Looking for movies like 10 Things I Hate About You? Here are 10 films with similar witty, charming, heartfelt vibes, matching themes, and the same emotional impact.
Last updated Oct 1, 2026
The best movies like 10 Things I Hate About You are She's All That, Clueless, Mean Girls, A Knight's Tale. Each shares the witty, charming, heartfelt tone and explores similar themes of high school, Shakespeare, first love, identity, rebellion.
If you loved 10 Things I Hate About You (1999) for Heath Ledger's irresistible charm, the sharp dialogue, and a teen rom-com that perfectly updates The Taming of the Shrew, these 10 movies deliver a similar experience. We picked each one based on shared tone, themes, and emotional feel — not just surface-level genre tags.

She's All That follows a popular high school senior, played by Freddie Prinze Jr., who accepts a bet that he can turn an artsy, overlooked classmate into prom queen. Like 10 Things I Hate About You, the romance starts as a wager and turns genuine, which sets up a betrayal-and-reveal climax. The difference is in the heroine: Kat Stratford fights everyone from the first scene, while this film follows a more traditional makeover arc.

Clueless centers on Cher, a wealthy Beverly Hills teen who plays matchmaker for her friends while missing what is happening in her own love life. Both this film and 10 Things I Hate About You quietly update a classic novel or play, Jane Austen's Emma in this case, for a '90s high school. Clueless is lighter and more satirical, with its satire aimed at privilege and slang rather than at a headstrong girl who wants to be left alone.

Mean Girls drops a homeschooled newcomer, played by Lindsay Lohan, into a public high school ruled by a clique called the Plastics. Fans of 10 Things I Hate About You will recognize the sharp social map of cafeteria tribes and the comedy of a teen pretending to be someone she isn't. Romance takes a back seat here, though; this one is mostly a satire of girl politics, with Tina Fey's writing driving the jokes.

A Knight's Tale stars Heath Ledger as a medieval squire who poses as a nobleman to compete in jousting tournaments, all set to a classic rock soundtrack. Ledger's cocky, playful charm is the main link to 10 Things I Hate About You, and the film shares that movie's habit of mixing old material with modern attitude. Expect an adventure comedy with romance on the side, not a high school story.

Easy A follows Olive, played by Emma Stone, a high school student whose harmless lie about losing her virginity spirals into a campus-wide reputation she decides to own. Like 10 Things I Hate About You, it draws on a classic text, in this case The Scarlet Letter, and features a whip-smart heroine who refuses to apologize for herself. Its humor is more knowing and self-aware, and the romance is a slow-burning subplot.

She's the Man stars Amanda Bynes as a soccer player who disguises herself as her twin brother to join a rival boys' school team. It is the closest structural match to 10 Things I Hate About You on this list, since both turn a Shakespeare comedy, Twelfth Night here, into a teen movie. The tone is broader and more slapstick, built around Bynes's physical comedy instead of verbal sparring.

Never Been Kissed follows a young newspaper copy editor, played by Drew Barrymore, who goes undercover as a high school student and relives the awkwardness of her teenage years. The deception-driven romance and late-'90s school setting both echo 10 Things I Hate About You. This one is gentler and more sentimental, with an adult heroine looking back at adolescence rather than a teen fighting her way through it.

Drive Me Crazy pairs two neighbors, played by Melissa Joan Hart and Adrian Grenier, who fake a relationship to make their crushes jealous before a big school dance. The pretend-dating plan and the opposites-attract pairing put it in the same territory as 10 Things I Hate About You, from the same era. It is lower-key and less quotable, but a pleasant, overlooked pick for fans of late-'90s teen romance.

Can't Hardly Wait unfolds over one night at a huge graduation party, where a student finally works up the nerve to confess his longtime crush to the popular girl played by Jennifer Love Hewitt. It sits right next to 10 Things I Hate About You in the late-'90s teen canon and has a similar cast of cliques and misfits. The difference is structure: it is a sprawling ensemble comedy rather than one focused couple.

The DUFF stars Mae Whitman as a senior who learns she is seen as the 'designated ugly fat friend' of her group and enlists a jock neighbor to help reinvent herself. Its sarcastic heroine and makeover-meets-romance plot update the formula of 10 Things I Hate About You for the social media era. The humor is more modern and the stakes are smaller, but the banter between the leads carries it.
10 Things I Hate About You works because it hides a Shakespeare comedy inside a sharp, warm teen romance: a scheme involving a paid-off date, a prickly heroine who refuses to play along, and Heath Ledger at his most charming. Our picks lean into those pieces from different directions. She's the Man and Clueless are the closest cousins, since both rework classic literature for a modern high school. She's All That and The DUFF keep the bet-or-makeover setup, while A Knight's Tale is here for Ledger's swagger. Easy A and Mean Girls bring sharper satire, and Drive Me Crazy is a lesser-known late-'90s gem built on a fake-dating plan.