Sort by Popularity - Most Popular Movies and TV Shows tagged with keyword "academia-drama"
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1. The Holdovers (2023)
R | 133 min | Comedy, Drama
A cranky history teacher at a prep school is forced to remain on campus over the holidays with a grieving cook and a troubled student who has no place to go.
Director: Alexander Payne | Stars: Paul Giamatti, Da'Vine Joy Randolph, Dominic Sessa, Carrie Preston
Votes: 139,549
2. Dead Poets Society (1989)
PG | 128 min | Comedy, Drama
Maverick teacher John Keating returns in 1959 to the prestigious New England boys' boarding school where he was once a star student, using poetry to embolden his pupils to new heights of self-expression.
Director: Peter Weir | Stars: Robin Williams, Robert Sean Leonard, Ethan Hawke, Josh Charles
Votes: 546,624 | Gross: $95.86M
3. Mean Girls (2024)
PG-13 | 112 min | Comedy, Musical
Cady Heron is a hit with the Plastics, an A-list girl clique at her new school. But everything changes when she makes the mistake of falling for Aaron Samuels, the ex-boyfriend of alpha Plastic Regina George.
Directors: Samantha Jayne, Arturo Perez Jr. | Stars: Angourie Rice, Reneé Rapp, Auli'i Cravalho, Jaquel Spivey
Votes: 27,152
4. My Hero Academia (2016– )
TV-14 | 24 min | Animation, Action, Adventure
A superhero-admiring boy enrolls in a prestigious hero academy and learns what it really means to be a hero, after the strongest superhero grants him his own powers.
Stars: Daiki Yamashita, Justin Briner, Nobuhiko Okamoto, Ayane Sakura
Votes: 78,476
5. Whiplash (2014)
R | 106 min | Drama, Music
A promising young drummer enrolls at a cut-throat music conservatory where his dreams of greatness are mentored by an instructor who will stop at nothing to realize a student's potential.
Director: Damien Chazelle | Stars: Miles Teller, J.K. Simmons, Melissa Benoist, Paul Reiser
Votes: 990,459 | Gross: $13.09M
6. Good Will Hunting (1997)
R | 126 min | Drama, Romance
Will Hunting, a janitor at M.I.T., has a gift for mathematics, but needs help from a psychologist to find direction in his life.
Director: Gus Van Sant | Stars: Robin Williams, Matt Damon, Ben Affleck, Stellan Skarsgård
Votes: 1,069,038 | Gross: $138.43M
7. The Queen's Gambit (2020)
TV-MA | 57 min | Drama
Orphaned at the tender age of nine, prodigious introvert Beth Harmon discovers and masters the game of chess in 1960s USA. But child stardom comes at a price.
Stars: Anya Taylor-Joy, Chloe Pirrie, Bill Camp, Marcin Dorocinski
Votes: 554,416
8. The Social Network (2010)
PG-13 | 120 min | Biography, Drama
As Harvard student Mark Zuckerberg creates the social networking site that would become known as Facebook, he is sued by the twins who claimed he stole their idea and by the co-founder who was later squeezed out of the business.
Director: David Fincher | Stars: Jesse Eisenberg, Andrew Garfield, Justin Timberlake, Rooney Mara
Votes: 759,168 | Gross: $96.96M
9. A Beautiful Mind (2001)
PG-13 | 135 min | Biography, Drama, Mystery
A mathematical genius, John Nash made an astonishing discovery early in his career and stood on the brink of international acclaim. But the handsome and arrogant Nash soon found himself on a harrowing journey of self-discovery.
Director: Ron Howard | Stars: Russell Crowe, Ed Harris, Jennifer Connelly, Christopher Plummer
Votes: 987,478 | Gross: $170.74M
10. How to Get Away with Murder (2014–2020)
TV-14 | 43 min | Crime, Drama, Mystery
A group of ambitious law students and their brilliant criminal defense professor become involved in a twisted murder plot that promises to change the course of their lives.
Stars: Viola Davis, Billy Brown, Jack Falahee, Aja Naomi King
Votes: 166,785
11. Wind Breaker (2024– )
TV-14 | 24 min | Animation, Action, Adventure
Haruka Sakura has no interest in weaklings, only the strongest fighters. Starting at Furin High, a school known for student brawlers who protect their town, Haruka seeks to battle his way to the top.
Stars: Austin Tindle, Bryson Baugus, Jordan Dash Cruz, Drew Breedlove
Votes: 536
12. All of Us Are Dead (2022– )
TV-MA | 60 min | Action, Drama, Fantasy
A high school becomes ground zero for a zombie virus outbreak. Trapped students must fight their way out or turn into one of the rabid infected.
Stars: Park Ji-hu, Yoon Chan-young, Cho Yi-hyun, Park Solomon
Votes: 66,744
13. The Worst Person in the World (2021)
R | 128 min | Comedy, Drama, Romance
The chronicles of four years in the life of Julie, a young woman who navigates the troubled waters of her love life and struggles to find her career path, leading her to take a realistic look at who she really is.
Director: Joachim Trier | Stars: Renate Reinsve, Anders Danielsen Lie, Herbert Nordrum, Hans Olav Brenner
Votes: 97,642
14. Grown-ish (2018–2024)
TV-14 | 22 min | Comedy, Drama
A spinoff of ABC's "Black-ish," Zoey Johnson is off to college and must live outside the nest, dealing with drugs, sex, and relationships along the way.
Stars: Trevor Jackson, Yara Shahidi, Diggy Simmons, Francia Raisa
Votes: 6,647
15. The Theory of Everything (2014)
PG-13 | 123 min | Biography, Drama, Romance
Stephen Hawking gets unprecedented success in the field of physics despite being diagnosed with motor neuron disease at the age of 21. He defeats awful odds as his first wife Jane aids him loyally.
Director: James Marsh | Stars: Eddie Redmayne, Felicity Jones, Tom Prior, Sophie Perry
Votes: 482,296 | Gross: $35.89M
16. Detachment (2011)
Not Rated | 98 min | Drama
A substitute teacher who drifts from classroom to classroom finds a connection to the students and teachers during his latest assignment.
Director: Tony Kaye | Stars: Adrien Brody, Christina Hendricks, Marcia Gay Harden, Lucy Liu
Votes: 99,219 | Gross: $0.07M
17. Moving (2023– )
TV-MA | Action, Adventure, Fantasy
The quiet lives of three high school students with genetic superhuman abilities turn upside down when a mysterious organization starts to hunt them down one by one.
Stars: Ryu Seung-ryong, Han Hyo-joo, Zo In-sung, Cha Tae-hyun
Votes: 10,250
18. Felicity (1998–2002)
TV-14 | 60 min | Drama, Romance
A young girl, fresh out of high school, follows her high school crush to college to be near him.
Stars: Keri Russell, Scott Speedman, Scott Foley, Tangi Miller
Votes: 12,965
19. Mona Lisa Smile (2003)
PG-13 | 117 min | Drama
A free-thinking art professor teaches conservative 1950s Wellesley girls to question their traditional social roles.
Director: Mike Newell | Stars: Julia Roberts, Kirsten Dunst, Julia Stiles, Maggie Gyllenhaal
Votes: 90,992 | Gross: $63.86M
20. Freedom Writers (2007)
PG-13 | 123 min | Biography, Crime, Drama
A young teacher inspires her class of at-risk students to learn tolerance, apply themselves and pursue education beyond high school.
Director: Richard LaGravenese | Stars: Hilary Swank, Imelda Staunton, Patrick Dempsey, Scott Glenn
Votes: 85,418 | Gross: $36.61M
21. High School DxD (2012–2018)
TV-MA | 23 min | Animation, Action, Comedy
After being killed on his first date, idiotic and perverted Issei Hyodo is resurrected as a demon by Rias Gremory only to be recruited into her club of high-class devils.
Stars: Yûki Kaji, Yôko Hikasa, Shizuka Itou, Azumi Asakura
Votes: 13,576
22. My Dress-Up Darling (2022)
TV-14 | 24 min | Animation, Comedy, Romance
A quiet loner and the popular girl at school find common ground, making their cosplay dreams come true.
Stars: Hina Suguta, Shoya Ishige, AmaLee, Paul Dateh
Votes: 14,254
23. Mr. Holland's Opus (1995)
PG | 143 min | Drama, Music
A frustrated composer finds fulfillment as a high school music teacher.
Director: Stephen Herek | Stars: Richard Dreyfuss, Glenne Headly, Jay Thomas, Olympia Dukakis
Votes: 41,722 | Gross: $82.57M
24. Notes on a Scandal (2006)
R | 92 min | Crime, Drama, Romance
A veteran high school teacher befriends a younger art teacher, who is having an affair with one of her fifteen-year-old students. However, her intentions with this new "friend" also go well beyond a platonic friendship.
Director: Richard Eyre | Stars: Cate Blanchett, Judi Dench, Andrew Simpson, Tom Georgeson
Votes: 84,610 | Gross: $17.51M
25. Classroom of the Elite (2017– )
TV-14 | 24 min | Animation, Drama, Thriller
When Kiyotaka enters government-sponsored elite high school, he finds out just how merit-based this education system is.
Stars: Shoya Chiba, Brandon McInnis, Justin Briner, Felecia Angelle
Votes: 13,654
26. Rushmore (1998)
R | 93 min | Comedy, Drama, Romance
A teenager at Rushmore Academy falls for a much older teacher and befriends a middle-aged industrialist. Later, he finds out that his love interest and his friend are having an affair, which prompts him to begin a vendetta.
Director: Wes Anderson | Stars: Jason Schwartzman, Bill Murray, Olivia Williams, Seymour Cassel
Votes: 198,052 | Gross: $17.11M
27. Weak Hero Class 1 (2022– )
18+ | 40 min | Action, Drama, Thriller
Yeon Shi-eun is a model student, who ranks at the top at his school. Physically, he appears like a weak boy, but, by using his smarts, tools, and psychology, he fights against violence that takes place inside and outside of his school.
Stars: Park Ji-hoon, Choi Hyun-wook, Hong Kyung, Kim Su-gyeom
Votes: 6,019
28. Kaguya-sama: Love is War (2019–2023)
TV-14 | 24 min | Animation, Comedy, Romance
The proudly privileged top two students of an elite school each makes it their mission to be the first to extract a confession of love from the other.
Stars: Aaron Dismuke, Aoi Koga, Makoto Furukawa, Konomi Kohara
Votes: 20,173
29. Fruits Basket (2019–2021)
TV-14 | 24 min | Animation, Comedy, Drama
After Tohru is taken in by the Soma family, she learns that twelve family members transform involuntarily into animals of the Chinese zodiac and helps them deal with the emotional pain caused by the transformations.
Stars: Manaka Iwami, Laura Bailey, Nobunaga Shimazaki, Eric Vale
Votes: 9,081
30. Greek (2007–2011)
TV-14 | 60 min | Comedy, Drama, Family
Freshman Rusty Cartwright arrives at college and decides he no longer wants to be the boring geek from high school. He decides to pledge a fraternity. He is offered 2 bids; one from his sister's boyfriend Evan's fraternity and one from Cappie, his sister's ex-boyfriend's fraternity. Rusty must learn to handle his new life, and his new relationship with his sister. His sister must decide if she ... See full summary »
Stars: Clark Duke, Scott Michael Foster, Spencer Grammer, Paul James
Votes: 25,155
31. Half Nelson (2006)
R | 106 min | Drama
An inner-city junior high school teacher with a drug habit forms an unlikely friendship with one of his students after she discovers his secret.
Director: Ryan Fleck | Stars: Ryan Gosling, Anthony Mackie, Shareeka Epps, Jeff Lima
Votes: 91,980 | Gross: $2.69M
32. Fresh Meat (2011–2016)
TV-MA | 50 min | Comedy, Drama
A comedy that follows a group of six students about to embark on the most exciting period of their lives so far, university.
Stars: Zawe Ashton, Greg McHugh, Kimberley Nixon, Charlotte Ritchie
Votes: 19,534
33. The Great Debaters (2007)
PG-13 | 126 min | Biography, Drama, Romance
A drama based on the true story of Melvin B. Tolson, a professor at Wiley College Texas. In 1935, he inspired students to form the school's first debate team, which went on to challenge Harvard in the national championship.
Director: Denzel Washington | Stars: Denzel Washington, Forest Whitaker, Kimberly Elise, Nate Parker
Votes: 62,878 | Gross: $30.23M
34. Clique (2017–2018)
TV-MA | 43 min | Drama, Thriller
When Georgia gets drawn into an elite university clique of alpha girls, her friend Holly becomes alarmed by her changing, erratic behaviour, and feels compelled to join - only to find this seductive world is deeply corrupted.
Stars: Synnove Karlsen, Sophia Brown, Rachel Hurd-Wood, David Monteath
Votes: 3,343
35. Pyramid Game (2024– )
Action
Each person is graded through a popular vote against the backdrop of a girl's high school and if they receive an F grade, they become legitimate victims of school violence.
Stars: Kim Ji-yeon, Kang Na-eon, Shin Seul Ki, Ryu Da In
Votes: 761
36. Assassination Classroom (2013–2016)
TV-14 | 23 min | Animation, Action, Comedy
A powerful creature claims that within a year, Earth will be destroyed by him, but he offers mankind a chance by becoming a homeroom teacher where he teaches his students about how to kill him. An assassination classroom begins.
Stars: Jun Fukuyama, Mai Fuchigami, Bryce Papenbrook, Vic Mignogna
Votes: 20,906
37. Food Wars: Shokugeki no Soma (2015–2020)
TV-14 | 24 min | Animation, Comedy, Drama
Soma Yukihira enrolls in an elite culinary school to become a full-time chef and surpass his father's culinary skills.
Stars: Kappei Yamaguchi, Yoshitsugu Matsuoka, Minami Takahashi, Maaya Uchida
Votes: 12,323
38. Horimiya (2021)
TV-14 | 24 min | Animation, Comedy, Drama
Two very different people - an academically successful schoolgirl and a quiet loser schoolboy - meet and develop a friendship.
Stars: Haruka Tomatsu, Kôki Uchiyama, Seiichiro Yamashita, Alejandro Saab
Votes: 14,987
39. All American: Homecoming (2022– )
TV-14 | 42 min | Drama, Sport
Spinoff from 'All American' follows a young tennis hopeful from Beverly Hills and an elite baseball player from Chicago as they contend with the high stakes of university sports at a Historically Black College in Atlanta.
Stars: GeffriMaya, Sylvester Powell, Peyton 'Alex' Smith, Kelly Jenrette
Votes: 1,519
40. School Ties (1992)
PG-13 | 106 min | Drama
In 1959, a star quarterback from a working-class family is given an opportunity to attend an elite New England preparatory school, but he is conflicted about whether or not to tell his Evangelical classmates that he is Jewish.
Director: Robert Mandel | Stars: Brendan Fraser, Matt Damon, Chris O'Donnell, Randall Batinkoff
Votes: 27,412 | Gross: $14.72M
41. High on Sex (2022– )
TV-MA | 60 min | Comedy
Hilariously sexy coming of age series which follows group of high school students and their sexual life through their high school years.
Stars: Gian Garcia, Wilbert Ross, Denise Esteban, Angela Morena
Votes: 596
42. Stand and Deliver (1988)
PG | 103 min | Biography, Drama
The story of Jaime Escalante, a high school teacher who successfully inspired his dropout-prone students to learn calculus.
Director: Ramón Menéndez | Stars: Edward James Olmos, Estelle Harris, Mark Phelan, Virginia Paris
Votes: 22,353 | Gross: $13.99M
43. The Class (2008)
PG-13 | 128 min | Drama
Teacher and novelist François Bégaudeau plays a version of himself as he negotiates a year with his racially mixed students from a tough Parisian neighborhood.
Director: Laurent Cantet | Stars: François Bégaudeau, Agame Malembo-Emene, Angélica Sancio, Arthur Fogel
Votes: 36,442 | Gross: $3.77M
44. An Education (2009)
PG-13 | 100 min | Drama
A coming-of-age story about a teenage girl in 1960s suburban London, and how her life changes with the arrival of a playboy nearly twice her age.
Director: Lone Scherfig | Stars: Carey Mulligan, Peter Sarsgaard, Alfred Molina, Olivia Williams
Votes: 138,169 | Gross: $12.57M
45. He Got Game (1998)
R | 136 min | Drama, Sport
A basketball player's father must try to convince him to go to a college so he can get a shorter sentence.
Director: Spike Lee | Stars: Denzel Washington, Milla Jovovich, Ray Allen, Rosario Dawson
Votes: 51,476 | Gross: $21.55M
46. Revenge of Others (2022– )
TV-MA | 60 min | Action, Drama, Mystery
Follows the story of Ok Chan-mi as she seeks revenge for the death of her twin brother.
Stars: Shin Ye-eun, Park Solomon, Seo Ji-Hoon, Chae Sang-woo
Votes: 3,016
47. Kill Your Darlings (2013)
R | 104 min | Biography, Drama, Romance
A murder in 1944 draws together the great poets of the beat generation: Allen Ginsberg, Jack Kerouac, and William Burroughs.
Director: John Krokidas | Stars: Daniel Radcliffe, Dane DeHaan, Michael C. Hall, Ben Foster
Votes: 41,260 | Gross: $1.03M
48. Lean on Me (1989)
PG-13 | 108 min | Drama
The dedicated but tyrannical Joe Clark is appointed the principal of a decaying inner-city school he is determined to improve by any and all means.
Director: John G. Avildsen | Stars: Morgan Freeman, Beverly Todd, Robert Guillaume, Alan North
Votes: 22,993 | Gross: $31.91M
49. My Teen Romantic Comedy SNAFU (2013–2023)
TV-14 | 24 min | Animation, Comedy, Drama
About an antisocial high school student named Hikigaya Hachiman with a distorted view on life and no friends or girlfriend. His life change when he was forced to enter the "Volunteer Service Club" by his teacher.
Stars: Cat Thomas, Melissa Molano, Takuya Eguchi, Saori Hayami
Votes: 8,870
50. The Misfit of Demon King Academy (2020–2024)
TV-14 | 23 min | Animation, Adventure, Comedy
Tired of endless war, Demon King Anos decides to be reincarnated into a peaceful future. Enrolling in school, he doesn't get the welcome he hoped for.
Stars: Aleks Le, Kayli Mills, Brianna Knickerbocker, Griffin Puatu
Votes: 5,196