Best movie for an 11-year-old girls’ slumber party?

By | July 6, 2009

Later this summer, my soon-to-be-11 daughter will be having a sleepover party to celebrate her birthday.  My wife wisely points out that allowing the girls to choose what movie to watch is guaranteed to produce winners and losers, so we’re going to pick the movie in advance.  We’ve got some ideas, but I thought it would be fun to see what other people think.

The two most important rules are: (1) avoid movies that are so popular that most of the girls have probably already seen them; (2) avoid horror movies, because as grown-up as these girls think they are, we’d rather not be comforting terrified girls and calling their parents to come take them home in the middle of the night.

Also, given that our daughter is not exactly immersed in “mainstream” American teen culture, ix-nay on the sex and vulgarity with which many kids at this age seem to already be familiar.

What's the best movie for an 11-year-old girls' slumber party?

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33 thoughts on “Best movie for an 11-year-old girls’ slumber party?

  1. Brook Kiecksee

    I think mean girls is realy good and for my 11th b-day thats what im watching!!!!!!!!!!!

  2. jik Post author

    Lots of questionable stuff for 11-year-olds in The Proposal. Common Sense Media rates it “OK for kids 14+”. They rate 13 Going on 30 as “Iffy for 12+”. Ditto for The Last Song. Twilight is rated “OK for kids 13+”, and although I haven’t read it or seen the movie, from what I’ve heard about it, I don’t think I’d want my 11-year-old seeing it.

    Girls Just Want to Have Fun is probably safe for 11-year-olds. Wow, Sarah Jessica Parker back in 1985. That’s almost as amusing as Tom Cruise in Legend.

  3. rockandroll192

    TWILIGHT!!!!!!!!!!!! TAYLOR LAUTNER IS HOT!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! But New Moon was much better then Twilight but if they haven’t seen it they wouldn’t understand the 2nd one…….

  4. rockandroll192

    Hey, I think all these movies for an eleven year old????? BAD. They will like them, but they want something modern, not old, something funny, not sad, something they’ll quote from, not a movie that will make parents look like dweebs, ya know? I would let them watch something girly. If you don’t really care about PG-13, I would let them watch either The Proposal (which I doubt GREATLY should be PG-13) or 13 Going on 30, which I also think should PG. But if you do care, let them watch The Last Song, which I have no idea if it will be out on DVD by then!!!!

  5. Winterdog

    I recomend Harry Potter being 11 myself and I loved all of them!

    1. jik Post author

      Yeah, my daughter and her friends love them all too. That’s why they’ve all seen them already. 😉

  6. linie

    well, i dont now if these mivies are 100% apropriate but, john tucker must die and titanic and a walk to remember and the note book

  7. linie

    hi i just trned 11 some good movies gor girls that age:1.john tucker must die 2.titanic 3.the note book 4.twilight 5.high school musical 6.princess but make the movie easy to follow along cause chances ar they will be laughing andwhisoering a lot of the movie

  8. happyintx

    So yes I had to respond; in hopes to find out what the best movies were for an 8 year old movie party, I found this blog. I have to say these movies are okay, but most likey the girls all have seen then once or twice if more already.

    So let them pick one and make a quiz out of it. There can be 1st, 2nd place winners.

    Create or buy a poster of the bday girls favorite actress in a decent size for “pin the sleep mask on her face” ….theres a winner.

    Of course what girl doesnt paint their nails while watching movies…

  9. electric lime

    Hannah montana The Movie is a good one too.

    And High School Musical 1, 2, 3;

    I also recommend Camp Nowhere.

    Good Luck,I hope this helps.
    PS: I’m turning 11 as of September 24th. I fell upon this looking for good movies for my slumber party. 🙂

  10. jj girl

    hey try this baseball movie the sandlot #1 or try this movie about a dog its called my dog skip ps girls might cry

  11. quimby

    isn’t it obvious? the answer is Girls Just Want To Have Fun.

  12. jik Post author

    I think 11 year old,being one myself on the 14 of july might want to see flicker.

    Happy birthday! 🙂

    Do you mean Flicka the movie starring Tim McGraw and Alison Lohman? Yeah, that’s a pretty good suggestion, actually. Thanks!

  13. Bumblebee

    I think 11 year old,being one myself on the 14 of july might want to see flicker.i,m 10 and i am still totally in to horse!!

  14. jont

    All of my kids enjoyed Enchanted, as did my wife and me. But as it’s a recent release, it’s likely that your guests have all seen it (much more so than The Princess Bride).

  15. jont

    I’ve been meaning to introduce my kids to the Marx Bros via A Night At the Opera for ages, but haven’t gotten around to it. As I haven’t seen it in many years, I will refrain from saying anything pro or con about it in this context. But if you have it, I’d like to borrow it some time.

  16. Juggling Frogs

    Another hit from the Brookline Library, already returned: The Pursuit of Happyness” with Will Smith. It’s not the right tone for a sleepover, though.

  17. Juggling Frogs

    P.S. Not for a sleepover, but just for fun summer viewing at home:

    We just started watching (on Brookline Library’s borrowed DVDs) “The Waltons”. I’m surprised (and pleased) at what a hit it was with the girls (aged 13, 11, 9, and 5).

    We have the first season (24 one-hour episodes!) on 2 week loan until the Thursday after next. After that, I bet it will be on the shelves and available. I doubt it’s in great demand.

  18. Juggling Frogs

    I voted for “The Princess Bride”, and have it on VHS if you want to borrow it (and have the antiquated equipment necessary to view it.) All our girls loved it.

  19. jik Post author

    I wasn’t that impressed with Enchanted. Though I may not have been the target audience.

    Yeah, I felt the same way. But we’re talking about 11-year-old girls, not jaded adults :-).

  20. jm

    I voted for The Princess Bride because that movie is fun no matter how many times you’ve seen it. But I have seen the original Parent Trap sometime in the past few years and I think it’s great. It is dated but has aged pretty well, if that makes sense. I think the kids would get a kick out of the summer camp scenes. Plus, one of the twins is from Boston and there’s a scene in the Public Garden.

  21. E.T.

    I would say maybe Princess Bride or Ever After… I wasn’t that impressed with Enchanted. Though I may not have been the target audience.

  22. jik Post author

    My recollection is that The Dark Crystal and Labyrinth are both just a little too scary for late-night viewing. As for Legend, wasn’t that the really bad movie that Tom Cruise made before he became famous? I mean, granted, what seems really bad to adults doesn’t necessarily seem really bad to kids, but my recollection is that it was really bad.

  23. Nate

    My first thought was The Princess Bride, but you’re right, probably most of them will have seen it. I’d be afraid that the original Parent Trap wouldn’t have aged well. Movies we remember as awesome often turn out to be quite different.

    The Dark Crystal was a favorite of mine that still ages well and it’s likely they won’t have seen it. Along the same line, Labyrinth and Legend are good ones that they’ll likely have not seen.

  24. jik Post author

    What about The Princess Bride?

    She’s already seen it, and I suspect that many of the other girls have as well, but that’s probably true for Enchanted as well, and I put that on the poll, so I’ve just added The Princess Bride as well.

  25. Frisky070802

    What about The Princess Bride?

  26. jik Post author

    Will have to watch Splash again to refresh my memory about the nudity, but assuming that it isn’t in a sexual context (which I don’t think it is), it’s probably not a problem given that the party is all-girls.

    M has already seen Enchanted, and I’m not sure she’ll want to see it again.

  27. Rebecca

    I was talking to A… about this at shul. All are good choices. The original Parent Trap is perfect. Plus, there is some nudity in Splash.

  28. Nomi

    Enchanted

    (…which is available from BursteinFlix)

  29. Sue

    We did Princess Diaries (1 and 2) for A’s party for the same reasons. Most of the girls had seen it but were willing to watch it again. A few were not into it but sat quietly on the side.

    The Parent Trap is another cute one. Might be fun since it’s a summer movie!!

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