15. How High (2001)
What’s the secret ingredient to growing good bud? Dead bodies. Don’t worry, this isn’t a horror flick—it’s a comedy!
Lazy best friends Silas (Method Man) and Jamal (Redman) inadvertently land spots at Harvard University when they end up using their friends' ashes to fertilize their crop, which summons a ghost who gives them the answers to a test.
Jesse Dylan directsHow High, featuring every play on the word “high” that you can think of. By nature, stoner films tend to have an amateurish feel to them, so this one’s low critic score is simply a confirmation of its genre and not a reason to tune out!
14. Half Baked (1998)
Half Bakedis another poorly reviewed but actually amazing stoner flick. It features a gang of burger-flipping, bong-ripping, tie-dye t-shirt-wearing stereotypes (Dave Chappelle, Jim Breuer, Harland Williams, and Guillermo Díaz) living together in New York City.
When one of them is arrested for accidentally killing a police horse, the other three decide to buckle down and raise bail—and they only know one way to make money: weed.
Stealing cannabis from a science lab might not be as dangerous as stealing from a gangster, but it’s still risky! Especially when you’ve smoked all your brain cells away.
13. Up in Smoke (1978)
The counterculture comedy duo Cheech & Chong made waves as they went from stand-up shows to feature films. As renowned ganja lovers, the pair made their movie debut inUp in Smoke—a critical failure but beloved by viewers, both then and now.
It’s your typical pothead setup: two slacker besties hit the road and let the wind blow them into all kinds of misadventures, including jail.
12. Smiley Face (2007)
“Just one chick trying to get to the beach” pretty much summarizes the whole of this movie. Being completely fried can make even the simplest of tasks—like finishing a sentence—complicated.
InSmiley Face, Jane (in reference to the commonly used stoner name Mary Jane) is the one chick who has to make an audition after eating 14 edibles. Accidentally, of course.
Anna Faris stars as the red-eyed Los Angeles pothead, directed by Gregg Araki. Refreshing to see a female lead in a stoner movie!
Related:The Best Movies About Summertime
11. Caddyshack (1980)
Caddyshackmight not feature tons of smoking, but the character who does smoke is legendary. Bill Murray perfectly embodies the eccentric and unstable loner Carl Spackler, who loves to “get stoned to the bejeezus-belt at night.”
Unlike most of our dopehead picks, Carl isn’t exactly chill. He’s a crazy greenskeeper who’s hellbent on killing a gopher. But when he’s not rifling up, Carl’s busy breeding his own strain of grass to puff.
Caddyshackalso gives us 80s comedy star Chevy Chase, who plays the “disgusting” son of Bushwood Country Club’s founder.
Related:The Best 80s Comedy Movies
10. Friday (1995)
Chris Tucker’s character inFridayis called Smokey for good reason: he loves to smoke! So much so that he huffs away his own supply, leaving him in a bind when the big boss comes knocking.
As Smokey gets high with his best friend Craig (Ice Cube), both of them land in trouble. Big Worm (Faizon Love) gives the pair until 10pm to repay the drug money they lost—or else be killed.
F. Gary Gray’s directorial debut is now a cult classic buddy movie, which paved the way for his success withStraight Outta Compton(which was based on Ice Cube’s real-life story!).
Related:The Best Hood Movies That Aren’t Just About Gangs
9. Scooby-Doo (2002)
Despite being part of a kids-oriented franchise,Scooby-Doois basically a stoner movie in disguise. Not only does it have stoner-style comedy—purposefully cheesy and featuring buddies on misadventures—but it also has stoner-icon Shaggy (played by Matthew Lillard).
When Shaggy notices that his hippie friends are near by the smell of grass in the air, he joins in as “Pass the Dutchie” plays while smoke billows out of his van.
Indeed,Scooby-Doois full of innuendos like “talk about toasted,” plus he falls for a girl called Mary Jane. All of these are adult-oriented stoner jokes that fly over the heads of younger viewers.
The fact that Shaggy was invented for a kids film—and therefore can’t be shown smoking outright—has made him an intriguing figure in pop (and pot) culture lore.
Related:The Best Movies About Amusement Parks and Theme Parks
8. Fast Times at Ridgemont High (1982)
Is there anything more chilled out than surfing? Not really!
Jeff Spicoli is the epitome of a carefree pothead, riding the waves of California in Amy Heckerling’sFast Times at Ridgemont High. Tumbling out of his smoky VW campervan, Spicoli has no regard for school rules and always argues with his uptight history teacher Mr. Hand.
Writer Cameron Crowe came up with the script forFast Times at Ridgemont Highwhen he went undercover as a student in a San Diego high school. Spicoli is even (partly) based on a real person!
Sean Penn’s performance is simultaneously buzzing and cool, forever walking around with that mischievous grin on his face.
Related:The Best Movies Where Characters Just Hang Out and Chill
7. Harold & Kumar Go to White Castle (2004)
Harold & Kumar Go to White Castleis the first installment in a series about best mates Harold and Kumar (played by John Cho and Kal Penn) who get into all kinds of hilarious mishaps. Everything begins when they’re smoking marijuana and watch an ad for White Castle fast food.
As the munchies set in, going out for hamburgers seems like the logical next step, right? But not so easy when you’re stoned. Not only is this movie funny, but it was praised for its subversion of racial stereotypes. It’s practically the only stoner film with Asian leads.
Related:The Most Infamous Product Placements in Movies of All Time
6. True Romance (1993)
Most ofTrue Romancehas little to do with smoking weed, but the bit that does is simply iconic. Plus, this particular character inspired another character on this list: Saul Silver fromPineapple Express(see below).
InTrue Romance, Brad Pitt is the embodiment of the lazy couch potato who does nothing but smoke, eat, and watch TV all day.
Written by Quentin Tarantino and directed by Tony Scott,True Romanceis your classic guns-blazing, drug-smuggling crime thriller. In it, Floyd lounges around high in his apartment, unbothered by the chaos around him.
Related:The Best Movies With Imaginary Friends and Characters
5. Inherent Vice (2014)
Though cannabis consumption—especially among teens—boomed in America during the 90s, it all began back in the 60s. Hippies were the emblem of the counterculture movement, who advocated for love and psychedelic expansion over war and materialism.
Joaquin Phoenix is nearly unrecognizable behind those huge sideburns, posing as the ultimate hippie stereotype Larry “Doc” Sportello.
InInherent Vice, Oscar-nominated director Paul Thomas Anderson puts a twist on the usual investigator archetype: instead of wearing a suit and drinking whiskey, Doc walks barefoot around the office, smoking a joint.
From the groovy wardrobe and set design to the stunning cinematography,Inherent Viceis a neo-noir mystery like no other.
Related:The Best Movies About Hippies and Free Spirits, Ranked
4. Pineapple Express (2008)
InPineapple Express, Saul Silver (played by James Franco) is the pot dealer who’s essentially Floyd fromTrue Romanceif he were to ever leave his apartment. And his client? Seth Rogen.
Seth Rogen is known for his real-life love of smoking marijuana—even co-founding the cannabis company Houseplant in 2019. So obviously he makes the perfect co-star for this film!
Rogen appears as a suited-up process server, fleeing from a hitman with his bleary-eyed drug dealer Saul. David Gordon Green directs this surprisingly violent stoner comedy, and it’s just one of the many hilarious collaborations between Franco and Rogen.
3. Dazed and Confused (1993)
Pretty much every character inDazed and Confusedis high at one point or another. But Ron Slater is the most stoned throughout the movie, sporting the traditional long hair and rambling monologues of a stoner.
You’d be hard-pressed to find another film that’s as chill as this cult-classic, coming-of-age comedy, set during the hip 1970s.
Named after the Jake Holmes song,Dazed and Confusedis directed by Richard Linklater and stars an ensemble cast of actors before they rocketed to stardom (including Matthew McConoughey and Ben Affleck).
Related:The Best Counterculture Movies
2. Easy Rider (1969)
New Hollywood made way for a whole new genre of experimental films as it moved away from studio dramas and onto on-location character studies. Film scholars often citeEasy Rider, directed by Dennis Hopper in 1969, as the trigger for this cinematic revolution.
This road movie follows two Harley-Davidson motorcyclists who are smuggling drugs into Los Angeles. Peter Fonda, Dennis Hopper, and Jack Nicholson lead the film, smoking real weed for “authenticity.”
Perhaps that’s what makes Wyatt (played by Peter Fonda) one of the best stoner characters out there… because he really is stoned!
Related:The Best Road Movies, Ranked
1. The Big Lebowski (1998)
Of course, the number one stoner movie can be none other thanThe Big Lebowski. Jeffrey Lebowski (aka “The Dude”) is one of the Coen brothers' most beloved characters, played by Jeff Bridges.
In his flip-flops and open robe, the White-Russian-drinking pothead gets accidentally involved in a kidnapping, but manages to keep his cool. In fact, The Dude is so cool, he sparked a real-life religion. The philosophy of “Dudeism” is simple: take it easy and go with the flow.
The Big Lebowskiis a black-comedy that plays out against the sunny skies of Los Angeles, where the iconic slacker wants nothing more than to play bowling and smoke on his beloved rug.
Related:The Best Slice-of-Life Movies Where Nothing Really Happens
