Father and child sit together smiling while looking at a smart phone.

Want more recommendations for your family?

Sign up for our weekly newsletter for entertainment inspiration

Parents' Guide to

Teen Witch

By Heather Boerner, Common Sense Media Reviewer

age 13+

Tubular '80s teen fluff: silly, fun, and shallow.

Movie PG-13 1989 94 minutes
Teen Witch Poster Image

A Lot or a Little?

What you will—and won't—find in this movie.

Community Reviews

See all
age 11+

Based on 3 parent reviews

goodgirl
goodgirl Adult
January 8, 2017
age 11+

cute.

cute movie. fantasy of course.

This title has:

Great messages
kt_409
kt_409 Parent of 11-year-old
January 4, 2017
age 15+

I loved this when I was a kid but....

I loved this movie when I caught it on tv when I was a kid. I think because it was a tv version- from what I could remember- it wasn't a big deal. That's u til I watched it with my 11 year old. I felt really uncomfortable with her during the sex Ed class- I felt like she felt incredible uncomfortable too. The part where the main character and her crush get intimate is pretty messed up. It's all "magical' and that's not real life! I think that makes sex look like it's a beautiful moment when in reality a girl wants to kiss but the guy can get pushy. It would've been best if they kissed and he pushed but she said she would prefer to wait. That's the right thing to do. Make sound choices when you're an adult and not a kid in school. I have heard too many bad stories about losing virginity too young. It was fun and silly. It I think older children should be able to, hopefully, understand the huge responsibility it is to be sexually active and truly understand that it is hardly ever magical with a dude you got a crush on! More special when you love someone and have gotten to really know them. Sorry for ranting. I was upset my daughter saw this. I told her it was very unrealistic.

This title has:

Too much sex
See all 3 parent reviews

What's the Story?

Louise Miller (Robyn Lively) is a typical teen: she's not the most popular, she's not the most fashionable, and she's not the most confident. Consequently, the boy of her dreams, Brad (Dan Gauthier), doesn't know she's alive. She suffers the typical teen terrors: a sadistic teacher, her personal diary entry about Brad gets read aloud in class, and she's picked to be in charge of the costumes for the school play instead of the lead actress. She's so tortured -- that is, until her 16th birthday. Then, suddenly she can get people to do what she wants -- surprise, she's a witch!

Is It Any Good?

Our review:
Parents say (3 ):
Kids say (2 ):

Like most fabulously awful '80s teen movies, Teen Witch offers some great wish fulfillment. What girl hasn't wanted to make her grabby date disappear, or turn her bullying brother into a dog? And what teen hasn't wanted to cast a spell to make herself popular and to force her crush du jour to fall in love with her?

What's not great about the film is its insistence that the way for girls to get boys to like them -- and perhaps vice versa -- is to be a different person. When Brad says "Every guy wants to date the most popular girl in school," it seems like a good time to remind teen viewers that Brad's pretty lame. Aside from his hunkiness, there's not much to recommend him. But that's enough for Louise to risk an important friendship and change into his ideal girl.

Talk to Your Kids About ...

  • Families can talk about how it mattered more to Louise to look good to Brad than it did to be herself. What's more important in the end? Do you ever feel obsessed with your looks? What do you do to snap yourself out of it? What are some consequences of making other people's opinions of you more important than your own?

Movie Details

Inclusion information powered by

Did we miss something on diversity?

Research shows a connection between kids' healthy self-esteem and positive portrayals in media. That's why we've added a new "Diverse Representations" section to our reviews that will be rolling out on an ongoing basis. You can help us help kids by suggesting a diversity update.

Related Topics

Want suggestions based on your streaming services? Get personalized recommendations

Common Sense Media's unbiased ratings are created by expert reviewers and aren't influenced by the product's creators or by any of our funders, affiliates, or partners.

See how we rate