Stoner film is a subgenre of comedy film based on marijuana themes, where recreational use often drives the plot, sometimes representing cannabis culture more broadly or intended for that audience.

Stoner film genre 

The midnight movie scene in theaters of the 1970s revived the hectoring anti-drug propaganda film Reefer Madness (1936) as an ironic counterculture comedy. The broad popularity of Reefer Madness led to a new audience for extreme anti-drug films bordering on self-parody, including Assassin of Youth (1937), Marihuana (1936), and She Shoulda Said No! a.k.a. The Devil's Weed (1949). 

The duo Cheech & Chong established the archetypal "stoner" comedy throughout the 1970s, taking their antics to the big screen for Up in Smoke in 1978, establishing the contemporary stoner film genre.

High Times magazine sponsored the first Stony Awards in 2000, celebrating stoner films and television, recognizing a broad scope of noteworthy cannabis media.

The enduring influence of Reefer Madness led to a musical comedy remake in 2005.

Common elements 
Many stoner movies have certain elements and themes in common. The template involves a protagonist or protagonists who have marijuana, are attempting to find marijuana, or have some other task to complete. The protagonists are often two friends in a variation of the buddy film.

Stoner films often involve evading authority figures who disapprove of the protagonists' marijuana usage, usually out of a greater lack of acceptance of their lifestyle of leisure and innocence. Authority figures are often law-enforcement agents, who are portrayed as comically inept, as well as parents, co-workers, friends, and security guards. Most serious moments in stoner films are intended ironically, often to parody overwrought counterparts in mainstream cinema. The comic story arcs often approach or fall over the line into slapstick.

List of stoner films 

Jewel Robbery (1932)
Reefer Madness (1936)
Easy Rider (1969)
Beyond the Valley of the Dolls (1970)
Fritz the Cat (1972)
The Nine Lives of Fritz the Cat (1974)
Acapulco Gold (1976)
The Chicken Chronicles (1977)
Cheech & Chong's Up in Smoke (1978)
animal house (1978)
Rockers (1978)
Cheech & Chong's Next Movie (1980)
Cheech & Chong's Nice Dreams (1981)
Things Are Tough All Over (1982)
Fast Times at Ridgemont High (1982)Still Smokin' (1983)Les Frères Pétard (1986)Class of Nuke 'Em High (1986)Far Out Man (1990)London Kills Me (1991) Dazed and Confused (1993)The Stoned Age (1994)
Clerks (1994)PCU (1994)Friday (1995)
mallrats (1995)Bio-Dome (1996)Don't Be a Menace to South Central While Drinking Your Juice in the Hood (1996)Bongwater (1997)Half Baked (1998)Around the Fire  (1998)Harvest (1998)Social Intercourse (1998)Homegrown (1998)Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas (1998)Dead Man on Campus (1998)Detroit Rock City (1999)Blowin' Smoke (1999)Human Traffic (1999)Outside Providence (1999)
Idle Hands (1999)Dude, Where's My Car? (2000)Next Friday (2000)
Scary Movie (2000)Saving Grace (2000)How High (2001)Wet Hot American Summer (2001)Lammbock (2001)Jay and Silent Bob Strike Back (2001)The Wash (2001)Scary Movie 2 (2001)Super Troopers (2001)Ali G Indahouse (2002)Friday After Next (2002)Slackers (2002)My Dinner with Jimi (2002)High Times' Potluck  (2002) 
national lampoon's van wilder (2002)Rolling Kansas (2003)
Scary Movie 3 (2003)Harold & Kumar Go to White Castle (2004)Soul Plane (2004)Without A Paddle (2004)Reefer Madness: The Movie Musical (2005)Clerks II (2006)
 Scary Movie 4 (2006)Grandma's Boy (2006)Trailer Park Boys: The Movie (2006)
Van Wilder the rise of Taj (2006)Smiley Face (2007)Kush (2007) Walk Hard: The Dewey Cox Story (2007)Weirdsville (2007)Remember the Daze  (2007)Knocked Up (2007)Harold & Kumar Escape from Guantanamo Bay (2008)Growing Op (2008)Pineapple Express (2008)Strange Wilderness (2008)The Wackness (2008)Humboldt County (2008)Stone Bros. (2009)The Cops Did It (2009) Stan Helsing (2009)Extract (2009)High Society: A Pot Boiler (2009) Van Wilder: Freshman Year (2009)Trailer Park Boys: Countdown to Liquor Day (2009)Due Date (2010)High School (2010)Eat Me! (2009)Leaves of Grass (2010)Anuvahood (2011)A Very Harold & Kumar Christmas (2011)Stonerville (2011)Paul (2011)Our Idiot Brother (2011)High Road (2011)Jeff, Who Lives at Home  (2011)Ted (2012)Liberal Arts (2012)The Newest Pledge  (2012) Mac & Devin Go to High School (2012)Easy Rider: The Ride Back (2012)Kili Poyi (2013)Hansel & Gretel Get Baked (2013)
We're The Millers (2013)
Scary Movie 5 (2013)
A Haunted House (2013)Idukki Gold (2013)Honey Bee (2013)Cheech & Chong's Animated Movie (2013)This Is the End (2013)Go Goa Gone (2013)Gingerdead Man vs. Evil Bong (2013)The Coed and the Zombie Stoner  (2014)Awkward Thanksgiving  (2014)
A Haunted House 2 (2014)Trailer Park Boys: Don't Legalize It (2014)Kid Cannabis (2014)Ted 2 (2015)The Night Before  (2015)Midnight Delight  (2016)Jil Jung Juk (2016)Sausage Party (2016)Asockalypse!  (2016)Grow House (2017)Hot Summer Nights (2017)Ripped (2017)Dude (2018)Super Troopers 2 (2018)The Beach Bum (2019)
Jay and Silent bob reboot (2019)The Gentlemen (2019)How High 2 (2019)Waldo on Weed (2019)The Marijuana Conspiracy (2020)Good Mourning (2022)
Clerks 3 (2022)

Stoner crossover filmsThe Harder They Come (1972), stoner crime filmThe Big Lebowski (1998), stoner crime comedy filmGrass: History of Marijuana (1999), stoner documentaryDeuce Bigalow: European Gigolo (2005), stoner sex comedyPuff, Puff, Pass (2006), stoner crime filmThe Tripper (2006), stoner slasher filmSuper High Me (2007), stoner documentary The Union: The Business Behind Getting High (2007), stoner documentarySex Pot (2009), stoner sex comedyMr. Nice (2010), stoner crime filmYour Highness (2011), stoner comic fantasyBong of the Dead (2011), stoner horror filmPaulette (2012), stoner crime filmSavages (2012), stoner crime filmThe Culture High (2014), stoner documentaryInherent Vice (2014), stoner crime filmMile High: The Comeback of Cannabis (2014), stoner documentaryHalloweed (2016), stoner horror filmGrass Is Greener (2019), stoner documentaryThe Smoke Master'' (2022), stoner kung fu film

See also

Cannabis culture
List of drug films
Psychedelic film

References

External links
Best Stoner Movies on Netflix

Film genres