Credit: Netflix

Legally Blonde. Yep, more than 20 years later and we are talking about Elle Woods again. An entire generation took inspiration from Elle Woods and showed the world that there is so much more a woman can do if she is determined. The way Reese Witherspoon delivered that courtroom speech in her dazzling pink outfit is still iconic. The film is a cult classic, and every new generation seems to discover it all over again.

What made the movie stand out wasn’t the romance or even Harvard Law School. Everyone expected Elle to change so people would take her seriously, but she never did. She walked into every room with the same confidence she had from the start, and by the end, everyone else had to rethink their first impression of her.

Here’s a fun fact a lot of fans miss. Legally Blonde was adapted from Amanda Brown’s novel, which drew from her own experiences at Stanford Law School. The film earned Reese Witherspoon a Golden Globe nomination, made more than $140million worldwide, inspired a Broadway musical, and even now, a new adaptation is in development.

If you’ve watched Legally Blonde more times than you can count, you are barking up the right tree. Netflix has a few movies that tap into the same confidence with women who back themselves and surprise everyone around them.

Three Netflix movies to watch if you are obsessed with Legally Blonde

Senior Year (Alex Hardcastle, 2022)

You know what made Elle Woods so much fun to watch? She walked into a room where nobody expected much from her and ended up proving she belonged there. Senior Year plays with that same idea, except instead of law school, it’s high school all over again. The movie follows Stephanie Conway, a cheer captain whose life changes after a cheerleading accident leaves her in a coma for 20 years. She wakes up at 37 with one goal still sitting in the back of her mind: go back to school, finish senior year, and finally become prom queen. Sounds ridiculous? It is.

That’s also where the fun begins because Stephanie soon realises the world has moved on, and teenage popularity doesn’t work the way she remembers. There’s plenty of fish-out-of-water comedy, but behind all the jokes is someone trying to prove she hasn’t missed her chance. If Elle Woods taught you not to judge a woman by the colour of her wardrobe, Stephanie reminds you that it’s never too late to rewrite the story people expect you to have.

The Incredible Jessica James (Jim Strouse, 2017)

Now, if what you loved most about Legally Blonde was Elle’s confidence, then Jessica James might be your next favourite person. Jessica is an aspiring playwright in New York who has no intention of changing herself after a breakup, even when everyone around her thinks she should. She meets Boone, who is carrying baggage of his own, and what follows isn’t your usual rom-com.

Their relationship grows through career setbacks and a lot of brutally honest moments instead of grand romantic gestures. Jessica has the same quality that made Elle impossible to ignore. She knows who she is and walks into every conversation without waiting for someone else’s approval. The movie is more of a comedy-drama than a romance, but watching Jessica bet on herself over and over again scratches the same itch.

Moxie (Amy Poehler, 2021)

Now, Moxie is a lot different from Legally Blonde, but still somewhat the same because it understands what happens when one person decides enough is enough. Vivian is a high school student who gets fed up with the sexist culture at her school after a new student becomes the latest target. Inspired by her mother’s Riot Grrrl past, she anonymously starts a feminist zine called Moxie, and before long, students across campus begin pushing back against rules and attitudes they have accepted for years.

Now, Moxie’s comparison to Legally Blonde isn’t about matching plot points. It’s about watching women refuse to let other people define them. Elle challenged stereotypes inside a courtroom, and Vivian does it in school hallways. Different battlefields, same message. The best part is we root for both of them.