16 Best 2000s Movies for a Nostalgia Trip

By Vlad Zakh · August 23, 2026

United States Comedy nostalgic

Mean Girls and Napoleon Dynamite carry the era’s quotable teen-comedy boom, while Shrek and Spider-Man represent its biggest studio swings. Freaky Friday and 13 Going on 30 show how much of the decade’s charm came from mid-budget comedies.

Anchorman (2004) 01

Anchorman (2004)

IMDb ★ 7.2

Absurdist comedy that only could have landed in this exact era.

The Hangover (2009) 02

The Hangover (2009)

IMDb ★ 7.7

The decade's last great comedy before the genre shifted entirely.

Juno (2007) 03

Juno (2007)

IMDb ★ 7.4

The indie-comedy voice that defined a specific late-2000s tone.

Superbad (2007) 04

Superbad (2007)

IMDb ★ 7.6

The teen comedy that closed out the decade's run.

Zoolander (2001) 05

Zoolander (2001)

IMDb ★ 6.5

Absurd in a way that could only have come from this exact decade.

Freaky Friday (2003) 07

Freaky Friday (2003)

IMDb ★ 6.2

Lindsay Lohan's body-swap comedy at its most rewatchable.

13 Going on 30 (2004) 08

13 Going on 30 (2004)

IMDb ★ 6.2

A body-swap comedy that's aged into a genuine comfort watch.

The Fast and the Furious (2001) 09

The Fast and the Furious (2001)

IMDb ★ 6.6

The start of a franchise nobody expected to still be running.

Bring It On (2000) 10

Bring It On (2000)

IMDb ★ 5.9

Peak early-2000s energy, cheerleading rivalry and all.

Pirates of the Caribbean: The Curse of the Black Pearl (2003) 11

Pirates of the Caribbean: The Curse of the Black Pearl (2003)

IMDb ★ 7.7

A theme-park ride turned into an actual blockbuster classic.

Spider-Man (2002) 12

Spider-Man (2002)

IMDb ★ 7.3

The superhero movie that made the genre feel possible again.

Shrek (2001) 13

Shrek (2001)

IMDb ★ 7.9

The pop-culture-reference comedy that launched a genre of imitators.

The Notebook (2004) 14

The Notebook (2004)

IMDb ★ 7.8

The romance movie the entire decade measured itself against.

Napoleon Dynamite (2004) 15

Napoleon Dynamite (2004)

IMDb ★ 6.9

A weird, deadpan comedy that somehow defined a whole aesthetic.

Mean Girls (2004) 16

Mean Girls (2004)

IMDb ★ 7.0

Still the most quoted teen comedy of the decade, for good reason.

Vlad Zakh

Vlad Zakh

Founder, Movieix

Founder of Movieix, built to fix a specific annoyance: most recommendation sites are just algorithm-driven noise. Our lists are researched and organized by who's in a film, where it's from, and the mood you're actually in tonight.