Mean Girls (2004)
78%RT Audience Score: 66%
Awards & Nominations: 7 wins & 25 nominations
Elevated by a brilliant screenplay and outstanding ensemble cast, Mean Girls finds fresh, female-fronted humor in the high school experience
If you’re looking for a movie that perfectly captures the cutthroat world of high school, look no further than Mean Girls. This film has everything: cliques, drama, and of course, Regina George. But what sets it apart from other teen comedies is its sharp writing and hilarious performances. You’ll be quoting lines like “You can’t sit with us!” and “That’s so fetch” for years to come. So grab your Burn Book and get ready to laugh your way through the jungle that is high school.
Production Company(ies)
MSNBC Films,
Distributor
Paramount Pictures
Release Type
Theatrical
Filming Location(s)
Etobicoke, Toronto, Ontario, Canada
MPAA / Certificate
Rated PG-13 for sexual content, language and some teen partying
Year of Release
2004
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Color:Color
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Sound mix:Dolby Digital DTS
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Aspect ratio:1.85 : 1
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Runtime:1h 37m
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Language(s):English, German, Vietnamese, Swahili
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Country of origin:United States
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Release date:Release Date (Theaters): Apr 30, 2004 Wide
Release Date (Streaming): Sep 21, 2004
Genre(s)
Comedy
Keyword(s)
starring Lindsay Lohan, Rachel McAdams, Lacey Chabert, Amanda Seyfried, directed by Mark Waters, written by Tina Fey, comedy, PG-13, box office gross $86.1M, reviewed by Nell Minow, J.R Jones, Jessica Winter, Nick Schager, Wayne Broadway, Mike Massie, Richard Propes, Katie Duggan, high school, cliques, popularity, Plastics, Africa, Illinois, public school, teen comedy, female-fronted humor, ensemble cast, screenplay, Paramount Pictures, Lorne Michaels, Dolby SRD, DTS, Surround, Flat (1.85:1), sexual content, language, Regina George, Mrs Norbury, Mr Duvall, Mrs George, Cady’s Mom, Mean Girls, cult classic, quotable, Lindsay Lohan’s performance, dialogue, arch, feel-good movie, Tina Fey’s script, fresh, young cast, charisma, preachy, after school special, conventional material, enduring, highly re-watchable, top horror movies, MCU movies, Netflix series, TV premiere dates, Fandango
Worldwide gross: $130,126,277
Worldwide gross (inflation-adjusted): $205,272,434
Worldwide gross ranking (inflation-adjusted): 683
Worldwide tickets sold (est.): 22,385,216
US/Canada gross: $86,058,055
US/Canada gross (inflation-adjusted): $135,755,412
US/Canada gross ranking (inflation-adjusted): 563
US/Canada opening weekend: $24,432,195
US/Canada opening weekend (inflation-adjusted): $38,541,456
US/Canada opening weekend ranking (inflation-adjusted): 331
Budget and Earnings Details
Production budget (est.): $17,000,000
Production budget (inflation-adjusted): $26,817,269
Production budget ranking: 1,220
Marketing and distribution budget (inflation-adjusted est.): $14,441,099
Box office net earnings to date (inflation-adjusted est.): $164,014,066
ROI to date (est.): 398%
ROI ranking: 345
Rachel McAdams – Regina George
Tina Fey – Mrs. Norbury
Tim Meadows – Mr. Duvall
Amy Poehler – Mrs. George
Ana Gasteyer – Cady’s Mom
Director(s)
Mark Waters
Writer(s)
Tina Fey
Producer(s)
Lorne Michaels
Film Festivals
Awards & Nominations
7 wins & 25 nominations
Academy Awards
All Critics (190) | Top Critics (55) | Fresh (160) | Rotten (30)
Fizzes with peculiarly feminine evil, of the kind that comes dripping through a pillowy smirk garnished with baby-pink lipgloss.
October 3, 2016 | Rating: 4/5
Jenny McCartney
Daily Telegraph (UK)
TOP CRITIC
Mature but often-hilarious teen comedy.
December 26, 2010 | Rating: 4/5
Nell Minow
Common Sense Media
TOP CRITIC
Though better written, better acted and with more wit and subtlety than your average teen flick, the atmosphere in Mean Girls with its promiscuous sex and well, meanness, make it almost as nasty to sit through as these girls are to each other.
October 29, 2008 | Rating: D+
Steven D. Greydanus
Decent Films
TOP CRITIC
Lacks the genuine bile that made Heathers so bracing.
July 19, 2007
J. R. Jones
Chicago Reader
TOP CRITIC
Happily, Fey and Waters gently tweak the studios’ usual high-gloss caricature of adolescence and aim for acutely hilarious and surprisingly empathic sociology.
June 24, 2006
Jessica Winter
Time Out
TOP CRITIC
Nails the “survival of the fittest” mentality that permeates high school social life.
May 4, 2005
Nick Schager
Lessons of Darkness
TOP CRITIC
This film was and is popular precisely because it is so good. What does “good” mean here? Funny. Piercing. Insightful. Well-acted.
‘Mean Girls’ is good because it’s real.
June 15, 2022 | Rating: 5/5
Wayne Broadway
Black Girl Nerds
Startlingly genuine when it comes to dialogue, stereotypes, coteries, and high school drama.
November 6, 2020 | Rating: 6/10
Mike Massie
Gone With The Twins
Fans of teen films will find much to like here, and those who have not so fond memories of high school will chuckle with familiarity.
September 16, 2020 | Rating: 3.5/4.0
Richard Propes
TheIndependentCritic.com
If Mean Girls the movie had a human form, it would easily be the most popular kid in school. And like the vicious gossip that spreads throughout high school, Mean Girls has become an inescapable part of the cultural consciousness.
July 27, 2020
Katie Duggan
Screen Queens
Mean Girls is a funnier and more insightful movie than your average teen comedy.
January 28, 2020
Felicia Feaster
Creative Loafing
Speaking to anyone who has survived the jungles of high school, Mean Girls has something for everyone. The refreshingly honest appeal of this film is ageless.
November 13, 2019
Debbie Lynn Elias
Behind The Lens…
Plot
Lindsay Lohan stars as Cady Heron, a 16 year old homeschooled girl who not only makes the mistake of falling for Aaron Samuels (Jonathan Bennett), the ex-boyfriend of queenbee Regina George (Rachel McAdams), but also unintentionally joins The Plastics, led by Regina herself. Join Cady as she learns that high school life can and will be really tough.
Trivia
Goofs / Tidbits
Fresh Kernels doesn’t say anything goofy or funny about Mean Girls, but it does mention that the film features a “brilliant screenplay and outstanding ensemble cast.”
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