10 Best Movies Like The Princess Diaries
The Princess Diaries was a huge hit back in 2001 when it got out as the adaptation of a very popular novel written by Meg Cabot. It is an interesting story of Mia Thermopolis, an ordinary and shy 16-year-old girl who discovers she is the heir to the throne of Genovia. She meets her estranged grandmother Queen Clarisse Renaldi who will do everything to teach her how to behave like royalty.
Even though Mia simply wants to go through high school as painlessly as possible, she will be forced to change her life completely. In this list, we have decided to bring you the best 10 movies like The Princess Diaries, based on the topic, similar atmosphere, and issues their main characters are going through.
Ella Enchanted (2004)
What it’s about: Anne Hathaway plays Ella, a girl who was given the gift of always being obedient. But when her mother dies, and her greedy father remarries to an evil woman with two arrogant daughters, Ella is completely left to take care of herself, and her unusual gift will burden her. She will embark on a magical adventure, a quest to find the fairy who can break her spell.
Why you should watch it: This is a modern-day Cinderella story where Anne Hathaway once again shows her talent and ability to adapt to any role given. If you liked The Princess Diaries and are a fan of Cinderella in general, you will enjoy this one, as well.
Mean Girls
What it’s about: One of the best teenage comedies in the past twenty years is definitely this interesting movie about American high school life, the outcasts, and the popular students and their relationships and communication. We meet Cady Heron, one of the most popular girls in her school and a member of The Plastics, the most famous girl clique there. But her life changes after she makes a mistake and falls for the ex-boyfriend of their leader, Regina George.
Why you should watch it: This is a very clever comedy that depicts the high school hierarchy in a pretty sarcastic and cynical manner which makes it a bit different from the typical movies with a similar topic. It is entertaining and funny, with brilliant performances, especially from Rachel McAdams and Amanda Seyfried. Even though The Princess Diaries isn’t that oriented on high school differences, there are still parallels we can draw between these two movies.
Freaky Friday (2003)
What it’s about: Anna Coleman and her mother, Tess, have never gotten along very well and never really understood each other. After a big argument on one Thursday night in a Chinese restaurant, both of them receive a fortune cookie from the restaurant owner’s mother. The next day they wake up in one another’s bodies. They have to adjust to the new personalities, and this will be an excellent way to start understanding each other better.
Why you should watch it: This is a hilarious remake that teaches us not to be too hot-headed and to think before we act. There are numerous similarities between these two movies. Still, the most important is that we have to understand how other people around us feel and try and accept their emotions and opinions even though they are completely opposite of ours.
Enchanted (2007)
What it’s about: What happens when a fairytale character gets transferred to the real world? This happened to the beautiful Giselle, who was banished by evil queen Narissa from her magical animated land filled with music and dancing and sent to New York City. Completely unprepared and truly shocked by modern life, with no happy endings and people who don’t sing when they want to express themselves, Giselle is constantly trying to bring some magic to the town and its people. When she falls in love with a charming divorce lawyer, she will start questioning the real difference between her world and the one she has found herself in.
Why you should watch it: Both of these movies have a lot of magic in them, a lovable heroine who has to adjust to the situation she finds herself in and a number of supporting characters who are standing by her side to help her get by in this new world around her.
What a Girl Wants (2003)
What it’s about: Daphne Reynolds is an American teenager living with her laid-back mother in New York, always thinking about who her father might be. One day she finds out he is a British politician running for office, and even though she is eager to meet him, she is very well aware that all this new information might cause a scandal for him and his family in London.
Why you should watch it: This is a wonderful teen comedy that everyone can enjoy. It has an interesting story, wonderful London scenery and very good performances by Amanda Bynes and Colin Firth. And there is also a connection to The Princess Diary with the missing father figure in the main protagonist’s life and the fact that her other side of the family is much wealthier than she could have ever imagined.
A Cinderella Story (2004)
What it’s about: In this modern Cinderella story, we meet Samantha Montgomery, who lives with her wicked stepmother and her two evil daughters. Sam is lucky to have a great best friend, and she is in an e-mail relationship with a boy named Nomad. When he asks her to their Halloween dance, she finds out Nomad is the most popular guy in her high school and is not certain what to do anymore.
Why you should watch it: This is a lovely movie for teenagers where the well-known Cinderella story is transferred to modern-day American high school where we witness similar problems to the ones in the fairytale. It is a feel-good tale that shows that looks can sometimes deceive.
13 Going on 30 (2004)
What it’s about: Jenna Rink wants to be popular, but it is not that simple. When she makes a wish after a big humiliation at her 13th birthday party, she wakes up the next day in the body of a 30-year-old successful woman. Jenna is popular and has many friends, but it seems that Matt isn’t a part of her life anymore. Who is she now? What did she become, and why is Matt completely ignoring her? We will witness this woman’s growth, transformation, and hope for the ending, where everything will go back to what it was 17 years ago.
Why you should watch it: This is one of the most memorable typical romantic movies of the 2000s. It has a nerdy girl and a secret love crush, and it teaches us that the most important things are right next to us. It also shows that some changes can affect our behavior initially but that we need to remember who we are and accept ourselves that way.
Legally Blonde (2001)
What it’s about: Legally Blonde is a flashy and quirky comedy that tells the story of Elle Woods, a lovely and intelligent Harvard law student who is never taken seriously due to her unusual behavior, unusual fashion choice, and excellent knowledge of all trivial things. When she gets accepted to Harvard, she begins to change and realizes that there is so much more to her than just her looks.
Why you should watch it: Although you might think there are no connections between these two movies, you can find them in numerous situations. Both Mia and Elle are girls whose true personalities we are going to discover throughout the movie. It’s not the fact they were hiding something before but the fact they have so much more to show than is already seen.
The Parent Trap (1998)
What it’s about: This successful remake of the famous The Parent Trip from 1961 tells the story of Annie and Hallie, who were separated at birth after their parents got divorced. One went to England with her mother, and the other stayed in the United States with her father. Lindsay Lohan plays both girls who meet at a summer camp and soon realize they are twins. Two complete opposites, one wild and rebellious and the other elegant and well-mannered, decide to switch places and travel back to their parents, convinced they would be able to reunite them.
Why you should watch it: There is a connection between this movie and The Princess Diaries in the issue of identity since all of the characters want to find something missing. The girls in this movie want to get to know their other parent halves, and Mia is also struggling not to lose herself in the process of this immense change and find out more about this part of her family she didn’t know existed.
Easy A (2010)
What it’s about: Emma Stone stars as Olive, a good girl whose little white lie about losing her virginity gets out and becomes the most important information in her high school. She is suddenly the object of everyone’s conversations, and her life becomes pretty similar to Hester Prynne’s in The Scarlet Letter, which they are talking about at school. But Olive won’t let everything bring her down. She will use the rumors to better her financial and social standing.
Why you should watch it: This is an excellent comedy that shows how little people need to forget about the latest gossip and start plotting a new one. The movie is a breath of fresh air, and Emma Stone is absolutely perfect in one of her earliest roles.
