The best tween movies are the ones that don't talk down to their audience. The eight-to-thirteen-year-old crowd has graduated from full-time kids' content but isn't ready for the irony and edge of teen movies. The films that land hardest with this age group respect their growing taste — emotional honesty, real stakes, smart humor, and (often) animation that swings for the fences. Here are the best movies for tweens ages 8–13. Browse our full movies catalog or start with these favorites.
Encanto (Disney+, 2021)
Mirabel Madrigal is the only member of her magical Colombian family without a gift — until the family's magic starts to crumble and she has to figure out why. Music by Lin-Manuel Miranda, a story that takes intergenerational trauma seriously, and the most rewatchable Disney film of the last decade. Rated PG.
Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse (2023)
The sequel to Into the Spider-Verse goes even bigger — multiple Spider-people, multiple animation styles, an emotional climax that lands like a punch. Tween viewers love the visual ambition; parents love that it actually has something to say. Rated PG.
Turning Red (Disney+, 2022)
Thirteen-year-old Meilin discovers that when she gets too excited, she turns into a giant red panda. Pixar at its most specifically tween — about puberty, mother-daughter dynamics, boy bands, and the embarrassment of having feelings in front of your parents. Rated PG.
The Mitchells vs. the Machines (Netflix, 2021)
A quirky family road trip turns into a robot apocalypse. Sony Pictures Animation at the top of its game — visually inventive, genuinely funny, and quietly about a teen daughter and her dad learning to talk to each other. Rated PG.
Inside Out and Inside Out 2 (Disney+)
The first movie (2015) personifies the emotions inside an eleven-year-old's head and somehow makes that work. The sequel (2024) tackles puberty by introducing new emotions like Anxiety, Envy, Embarrassment, and Ennui. Both are essential tween viewing — they give kids vocabulary for their inner lives. Both rated PG.
The Wild Robot (2024)
A service robot crash-lands on a remote island and ends up adopting an orphaned gosling. DreamWorks' most emotionally ambitious film in years — visually stunning, surprisingly philosophical, and a tearjerker your tween will pretend they didn't cry at. Based on the Peter Brown book series. Rated PG.
Wonder (2017)
Based on R.J. Palacio's bestselling middle grade novel about Auggie Pullman, a boy with a facial difference starting fifth grade for the first time. Honest about bullying, generous about kindness, and one of the rare book-to-film adaptations that gets the spirit right. Rated PG.
The Diary of a Wimpy Kid films (Disney+)
Both the live-action originals (2010–2017) and the animated Disney+ versions (2021–present) work for the right tween. The Wimpy Kid universe travels well between formats — kids who love the books love the movies. Good entry-level cinema for younger tweens at the 8–10 end of the band. Mostly rated PG.
How to Train Your Dragon trilogy
One of the all-time great animated trilogies. Hiccup and Toothless take a Viking story and turn it into something universal about courage, friendship, and growing up. The third film, The Hidden World, has one of the most affecting endings in tween cinema. All rated PG.
Ron's Gone Wrong (Disney+, 2021)
A boy's "B*Bot" — a social robot meant to make him popular — malfunctions and becomes a chaotic friend instead. Sharper than expected about social media, friendship, and the weirdness of being a kid online. Rated PG.
The Mysterious Benedict Society (Disney+ series, 2021–2022)
Worth mentioning even though it's technically a series, not a movie: the Disney+ adaptation of Trenton Lee Stewart's middle grade books captures the spirit beautifully. If your tween liked the books, this is the must-watch follow-up. Two seasons available. Rated TV-PG.
What makes a great tween movie
The best films in this category share three qualities. They have real stakes — death, loss, growing up — handled in age-appropriate ways. They have visual ambition — whether the breakthrough animation of Spider-Verse, the warm magical realism of Encanto, or the photographic naturalism of the live-action films. And they respect the audience's intelligence — no winks at the parents, no kid-grade jokes that assume tweens are dumb. Tweens know when a film is taking them seriously, and they reward it with rewatches.
🎬 Browse our full tween movies catalog, or explore all our reading and viewing guides.