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The 11 Best Stoner Movies of All Time
We were going to do 420, but we got burnt out.
Jun 18, 2025
Sometimes, you just want to throw on a little Phish, turn on your black light, look at your neon posters, and smoke a joint.
Marijuana has been a part of the movies since the dawn of Hollywood. You had movies like Reefer Madness to try and scare people off, and then you had movies that embraced it, like Easy Rider.
Today, I wanted to assemble 11 stoner movies that really glorify having fun and being laid back.
Let's dive in.
11. Grandma's Boy (2006)
For a specific generation that grew up on video games and Adam Sandler movies, Grandma's Boy is the holy grail. It perfectly blends gamer culture with stoner comedy. The plot, about a 35-year-old video game tester who has to move in with his grandmother, is just a vehicle for a series of absurdly hilarious situations.
10. Fast Times at Ridgemont High (1982)
Spicoli ordering a double cheese and sausage pizza to be delivered to Mr. Hand's history class is peak stoner brain.
Now, he's really the stoner part of this movie, but it defined the archetype for the cinematic surfer-stoner. His laid-back, perpetually-blitzed philosophy and classic exchanges with the stern Mr. Hand set the template for decades of characters to come.
9. Harold & Kumar Go to White Castle (2004)
This film single-handedly revitalized the genre for the 21st century. It's a simple, perfect quest: two friends get high and develop an all-consuming craving for White Castle sliders. The duo's encounter with a crazed, car-stealing, ecstasy-fueled Neil Patrick Harris playing a fictional version of himself is just the cheese on the burger for this movie.
8. Half Baked (1998)
This was the first movie I remember seeing that was specifically about pot. Written by Dave Chappelle and Neal Brennan, this is a movie made by stoners, for stoners.
It's self-aware, packed with cameos (Snoop Dogg, Willie Nelson), and an insane plot of friends who have to sell stolen lab weed to bail their buddy out of jail for accidentally killing a diabetic police horse with junk food.
7. Super Troopers (2001)
This is a movie where it feels like anything can happen. The Broken Lizard comedy troupe delivers a movie that perfectly captures the feeling of being bored at work with your friends and finding increasingly dumb ways to entertain yourselves.
The opening scene, where the troopers pull over a car with some terrified teens, and the line "You boys like Mexico?!" kicks off a masterclass in psychological torment and munchie-fueled paranoia.
6. Pineapple Express (2008)
This film changed the game by successfully merging the stoner comedy with a full-blown, high-stakes action movie. Seth Rogen's process server and James Franco's lovably dim-witted dealer, Saul Silver, have an incredible chemistry. It’s violent, ridiculous, and cemented the crew as the new kings of comedy.
And the whole thing is tied together by a powerful weed strain.
5. Dazed and Confused (1993)
Richard Linklater's masterpiece isn't just a stoner movie; it's a perfect slice of '70s nostalgia that uses weed as the hazy, atmospheric glue holding it all together.
There's no real plot—just the last day of school in 1976, kids driving around, listening to classic rock, and looking for the next party. It feels less like watching a movie and more like hanging out.
4. Friday (1995)
Ice Cube and F. Gary Gray created a cultural touchstone that embodied what it felt like to get to the weekend. Set over one day in South Central L.A., this film is infinitely quotable and gave the world Chris Tucker's Smokey, one of the most energetic and hilarious stoners ever put on screen.
3. Cheech & Chong's Up in Smoke (1978)
This is the blueprint. The OG. The one that started it all. The MOST famous stoner movie of all time.
Cheech Marin and Tommy Chong took their famous stand-up routines and created the first-ever feature-length stoner comedy. The plot is loose and rambling, following two stoners who unwittingly get deported to Mexico and have to drive a van made entirely of "fiberweed" back to the U.S. It's pure, unadulterated '70s counter-culture.
2. How High (2001)
I think there's a chance I watched this movie 20+ times on Comedy Central on days when I had nothing to do. And in college, we were watching this thing all the time.
How High paired two of hip-hop's most charismatic stoners, Method Man and Redman, and threw them into the Ivy League. After smoking the ashes of their deceased genius friend, they ace their college entrance exams and proceed to turn Harvard University upside down. It's endlessly rewatchable.
1. The Big Lebowski (1998)
Some may argue it's more than a stoner movie, but that's precisely why it's number one. Because it's a movie that says maybe there's nothing more than smoking weed and relaxing with your buddies.
The Coen Brothers' film is a Raymond Chandler noir, a bowling comedy, and a philosophical treatise all wrapped in a bathrobe. Jeffrey "The Dude" Lebowski (Jeff Bridges) isn't just a character who smokes; his entire pacifist, laid-back worldview is the ethos of a lifelong stoner. He is the Zen Master of the genre. The film is a brilliant, layered, and endlessly hilarious masterpiece where marijuana isn't just a prop—it's the fuel for the Dude's abiding spirit.
Summing It All Up
So, if you're already packing a bowl or rolling a doobie, these are the movies you want to watch and have your viewing experience enhanced. (Also, look into watching some slacker noir flicks.)
They're also movies that glorify the lifestyle and that tap into the laughs and zen that a little THC helps you achieve.
Let me know what you think in the comments.
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