Entertainment
The new Freeform show Grown-ish follows Zoey Johnson from Black-ish as she embarks on a new journey at a Cal U. It's the perfect spinoff, because it allows the important conversations that are so wittily held on Black-ish to unfold in a setting where everyone is learning more about the world: college. Plenty of movies portray this pivotal point in people's lives, touching on the subjects Grown-ish is currently exploring. So, these are the 11 movies to see if you love Grown-ish, since they depict many of the same subjects as the Freeform show, whether it's drug use or new romances.
One of the best things about Yara Shahidi's Zoey is how relatable she is, in that she doesn't have it all together. The fact that fans have been able to watch her grow over the years first on Black-ish allows audiences to feel a unique connection to the character, as if they have been growing up right along with Zoey. With these 11 movies, viewers don't have quite as intimate of a relationship with the characters, but they're still just as relatable as Grown-ish is. High school and college are always formative times in people's lives, and being able to watch other people go through it and say "same" is the greatest gift from TV shows like Grown-ish and each of these movies.
1
'Pitch Perfect'
OK, you may not have been in a capella group — and neither is Zoey — but a lot of the themes of Grown-ish, like weird cliquey feuds and unlikely romances, are covered in Pitch Perfect (writer: Kay Cannon). Plus, they're both equally funny.
2
'Easy A'
Speaking of funny, Easy A is a great and hilarious movie about how a school's status quo can be turned upside down by one fearless woman.
3
'Drumline'
The 2002 movie starring Nick Cannon and Zoe Saldana shows how colleges can be a hotbed of tension between people of different socioeconomic backgrounds. Oh, and the drumming is pretty great, too.
4
'21 Jump Street'
The ins and outs of college norms are hilariously parodied in this undercover cop movie.
5
'School Daze'
Laurence Fishburne stars in this Spike Lee movie about college, which is remarkably similar to Grown-ish despite it the fact that it was released exactly 30 years before it.
6
'Step'
Follow a Baltimore step team as they fight the odds while applying to college and making the most of their senior year in Step (director: Amanda Lipitz).
7
'Clueless'
Some of the same themes from Grown-ish, like virginity, drug-use, stereotypes, and the confusion of romance, are hilariously portrayed in this '90s classic.
8
'College Road Trip'
Just as Zoey's dad, Dre, didn't want his daughter to leave the nest, neither does Martin Lawrence's character in College Road Trip (writer: Carrie Lee Wilson).
9
'Higher Learning'
If you like parts of Grown-ish that deal with political and social conflicts happening in the world, you should watch this 1995 classic.
10
'Neighbors 2'
A group of women in college joins together in Neighbors 2, kind of like how Zoey and her friend join forces to navigate their new environment together.
11
'Accepted'
Accepted takes a unique look at college, in that it portrays a fake one. Still, all of the party and hormones are there.
Whether you're in college, looking forward to it, or past it, there's something that everyone can relate to in Grown-ish and each of these movies.
