The class of 2025 was born into the digital age, each student consumed by pop culture, life-altering music, and streaming services with endless movies and shows. Many films live on within us either subconsciously or as a core memory that we’ll continue to cherish. From the nostalgic Toy Story to the hard-hitting A Real Pain, we turn to movies to give us comfort, or teach us a lesson.
The Skyline Post sent a survey out to the class of 2025 to evaluate which movies have stuck with us.
Responses were filled with animated movies like Brave, Frozen, and Wall-E. Faith Wei (‘25) believes that the animated Barbie movies were the best childhood movies. “They are such original and classic movies that encapsulate the experience of being a little girl.”
Others answered with classics like The Sandlot and Legally Blonde. “I love watching [Legally Blonde] because I like watching women in power; it was inspiring,” says Ainsley Vendola (‘25).
Students seem to especially enjoy films from the 80s like Top Gun and Dirty Dancing. “Dirty Dancing is my favorite movie because of the coming-of-age storyline and amazing soundtrack,” says Shravya Awatar (‘25).
Others favor modern-day cinematic events like Avengers: Endgame, and Spiderman: Across the Spider-Verse. Adarsh Nadgir (‘25) is a big Marvel fan, whose favorite movie is Avengers: Endgame. “I thought it was one of the best endings to a series yet. It was really enticing to watch and I was at the edge of my seat the whole time. It really did justice to the best phase of Marvel.”
Surprisingly, many students love highly charged movies from the 2000s like Lost In Translation and Eternal Sunshine of The Spotless Mind. I don’t know why this surprised me – our class has lived through so much and these emotional movies can provide something to relate to or a just visual treat to admire. Many explore complicated relationships struggling with miscommunication and heartbreak, which is something that can be all too familiar to us.
What is a must-watch before graduating seemed to be an impossible question. Yet, manyanswers revolved around the schooling experience. Nithila Balaji (‘25) loves High School Musical 3. “I grew up in India, and when I watched that movie it was like the epitome of American high school for me.”
Micah Winchell (‘25) suggests the heavier Good Will Hunting. “It leads to a greater understanding of people as a whole,” indicating this as a must watch.
Norah LeCloux (‘25), on the other hand, prefers Ladybird. “It’s a great story that reflects a lot of the experiences and emotions that teenagers go through during senior year.”
