7 Best Movies for Tweens

Our seventh selection for best movies for tweens is Spy Kids. While most spies are adults, this film series takes a fun new spin on the spy genre, perfect for young viewers. Carmen and Juni must become spies to save their ex-spy parents from an evil mastermind. Working with a bag of high-tech gadgets and transportation, the two kids must crisscross the globe to save their parents, and maybe even the world.

–IMDb score: 5.6

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We can’t have the best movies for tweens list without including the iconic 2001 film The Princess Diaries. Even though Mia is no longer a tween, she still has big changes in her life, just like a tween. Plus, who doesn’t love a “rags to riches” story? Mia Thermopolis is a shy San Francisco teenager who is thrown into a new world when she learns she’s the heir of Genovia. Mia must learn how to become royalty with the help of her strict and formidable grandmother, Queen Clarisse Renaldi, through several “princess lessons.”

–IMDb score: 6.4

Barbie dolls are a staple for children and tweens everywhere, so why not watch the Barbie movie while dressing up your dolls? Fifth on our list of best movies for tweens, Barbie and Ken are having the time of their lives in the perfect world of Barbie Land. But, when they get to go to the real world, they soon discover the joy and peril of living amongst humans and those who want them to return to Barbie Land.

–IMDb score: 6.8

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Figuring out who you are and navigating your body’s changes can be very difficult, but Mei Lee’s difficulties are on a different level. Earning the fourth spot on the best movies for tweens list, Turning Red focuses on thirteen-year-old Mei Lee. Torn between her changing adolescence and her mother’s wishes, Mei Lee must also deal with transforming into a giant red panda when too excited. Will Mei Lee be able to control her transformation and growing pains, or will she keep turning red?

–IMDb score: 7.0

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Reaching our top three for the best movies for tweens is Harry Potter and the Sorcerer’s Stone. A classic film spanning generations of fans, this movie is perfect for tweens wanting a little magic in their lives. Harry Potter seems like a normal eleven-year-old boy until he learns he is a wizard and has been invited to the Hogwarts School for Witchcraft and Wizardry. Thrown into a magical world, Harry must navigate the perils of a new school and that not all wizards are to be trusted.

–IMDb score: 7.6

Our second selection for best movies for tweens is The Goonies, centering on a group of young misfits who find an ancient treasure map. To make way for a new golf course, the entire community of Goon Docks, Oregon, is slated for imminent foreclosure. In despair about their impending split, a group of friends known as the Goonies stumble upon a map leading to the fabled treasure of pirate One-Eyed Willy. The Goonies dive into the challenge, intent on finding enough treasure to save their town and stay together, but is the treasure even real?

–IMDb score: 7.7

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Last but not least on our list of best movies for tweens is Inside Out, a film that explores our inner emotions and how we deal with change. Riley is uprooted from her life in the Midwest when her father starts a new job in San Francisco. Following her emotions (Joy, Fear, Anger, Disgust, and Sadness), Riley navigates everyday life in a new place. While Joy tries to keep everything positive for the tween, her other emotions will argue about how best to lead Riley in her new life.

–IMDb score: 8.1

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