Are you in need of a good February movie? Something to make you feel warm and cozy while it’s still cold out? Perhaps a timeless, laugh riot comedy?
If this sounds like the ideal movie to you, you’re in luck.
This February, head to Hulu and stream Superbad — the raunchy high school comedy about two best friends trying to lose their virginities before they leave for college.
The movie has a near-perfect 88 percent Rotten Tomatoes score, and that still seems too low for how great it is.
Watch With Us breaks down why Superbad is the best movie to watch on Hulu right now.
There’s nothing like a movie night with your besties. If you want to amp up the feeling of camaraderie, why not ditch the rom-coms or crime thrillers and watch some movies that feature life-changing friendships like the ones you share? These five movies range from sweet to raunchy, but they all have a strong emotional […]
‘Superbad’ Is Honest About What Teenagers Are Actually Like
Superbad stars Jonah Hill and Michael Cera as best friends Seth and Evan, respectively — two teenagers on the cusp of graduating high school but with their virginities still firmly intact. In a ploy to get the girls they both desire, they use their invitation to a house party as a means to get in the good graces of Jules (Emma Stone) and Becca (Martha MacIsaac). When Seth promises to supply the party with booze, his lack of ID turns out to be a huge problem. But it becomes a bigger problem when they involve Fogell (Christopher Mintz-Plasse), their arrogant, cocksure friend with a fake I.D., who falls in the company of two party-loving cops.
The screenplay was written by high school best friends Seth Rogen (who also appears in the film) and Evan Goldberg, who began writing it when they were still teenagers. Thus, much of the characterization and dialogue feels natural to how high school students would behave. While many depictions of teens in movies and TV shows of the modern era may feel like they only scratch the surface, Superbad seems to unlock something that nothing else can. The cruelty, bad jokes, sex desperation, relentless cursing and vulgarity are as true in 2026 as they were in 2007. Teenagers are awful, foul-mouthed, horny little nightmares: Superbad gets this, and the movie feels authentic because of it.
The Humor Is Still Funny Almost 20 Years Later
Jonah Hill (center left), Michael Cera (right) in Superbad Columbia Pictures/courtesy Everett Collection
If you were a teenager in the late 2000s, Superbad was inescapable. The “McLovin’” fake ID image was plastered on T-shirts, everyone was saying “Oh my god! That’s the coolest story I’ve ever heard in my life!” at each other to be mean, and we couldn’t stop laughing at “You know how many foods are shaped like d–ks? The best kinds!” Superbad was the moment for tail-end Millennials, but it still manages to be laugh-a-minute funny, even after nearly twenty years since its release in 2007. A big part of that can be credited to Rogen and Goldberg, whose successful comedy collaboration has endured in projects like the recent Emmy-winning juggernaut, The Studio.
But at the same time, though Superbad was tightly scripted, improvisation was encouraged from its talented, largely young cast. Hill, in what is clearly his breakout role, gives the crude, angsty, horned-up teenage boy performance of a lifetime, while Cera (who had emerged as a standout in Arrested Development) plays off him perfectly by finding humor in quiet awkwardness. Together, they frequently built off one another’s dialogue through ad-libbing. And then there’s the real star of the show, Mintz-Plasse, as the scene-stealing Fogell; remarkably, it was his film debut. With career-best performances from the cast, ad-libbing gold and a sharp script, it’s no wonder Superbad still makes us laugh.
‘Superbad’ a Surprisingly Touching Portrait of Male Friendship
By the end of the film, amidst the hormone-induced cravings to feel the touch of a woman, the penis jokes and female objectification, you might forget that Superbad includes a surprisingly poignant scene just before the finish line. At the end of their wild night, after failing in their sexual escapades and getting into a blowout fight, Seth and Evan reunite, cozy up in their sleeping bags at Evan’s house and pour their hearts out to one another. Throughout the film, there’s been a simmering tension between them, spurred by the fact that Evan and Fogell got into the same college, have chosen to room together and Seth feels left out. He doesn’t want his best friend to leave him.
Seth and Evan admit all of this and apologize to one another, and in a moment of awkward vulnerability that might seem foreign to high school boys, they admit that they love one another, and then embrace. As much as Superbad is remembered for being a nonstop parade of obscene hilarity, less frequently highlighted is the touching display of platonic male affection. It’s an excellent and emotional scene that underscores the love that exists between teenage boys, even if it seems like something they aren’t even capable of yet — or that they feel shamed to express. Men should feel okay telling their friends that they love them, so Seth and Evan do, and it’s genuinely tear-jerking (and also funny).
Stream Superbad now on Hulu.
