forget they're animated; even the showiest techniques don't detract from the story." —Lisa Alspector, Chicago Reader

Director Kevin Smith returned to the world of his debut film with this 2006 sequel that catches up with the first film's main characters (played again by Brian O'Halloran and Jeff Anderson) a decade later. After an aborted attempt in 2017, a third Clerks film is once again in development.

"Kevin Smith's most enjoyable film since, well, Clerks lacks much of its predecessor's outsider edge, but you'll probably be laughing too hard to care." —Dorian Lynskey, Empire

The comedy duo's follow-up to their debut film Up in Smoke actually received slightly better reviews than that stoner classic. This time, they play versions of themselves in a loosely plotted series of misadventures. (Added bonus: a very early Pee-wee Herman appearance.)

"Objectionable as their raunchy sense of humor and simple-minded, potheaded characters may be from a socially responsible standpoint, Cheech and Chong transcend the objections." —Gary Arnold, The Washington Post

An all-time high school movie classic, John Hughes' 1985 film centers on five mismatched misfits who share a Saturday morning detention together, largely unsupervised. Among their time-killing diversions: getting high in the school library.

"This could have been an unmitigated disaster, but Hughes' way with the material ensured it a special place in the heart of just about everyone who happened to be in high school while Ronald Reagan was President." —Brad Laidman, Film Threat

Ben Stiller's feature directorial debut is a 1990s slacker/Gen X movie classic and features a memorable sequence in which most of the main characters (played by Ethan Hawke, Winona Ryder, Janeane Garofalo, and Steve Zahn) get high and dance to "My Sharona" while buying junk food at a convenience store.

"The movie ultimately plays as a dead-on snapshot of the much-maligned post-Baby Boomer generation. In 10 years, Reality Bites might seem dated and irrelevant. Right now, it feels remarkably astute." —Rene Rodriguez, The Miami Herald

Celebrities like James Franco, Seth Rogen, Danny McBride, Jay Baruchel, and Craig Robinson play versions of themselves as they gather at a party during a global apocalyptic event in a 2013 comedy written and directed by Rogen with his frequent partner, Evan Goldberg. At one point in the film, several members of the party get high and decide to film a sequel to the aforementioned Pineapple Express.

"The film is uneven and about 15 minutes too long. But when it's funny, it's hilarious." —Claudia Puig, USA Today

Kevin Smith's no-budget, black-and-white 1994 debut—a slacker comedy that spends a day with Quick Stop Groceries clerk Dante (Brian O'Halloran) and his slacker friend Randal (Jeff Anderson)—introduces the enduring on-screen characters of pot dealer Silent Bob (played by Smith himself) and his sidekick Jay (Jason Mewes), who would go on to appear in over half of Smith's films.

"Within the limitations of his bare-bones production, Smith shows great invention, a natural feel for human comedy, and a knack for writing weird, sometimes brilliant, dialogue." —Roger Ebert, Chicago Sun-Times

Released as a serious, cautionary tale about the horrors of smoking reefer cigarettes, this 1938 film holds up today as an unintentionally hilarious hour-plus. Madness was later turned into a stage musical (starring Kristen Bell), which was then filmed for television in 2005.

"One of the most absurdly earnest exercises in paranoia you'll ever have the good fortune to see." —TimeOut

Jeff Bridges stars as another one of cinema's legendary stoners, White Russian-loving slacker Jeffrey "The Dude" Lebowski, in this 1998 comedy that remains one of the most beloved entries in the Coen brothers' filmography.

"Some may complain The Big Lebowski rushes in all directions and never ends up anywhere. That isn't the film's flaw, but its style." —Roger Ebert, Chicago Sun-Times

The rare female-led stoner comedy, this 2007 feature from arthouse cinema staple Gregg Araki spends a day following a young actress (Anna Faris) after she mistakenly eats her roommate's marijuana cupcakes.

"This is a midnight stoner movie if there ever was one." —Jack Mathews, New York Daily News

One of a handful of stoner horror films—and the rare one where the stoner character (played by Fran Kranz) is actually the hero—this clever 2012 film is a collaboration between writer/producer Joss Whedon and Drew Goddard, with the latter making his directorial debut.

"Not since 'Scream' has a horror movie subverted the expectations that accompany the genre to such wicked effect as The Cabin in the Woods, a sly, self-conscious twist on one of slasher films' ugliest stepchildren: the coed campsite massacre." —Peter Debruge, Variety

An adaptation of Michael Chabon's novel, this 2000 gem from the late Curtis Hanson stars Michael Douglas as an English professor and struggling novelist (and stoner), Tobey Maguire as his star pupil, and Robert Downey Jr. as his editor.

"A terrific movie about middle-age malaise and a comedy of unusual wit and drollness." —Paula Nechak, Seattle Post-Intelligencer

Megan Park's coming-of-age dramedy was positively reviewed following its Sundance debut in 2024, with many critics believing that what begins as a stoner comedy ultimately turns into something unexpectedly deeper by film's end. The film stars a widely praised Maisy Stella as 18-year-old Elliott, while Aubrey Plaza plays her older self, who first visits her teenage counterpart while the latter is under the influence of psychedlic mushrooms in the summer before the start of college.

"It's a fun, silly premise, but while there's no shortage of stoner humour, the film is deeper and considerably more satisfying than the drug-baked adolescent wisecracking might initially suggest." —Wendy Ide, The Observer

Jesse Eisenberg and Kristen Stewart head the cast of Greg Mottola's excellent 2009 coming-of-age dramedy about a group of theme park employees during the summer of 1987. The characters spend much of their time stoned.

"Thanks to an exceptionally deft touch, Mottola manages to capture the absurdity and anguish of young adulthood, while never sacrificing meaning on the altar of crude humor." —Ann Hornaday, The Washington Post

The first film to bear the "National Lampoon's" label, this 1978 film from John Landis is widely considered one of the all-time great comedies, as well as the most financially successful. It also features SNL's John Belushi in his first big-screen role.

"At its best it perfectly expresses the fears and loathings of kids who came of age in the late '60's; at its worst Animal House revels in abject silliness. The hilarious highs easily compensate for the puerile lows." —Frank Rich, Time

Paul Thomas Anderson successfully translated Thomas Pynchon's 1970-set detective novel to the big screen in this 2014 dramedy starring Joaquin Phoenix as a stoner/private investigator in Los Angeles.

"Inherent Vice is a film about a stoner which itself seems stoned. This is just one small part of what makes it distinctive." —Matt Zoller Seitz, RogerEbert.com

Richard Linklater's 1993 classic is a loosely structured teen ensemble comedy set during the last day of a high school in Austin, Texas in 1976. Stars include then-unknowns like Matthew McConaughey (in his first major role), Ben Affleck, Milla Jovovich, Adam Goldberg, Parker Posey, Joey Lauren Adams, and Cole Hauser, and the film features a famous pot-smoking scene on the school's football field.

"The surprise lies in Linklater's ability to breathe so much fresh life into a tired formula...This is a picture that recollects not merely a period in time but a state of mind." —Rick Groen, The Globe and Mail

Judd Apatow's 2007 well-received follow-up to The 40-Year-Old Virgin stars Seth Rogen as a slacker accustomed to a life of pot-smoking and hanging out with friends who learns that the much more ambitious woman with whom he recently had a one-night stand (Katherine Heigl) is pregnant with his baby. It remains the director's highest-scoring film.

"Turns out to be not just rude, crude and outrageously funny but a deceptively sophisticated meditation on moral agency -- with pot jokes!" —Ann Hornaday, The Washington Post

Dennis Hopper directed this 1969 road trip classic in which he stars alongside Peter Fonda and Jack Nicholson. Drug use (and dealing) plays a part in the story, and it has been widely reported that the substances seen on screen were no mere props.

"Not only emblematic of independent American cinema, but, released in 1969, is the definitive statement on the death of the 60s." —Christopher Machell, CineVue

Part stoner comedy—its lead character, Leonardo DiCaprio's washed-up revolutionary aiming to protect his daughter, is often high—and part kinetic action thriller, One Battle After Another is 100% the best-reviewed movie released in 2025 (and the only Oscar Best Picture winner on this list). Written and directed by Paul Thomas Anderson (very, very loosely adapting Thomas Pynchon's novel Vineland), the politically charged, big-budget crowd-pleaser also features memorable performances from Sean Penn, Teyana Taylor, Benicio del Toro, and breakout star Chase Infiniti.

"In years to come, when this appears on TV late at night, it'll be impossible to switch off. It's just one of those films. A stone-cold, instant classic." —Alex Godfrey, Empire